5 comments about Live at Pachyderm Studios.

1. Forget all of this band's studio albums, this is the real deal. Like many blues bands Indigenous home is on the stage and their studio albums don't seem to capture just what they are capable of in a live setting. I've had the pleasure of seeing Indigenous live twice and they are well worth the price of admission if they ever come to your town. This album was recorded live in the studio in front of a small audience and does a very good job of capturing the band's live sound. Guitarist Mato Manji is the star here and comes off like a cross between Stevie Ray Vaughn and Jimi Hendrix. Some of the studio songs on the band's debut album are lengthened out here into all out jams which really give Mato and the band a chance to spread their wings. This is especially true of "Blues From The Sky" and "I Wonder Why" both of which clock in around the 10 minute range. An absolutely incredible cover of Hendrix "Red House" is also included where Mato gives the original a good run for it's money. I have most of the band's studio output and although they are all good, they do not compare to this. If you love great blues guitar and especially if you were a fan of Stevie Ray Vaughn style blues, this album is an essential purchase. Mato is one of the best young blue guitarist to emerge in the last 10 years and this is the album that best demonstrates his remarkable ability.



2. I didn't know about Indigenous before I heard them on Amazon.
   I just board 3 albums with them ("Live at Pachyderm Studios" is one of them.),
   The music gets better for every time I hear it. The albums are all SUPERB.
   It can't take long before I'll buy the album "Circle".



3. I have tried several times to like this band. I have seen their live DVD and it is very similar to this CD. The vocals are weak and hardly understandable, every song sounds like the last one. There are absolutely NO dynamics in their music and anyone who thinks this guitarist is something special is either NOT a guitarist, or a beginner at best. They also have no stage presence, just looking like they're going thru the motions. There's too much great blues out there to be wasting your time with this.



4. I listen to the mp3 here, and believed the words of praise by other reviews and bought this CD.
   The production is bad. The music and vocal tracks are flatten together. Its sounds like a gray mush. The guy sounds like SRV and sings like him too. They just don't play with the same heart and soul.

   This CD mimics a great guitarist. .
   I was sadly disappointed.




5. This is a tour de force for INDIGENOUS and specifically MATO NANJI. Great playing, good songs, great recording. I bought THINGS WE DO a while back and was debating whether the 4 new tracks alone would make buying this CD worthwhile. Don't hesitate as even the make over the other songs receive in a live
   environment make them a new experience and RED HOUSE alone is worth the price. Not since HENDRIX and SRV has a guitarist sounded like this in a live gig. For my liking he sounds a little to close to his heros and needs to develope further into a style that will be recognisable as his. He has the talent and a lot of time on his side. This would be 5 stars were it not for the similar tone and style of SRV and HENDRIX.

5 comments about In Session.

1. If you love the blues then these recordings are a must have. The pairing of the legendary Albert King with the blues virtuoso Stevie Ray Vaughan was a match made in heaven. Stevie absolutely idolized Albert and it comes through on these tracks as does the respect that Albert King had for his student. When Albert asks Stevie to play his song Pride and Joy you can sense the pride and joy it was to perform at the bequest of his mentor. These electrifying performance brought a tear of joy to my eyes. On the Pep Talk track Albert gives Stevie sage advice and prophecies the future. The Blues at Sunrise track is Bluesology 101 in of itself. I only wish I could have been a fly on the wall at these sessions.
   
   The only thing wrong with this album is that it's too short. Until you buy or download this CD you and your blues collection are incomplete.



2. This album, IN SESSION by Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, is a very interesting listen for any serious fans of Stevie Ray, or any fans of the blues.
   
   Because Stevie Ray Vaughan's playing style was greatly influenced by the less famous Albert King, at times it is hard to distinguish exactly who is playing lead guitar, but that just goes to show how great most of the music is on this CD.
   
   The singing is overwhelmingly Albert King, since Stevie only sings lead vocals on the lone Stevie Ray song on this CD, "Pride and Joy," but I really like the singing of Albert King, and this album is a great introduction to Albert King's work, to me, since all the other songs are from Albert King's repertoire.
   
   Sometimes the two guitarists are a little timid, starting out, but the longer the song goes on, the more comfortable they seem to get, and this CD has many long songs on it.
   
   When I first saw this album, I thought it looked like some questionable bootleg, to me, and the CD cover art is definitely amateurish, but the CD liner notes briefly explain the scenario surrounding this recording, and the music makes it all worth your while in buying it and listening to it. If you like Stevie Ray Vaughan, then you will probably enjoy this insightful performance.
   
   Like a live concert album, this CD retains conversation between the two star players, but at a much lower volume than the music and singing. This talk is interesting the first few times that you hear it, but the CD actually assigns most of this inbetween songs talk to their own track list numbers, so you can set your CD player to skip the talk, which I think makes the music flow more like a standard music album, not having to wait a minute or two between songs.
   
   I am very happy with this Stevie Ray Vaughan CD rarity! If you collect Stevie Ray Vaughan CDs, then you can buy this one with confidence that the musical performances and audio quality are comparable to Stevie's major label CD releases!



3. Very pleased with this SACD, sound is awesome. I agree with all other highly rated reviews, it is more than words can describe.



4. All one has to do is to listen to this and realize that we were lucky that this event happened. I hear something new every time I play it. Enjoy



5. While Albert King never rose to the massive popularity of Stevie Ray Vaughan, as far as blues players go though, he was one of the more familiar to rock fans, thanks to his work being covered by Clapton and Hendrix ("Born Under A Bad Sign").
   No modern guitarist was more influenced by King than Stevie Ray Vaughan, whose admiration and praise allowed him to share the stage in a Hamilton, Ontario TV studio right around the time of the release of Vaughan's "Texas Flood". This summit was long overdue, and is absolutely critical for Vaughan and King fans.
   Mind you, there are many rehashes, repackagings and other posthumous releases of SRV, most of which are unforgivable, offering nothing new, only capitalizing on the myth and making a fortune off his memory.
   "In Session", however, like "The Sky Is Crying", is one CD that does offer a fresh look at both masters.
   King is still the star of this show, and his band provides the powerful backing music as the two titans trade off solo after solo, each careful to not overplay, but not hide behind their amps, either.
   Vaughan sounds a lot like King, showing us the bedrock of his style. He was a little flashier, and could control feedback ala Hendrix, but when all is said and done, SRV was the best white blues player period. Brit players like Clapton and Page pale in comparison.
   Prime cuts include "Pride And Joy" as handled by King's band, and it thumps and grinds mightily. "Overall Junction" is a King jam and indeed it does. Perhaps the best is "Matchbox Blues", with an absolutely wicked swing beat that allows both guitarists to soar, reaching blues nirvana over and over.
   SRV fans will delight in this CD when he was probably at his greatest, and will come away King fans as well, after finding out who got this party started in the first place.

5 comments about Live in Europe.

1. I had the priviledge of seening Rory live and this album captures the esence of his music every time I play I can picture this giutar legend as he should be rememberd.



2. There's little question that the guy's talented, but these blues just didn't speak to me the way I had hoped they would. Maybe it just needs to grow on me, or maybe he's just not my thing. It has some strong moments, but his playing, at least on this album, doesn't evoke those basic emotions that the blues can draw out of a man.



3. I prefer the Irish Tour--if you love gallagher, you'll buy both. The trax are mixed differently, where the voice or guitar comes from, but great ol' rock & roll.



4. I had never heard of Rory until a bandmate of mine turned me on to this album (thanks Ken Smith). We played it until it wore out and then bought another copy. The band ended up doing 5 songs of this particular LP and we went to see him play at the Colonial Tavern in Toronto, Canada. We went on a Monday night and were so impressed that we went back for the rest of the week. Each night, the buzz got bigger and the audience was at full capacity by Thursday night. He and the band were on fire and we were knocked out. I consider this album to be his best live work and is on par with other "better selling" live works (Humble Pie/Fillmore, Allmans/Fillmore, Muddy Waters/Newport and so on). I've been a fan of Rory's ever since that cold Monday in Toronto back in '75 and on a recent trip to Ireland, I stopped by his gravesite to pay homage and respect to a musician's musician. Live on Rory!



5. Of the many inanities on the Rolling Stone list of the 100 greatest guitarists that came out with great fanfare a few years ago, the most absurd is this: Rory Gallagher did not make the list. One can argue about where various guitarists should have been placed, but around 65 of the guitarists on the list truly belonged there. But 90 or 95 of the ones on the list must cringe with embarrassment that they were ranked above Rory Gallagher. There is simply no way that one can listen at any length to Rory play one scintillating solo after another and place him outside the top ten guitarists in the history of rock. Yeah, he was never terribly popular and even now is not especially well known to the public at large, but the fact is that he had utter mastery over his primary instrument. And unlike most guitarists, Gallagher was a multi instrumentalist. It is widely reported that when Mick Taylor left the Rolling Stones, the first choice to replace him was Gallagher. It is easy to see why. He was even more of a blues purist than any of the remaining Stones, was a better slide player than Keith Richards, Brian Jones, or Mick Taylor, would have provided far better back up vocals than anyone ever has for the band, would have brought some of the same multi-instrumental mastery that Brian Jones contributed in the sixties, and just generally would have forced everyone else in the band to get better just to keep up.
   
   A lot of guitarists fake it in the studio. They get the benefit of multiple takes, double tracking, and various sound effects. Live albums show what you can really do, and luckily we have two great live albums from Gallagher, this one and IRISH TOUR. I actually prefer this one, however, because most of the cuts here did not appear on other albums. For the most part, he sticks with reworkings of classic blues songs. Unlike many bands, his versions never, ever sound like parodies of the originals (for instance, Led Zeppelin on all their blues covers except the truly haunting "When the Levee Breaks"). This album illustrates something that I think shows just how special Gallagher was: how superbly he managed to play while singing. The overwhelming majority of guitarists shift to a sort of back up or rhythm mode when they are singing, moving away from a kind of counterpoint until the singing stops and they can shift to lead guitar mode. Even a guitar god like Richard Thompson does this (though his "back up" mode is far better than most). What is eerie about Gallagher is how is intermixes his singing with lead playing. He often is effectively soloing or playing counterpoint to his singing, as if he able to devote separate parts of his brain to singing and playing. The only other guitarist that I know who does this as well as Gallagher is Jimi Hendrix. Anyone wanting to see what I'm talking about should just listen to this album carefully, noticing not just how he shifts from singing to playing, but how he is playing WHILE he is singing. This also comes across with the way he can play a guitar solo while also playing the harmonica. Whatever else this proves, it demonstrates his almost freakish musical gifts.
   
   Every cut on the album is nothing short of amazing. Later in his career Gallagher would throttle back ever so slightly on his playing, adding more of a lyrical touch when he played. But here he is playing with almost reckless abandon, though never out of control. The only rock guitarist that I think was better on slide was Duane Allmann and on several cuts here Gallagher shines in his slide work. I utterly love, for instance, the way he shifts from regular playing to slide on "I Could Have Had Religion" while also moving from vocals to harmonica. And while he is equally as impressive on cuts like "Messin' with the Kid" and Laundromat" and "Bullfrog Blues," the icing on the cake is what he does with acoustic guitar on "Pistol Slapper Blues" and mandolin on "Going to My Home Town." The most astonishing thing about the number he performs on mandolin is how incredibly exciting it is. One wouldn't normally imagine this to be the case, but the proof is in the listening.
   
   This is without question one of the great live albums ever released and vivid proof of how great Gallagher was. It also stands a rebuke to whatever morons were in charge of that silly Rolling Stone list.

5 comments about Live At The Cafe Au Go-Go (And Soledad Prison).

1. John lee seemed like he had the blues his hole life.Maybe he did maybe he didn't. He played the hole blues man thing to a T. He seemed like the coolest of all cats when he was up on stage. That's because he was. The people bought it hook line and sinker as they should.I have heard,lived and felt the blues since I was 8 yrs.old. I can totally relate to what he was doing and singing about back then and now.Hookers blues and boogie music is and will always be timeless. That to me is the conection I have with him.Pure blues, no nonsense music that hits you like a ton of bricks. This CD does just that and more.



2. If I was stranded on a deserted island and I was to have one CD this would be the one , thought that Hooker and Heat was good , this blows it away ...............



3. This is actually two live albums combined. Cafe Go-Go finds Johnny earlier in his career and Live at Soledad prison finds Johnny mid-career right in the middle of his endless boogie phase.
   
   Live at The Cafe Go-Go is recoreded with Muddy Waters band (Muddy always had the best bands!) including the great Otis Spann on Piano. Muddy even plays guitar on one of the tunes. Sound quality is excellent and John Live is in fine form, but a little restrain. You get the feeling the band had not played that much together. Hearing JLH with Otis Spann in keys is pretty cool however. Bad like Jesse James is one of the creepiest songs made and is made even more haunting by Spann's parse piano.
   
   Live at Soledad prison catch John Lee is his Endless Boogie phase, which for me is where it is at. Sound quality is surprisely very good and his band, including his son John Lee Jr., are tight. Bang Bang Bang is a great jam all the way from the Motor City. This contains all but two cuts of the original Live at Soledad album. These two tunes were sung by John Lee Jr. I love how at the end of the album the prison plugs the plug on the band and it takes a while for everybody to figure out what happened.
   
   Looking for some more great live John Lee Hooker check the live Album with Albert King (they don'y played together, but share the same CD) 'I Play the Blues for you'. For me this is some of the finest JLH caught live on tape. JLH studio album 'Never get out of these blues alive' is also another great album.
   
   This is a great album for anyone who enjoys the blues, live blues, John Lee, or enjoys Otis Spann. Album should be the staple of any basic bblues collection. I highly recommend this CD.



4. Hearing John Lee Hooker backed by the Muddy Water's band from the 1960's is a real treat. The version of "I'm Bad Like Jessie James" that opens the CD is one of the most menacing songs I've ever heard; John Lee describes in detail how he will "take care of" a former friend he took in who went around town telling everybody that he slept with John Lee's wife. This song is a perfect example of how John Lee Hooker was the personification of badass. John Lee also runs through some of his classics like "One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer" and "Bang Bang Bang Bang". I prefer the Cafe Au Go Go set to the Soledad Prison set, but both sets are worth hearing and are full of good performances from John Lee and the band. This is definitely worth getting if you are fan of John Lee Hooker or the blues.



5. It's hard not to get shivers when listening to this recording. John Lee Hooker had such an incredible voice and it's as if his singing and playing encapsulates all misery imaginable. He extracted so much emotion from these songs that made me feel as though I'd actually lived the experience. It's so incredibly painful to listen to in places that I expected the heavens to open up in response. This is a man who knew what he was doing.
   
   The band is in top form and John Lee uses them to get the crowd rocking as he works his magic. Everything is spot-on! From slow, painful numbers to upbeat, rollicking shuffles, John Lee Hooker and his band can do it all.
   
   This is a landmark album that shows a man (and a band) at the top of their game and it's something no self-respecting blues fan should be without! You'd have to be dead not to be affected by this!

5 comments about Hill Country Revue: Live at Bonnaroo.

1. Read Peter's review before reading mine. I agree with Peter in terms of the sound quality being poor. No argument, it is. (I'm a recording engineer so I think I know the difference). However, the musical content is awesome containing very high, focused and sincere energy. Buy this CD as you would buy an original Robert Johnson recording or an early Miles Davis album. You aren't buying it for the sonic quality but rather for the excellent musicianship and musical wonder.



2. Love the NM Allstars and Bonnaroo was a great show! Listen to this cd all the time!



3. I wanted to like the North Mississippi Allstars, they seemed to have all the makings of a great band, southern, blues rooted, and future minded, but their Cds just weren't ringing my bell. I had just about given up on them when SIRIUS starting playing cuts from this CD on the Jam_On channel. Since I liked what I was hearing, I decided to give these guys one more chance. Boy am I glad I did!!! This CD lit a fire under me like nothing had done since I first heard Fillmore East.
   
   Similar to Fillmore East, this concert recording captures a band out to bridge the space between the blues of the past with current trends. The first two tunes "Shake 'Em On Down" and "Po Black Maddie>Skinny Woman>Po Black Maddie" take no prisoners and come charging right out of the gate laying down some serious blues that not only kicks some serious butt, but also shake some serious butt also. Once things get going they don't stop either.



4. I disagree about the sound quality. This is HILL COUNTRY BLues! It's sounds like that. This is a great example of that music style and it's a joy to listen to. I like kicking back to these guys - feels like a back porch on a summer night. It's earthy and REAL, not some sound studio contrived CD. Unfortunately, today most people are used the the big studio productions.



5. Wow. This album is one of my favorite blues albums. I saw the Allstars live with The Black Crowes and that is what turned me onto them. I think they are one of the most brilliant and true blues-based bands out today. I would reccomend this album to anyone who wants to hear great music.

5 comments about Stages.

1. Wow. Ruthie Foster is a rare true musical genius. The only thing better than this album was seeing her in concert. People couldn't stop talking about it in my area for weeks.



2. Ruthie Foster shows the full range of her musicianship on this remarkable recording, which captures not only her rich voice but her wonderful sense of humor and love for music that stretches over a broad range of genres. Whether playing on a tango theme or drawing from her wonderful dip bag of folk music, Ruthie never fails to please the listener, especially on this album.



3. ...then you owe it to yourself to buy this album. You won't miss her on stage again: expect goose bumps, and maybe some damp eyes, just listening to the CD. This is one of the best live recordings -- of anyone -- that I have heard. Buy it now, as the first in your collection, and you can tell your friends later: "Ruthie Foster? Oh yeah, I know her music!"



4. Ruthie Foster is THE BEST pure singer I have ever heard. When she sings Walk On and/or Oh Susannah - chills...
   I absolutely LOVE HER - not only her singing but her guitar playing also. Check out/download her video at Kerrville from the internet and see her perform. A genius who can sing anything: blues, folk, whatever. I LOVE her - she is my favorite singer. Both her Stages and Runaway Soul albums- whew!!
   Wish she would perform on national TV...



5. A couple of weeks ago on a stiflingly sultry afternoon at the Texas Book Festival I heard in the distance this incredible voice singing the old Curtis Mayfield song, "People Get Ready." I moved quickly toward it and caught the last two minutes of Ruthie Foster's one hour set at the Entertainment Tent. In those two minutes, the gritty spirituality of her bluesy gospel rendition of that classic gave me the chills, and, I confess, watery eyes. She shook me. I told my wife that she was the greatest singer I had ever heard, and I'm not sure that I would qualify that even now. I ordered two of her CD's as soon as I could get to the internet and Amazon.com. The studio produced "Runaway Soul" is truly great, and I highly recommend it, but "Stages" is as close to perfection as any human has a right to expect. I agree with the other reviewer. It's the best live CD I own, with the possible exception of "James Brown at the Apollo!" Her rendition of "Oh, Susana," is revelatory. Foster discovers beneath the hokey joy of the tradition tune a transcendently beautiful lament. It is a shockingly insightful performance. Haunting. I could go on and on about other great numbers on the CD, but won't. Just buy it and enjoy it.

5 comments about Together for the First Time...Live.

1. ONE OF THE BEST PAIRINGS OF BLUES ARTISTS YOU'LL FIND.
   PERSONALLY, THE ONSTAGE PATTER BETWEEN THESE TWO
   GIANTS IS WHAT MAKES THIS LIVE RECORDING WELL WORTH
   THE PRICE OF ADMISSION (YOU COULD TELL THEY WERE HAVING
   A BALL AND IT'S INFECTIOUS). THOUGH IT MIGHT BE IMPROVED
   WITH REMASTERING, DON'T WAIT, YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE WITHOUT
   HEARING THIS PRICELESS RECORDING.



2. to begin, the audio was bad there was a lack of bass and it didn't have that live feel to it. It should have been remastered, with the technology available today, it would have been a five star recording.



3. BB King, iconic blues man, and Bland live - it's a classic must have.



4. What can I say, Bobby Blue Bland and BB King. messin' around on stage. A great interplay of two great bluesmen just having fun.
   
   Not the all time best of either one, but absolutely worth the price of admission



5. Is there anything better than B.B. King? Only when he's with Bobby "Blue" Bland. Great.

5 comments about Burnside on Burnside.

1. I'm a young guy and just scratching the service on blues legends like R.L. Burnside. This is the first CD of his I've bought and I'm extremely happy that I purchased it.
   R.L. has an absolutely perfect blues voice. His guitar playing along with Kenny Brown is incredible. The slide guitar is one of my favorite sounds on earth and they play it to perfection throughout the album.
   My favorite songs are Shake Em' on Down, Rollin' and Tumblin', Goin' Down South, Skinny Women (which is covered by a great band named the The Black Keys they call their version "Busted"), and Bad Luck and Trouble. But my very favorite is Walkin' Blues. It's the total package. It's perfect in vocals, lyrics, emotion, slide guitar, and everything in between. I can't get enough of that song.
   The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is because a couple of songs are repetitious of each other and don't stand out to me.
   I would give this album a 4.5 stars but it won't let me.



2. Powerfull, driving and gets under your skin. Buy it and play it loud.
   My favourite blues album in my collection.



3. It don't get no better than this. Burnside's best. I wish I could compare it to something, but ain't nothin' to compare it to.



4. Skinny woman though... anyone heard busted by the black keys? Same song... subtly different lyrics. Black keys came out first though... I think.



5. This cat is good. Mesmerizing beat and tempo, he has the blues in his voice and his soul. A "must buy" for the down home blues lover. This is what it's all about.

5 comments about Ray Charles Live.

1. Um, er, buy it?
   
   I don't dig horns. This is a horn-centric CD. It is perfect. Ray is/was the man, it's very simple. Endorphin City.



2. The other reviewers are right, this IS the heart & soul of Ray Charles. I first heard the "Live in Newport" half of this CD in 1959 in northern Sweden.A young Swedish girl played it for me. 100's of times. It shaped the way I hear music, set the standard, especially "The Right Time" and "Tell the Truth". Why did Ray stop making this kind of music? Only explanation I can think of is that he was following the market. To tell the truth, I don't know that many people even today who can really relate to it. The Beatles, yes, but these unbelievable songs, no. Seems they just ain't got soul. So it's to nice hear stories of people with whom this music STUCK. It IS music for a lifetime.



3. This album has the best live recordings of Ray's classics "A fool for you" and "Drown in my own Tears". Just those two songs are enough reason to buy the album.



4. The LP begins with The Right Time 4:06 to open one concert; then picks it up again to start off the second concert which was recorded in mono. The first question I looked at was which order works. I have owned the LP for years, but I cannot say which order is accurate - maybe going back to the orginal 2 albums might give a hint.
   
   Either way these live recording match the power of Ray Charles at the height of his powers. It also shows that he has sax skills to match his piano. I saw him do it here in Seattle a couple of times.
   
   So the order is different. If it really irks you, then import them into iTunes and arrange them to match the LP. That's what I did to SGT. Pepper.
   
   The CD is great, but Ray Charles continued to evolve as an artist. Check out The Best of Ray Charles. So I drop a star for dropping and adding and rearranging the CD version. Still, at this price and after seeing RAY, this is where the performances live.



5. As a junior in high school (Druid Hills), I and several of my classmates attended the radio station WAOK 25th anniversary show at Herndon Stadium in Atlanta (1959). The Ray Charles set was one of many. The show was and remains the best I've ever seen, but the performance by Ray Charles, his band and the Raylettes was without equal. The energy of "What'd I Say", "tell The Truth" and "Night Time Is The Right Time" was incredible. The set was recorded on a WAOK monural tape recorder and later played over the air. The response of the radio audience was overwhelming, resulting in the ultimate release of the Atlantic album (which we bought at the Central Record Shop at 5 points, on the day it was released). We were white teenagers who loved the music played on WAOK (a predominately black station) and even then we realized it was never going to get any better than
   Ray Charles on a May 1959 evening. I still can't believe he's gone, but then I crank up "What'd I Say" or "Tell The Truth" and the years melt away...

5 comments about Live at the Sands.

1. If you are a fan of the classic "Sinatra at the Sands with Count Basie", you will want to have this companion recording! The Sands recording was one of Frank's best (along with "Ring-a-Ding-Ding") and a true classic - an "end of the era" demarcation in terms of the great big band singers. These are the Basie band's warm up numbers, and while a little on the rough side, they are still great listening. This does not rise to the level of "Breakfast Dance and Barbecue", but it's still fantastic, and something any fan of the Sands album will want.



2. I DJ and program a big band segment on my show at a NW Radio Jazz station. I want to say as a teen in 1960 I had the opportunity to see and hear Count Basie and his orchestra at Disneyland, California. I was a believer from then on that I had heard one of the top bands I would ever hear. We were blessed to hear a lot from Basie through the Sixties. The sound, solo work and the team work of the musicians on Basie at The Sands is Big Band at it's greatest. The sound quality is truly good for a live recording. I really enjoy being able to hear very clearly Basie's style of "plinking" at the piano. He was truly unique and this is a good album of his work with the Band. WORK! It wasn't work, it was pure Joy to the ears.



3. It was a great time in the late history of big bands and Basie was enjoying his popularity. It also had to be a high working with Sinatra. This collection was recorded live and definately swings.



4. Energy....killing Sonny Payne fills and set-ups for the band....absolutely electric live recording from a peak period for Basie and his Band as they backed and opened for Sinatra at the Sands. Great recording quality and remastering for surprising clarity.
   
   Enjoy one of the best of the genre....



5. a powerful collection of live sounds from one of the greats, commanding respect and infinite hours of listening.