The Atomic Mr Basie

I'm not totally sure what to say, to my ears it's pretty standard big-band jazz. Maybe it was noteworthy in 1958. It's fine, but I wouldn't put it on again as anything other than background music to talk over.

No me gusta. Just don’t like it. I tried. I like some Glen Miller. But this just sounds too much like car crashes

love me some new jazz music! Never heard of Count Basie & as a piano lover some of those melodies were beautiful. It's a lovely album

Fun little album

Love it

One of the most accessible jazz albums I’ve ever listened to.

Surprised how easy this was to listen to for background at work. Normally would throw this kind of thing a 1 and move on but this was different somehow. Might even listen to it again when chilling at home.

This music makes me happy. Great to have on while working around the house.

Bueno

Punchy and beautiful. No joke, a blissful listen.

A fantastic jazz album. I had never listened to Count Basie before (that I know of) and really enjoyed this album.

More really, really good jazz. I can't believe I'm such a sucker for structured jazz music. It's so alive. An absolute gem for any jazz lover. Brass sections, smooth piano, and infectious rhythm that is all gas no brakes.

sizzling, swinging big band - great Neil Hefti arrangements, too.

Jazz / Big-Band. Alles instrumental. Als Hintergrundmusik noch ok. 2/5

So this one is a little hard to rate for me. It mostly settled into background music for me BUT I was enjoying listening to it. I think this is a fun sound, though not one I am all that familiar with. I can't really pick out particular songs I like at this stage, but I would give this a second listen for sure!

Swing music is one of those genres I have plenty of appreciation but little excitement for. This album doesn’t really contradict that opinion, but it’s certainly worthy and well-performed.

Great jazz, good balance

The oddest thing about listening to this album is that it makes you reflect on what your period reflection is for specific music-styles. Thus, The Atomic Mr Basie, for all intent and purpose, belongs to the '30s, not the late '50s. However, does this mean that your favorite band, when growing up, is never allowed to release more music 2 decades later? This would have killed the Stones, Pink Floyd, and on and on and on. So, consider me happy with some Big Band music, and the Count brightening up my day! And should this app throw another "old persons" music my way, I will be happy to give it a listen.

classic brilliance

I forgot how amazing this album was. Basie had been leading his band for over 20 years at this point, but he managed to capture some of the best big band music ever recorded. It’s the perfect confluence of great bandleading, interplay between musicians, and arrangements (by Neal Hefti). Probably the best swing/big band jazz album ever recorded.

The name is misleading. By all accounts, he wasn't an actual count (like Dracula), he was a jazz musician who was great at counting. Some say could count in a song even if a nuclear armageddon was going down. And you can count this, as one of the greatest big band albums ever!

nice enjoyable 3/5

Piqued my interested in Jazz Orchestra. 4.2 stars

Classic Count Basie music from a bygone era of jazz orchestras And a nice example here one of his better albums

Heck yea

I like it, won't ever be in heavy rotation, but another remember this on a rainy Thursday afternoon.

This is extremely not my shit, swing sucks

I didn't know music could sound this good. Each song introduces amazing hooks and endings that perfectly conclude the song. This album blew my expectations away becoming an easy 5/5 for me.

Swinging but of its time

My new fallout soundtrack

Basie.

Yes important in a musical education - along with a few paragraphs of the Wikipedia entry.....Look for the 1994 remaster - previous version either ripped badly to YT music or is a bad recording, despite its importance. Not forgetting how important his innovations and influence are he is one of many who changed music, creating many "standards" - the track "Li'l Darlin" standing out to me as something I first heard on "Come in Spinner" on ABC in 1990 when first discovering the swoons and joys of jazz and the voices the orchestra can play. Whichever way you discover a love for Jazz, I hope you find it. But this album is more history that joy for me. But a great reminder of the debt owed to the passionate innovative genius of the first half of the 20th century I music. They were exciting rule breaking and standard setting times.

Smooth! That’s how I think of Count Basie - both as a pianist & a band-leader. This album might be a Count Basie album, but the music here has a lot to do with Neal Hefti, who both composed & arranged the music. Hefti was hot in the 50’s & 60’s. I was a kid but I knew his name. He composed & arranged music for the Woody Herman & Harry James Orchestras, before connecting with Basie in the early 50’s. The emphasis is on the brass. No strings here, which was Hefti’s want. He had started as a trumpeter, after all. He’ll always be best remembered for two compositions - his theme song for the TV show, The Odd Couple, but most of all for the title track to the TV series Batman. This album moves at a pace that hardly gives you time to breathe. And, as one critic has remarked, it was probably The Count’s last great album.

Bruce Elder on allmusic.com writes of this album that "it took Basie's core audience and a lot of other people by surprise, as a bold, forward-looking statement within the context of a big-band recording." I remember when Bruce used write record reviews for the Sydney Morning Herald, so there you go. Quality became ubiquity, and has diminished the surprise and boldness of this album. This album may have been a bold, new statement in 1958, but it has become so much of the cultural landscape that I often felt like I was listening to a Top Cat cartoon. It's not Count Basie's fault that he so successfully defined what to do with a big band that it became one of the dominant orchestral sounds of the 20th century. It's an energetic up-tempo listen, with some flashy soloing and a huge sound. My 19 year old son, Hal, has developed a love of jazz, and especially big bands of the 60s and early 70s. I can hear the influence of this album in the records he collects and plays. He _loves_ big horn section, and this rally is gold standard in that style.

4 stars. Great feel, great piano, great jazz.

Parece ser um clássico das bandas de metais (sopros) para bailes, assim, de fato me soou como totalmente genérico.

It's got some sassy chords, and is a genuine bop.

Cracking piece of big band jazz 4.5

This album was really relaxing and even though i don't really listen to jazz and usually listen to it while studying (just like this time) it was really nice

Just a really good album. Made me forget how grey it is outside and have a good boogie

I really enjoyed this but nothing really stood out – it sounded like Count Basie with the piano and horns but it made me realise how hard big band and bebop bass players work. Eddie Jones is non-stop and really underpins the entire album. Great mix. Having said that, I wonder how many people will remember Basie, as opposed to Ellington, or Petersen, or Shaw or Miller?

It's decent, I enjoyed it

Fantastically relaxing and comfortable to the old soul. I do enjoy this from time to time.

Wow - loved this one! Very upbeat, so many instruments, catchy tunes. What a great find! 5 ⭐️

portillos music.

ten typowy jazz z dawnych lat, nie odroznilbym od innych utworow, ale nie jest irytujacy

4 Banger

What a great album. Loved to listen to it. Will listen again.

Classic. Lovely. Would listen again.

Passt gut zum kochen

That was an overall nice discovery, even though it's not my favorite genre.

Honestly wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this album before I started it. I’m not the biggest fan of big band music, but I also know Count Basie is a legend. This definitely exceeded my expectations. The arrangements were fun and captivating. I kept listening to “Fight of the Foo Birds” on repeat because it was such a fun track. Overall I really enjoyed this.

Classic music from that era

pretty nice swing

I can see why people like this and why the album is important but I really cant get into Jazz at all. This is very much posh resturant music for me. Favourite song: Least favourite: Album artwork: I love the cover

Interesting

Good album from a Jazz legend. Not really my style but I can appreciate it.

Een piano virtuoos, fifties swing jazz. Cool, maar ik raak er na een tijdje wel op uit gekeken.

Groovy stuff so far

I enjoyed many of the tracks, but in the end it just didn’t leave much of an impression on me. None of the tracks were “bad,” and it's not even the worst work of Count Basis, but a lot of it just seemed forgettable to me.

Enjoyable, fun at times, relaxing at others. Bumping it up to 4 since the artwork and name is dope.

A good one to listen to After Supper. Preferably after the Whirly-Bird goes to bed and Teddy the Toad wakes up for his Duet.

STANDOUTS: n/a OVERALL: 2/5; nice lil inoffensive elevator music but nothing that stands out.

Is The Atomic Mr. Basie a good jazz record? Sure! It’s extremely traditional, especially in retrospect, but not as traditional as you’d expect. When you hear the term “big band,” your mind conjures up a very specific sound, and I would say the majority of this album is not playing within the parameters of that sound. A lot of it is a lot more low-key, melodic, lounge-esque, even. I think you either like that aesthetic in jazz or you don’t, and I typically don’t, but I still see its value. There are some bop elements to keep the attention of modern ears, though, especially in how the horns are played. Actually, I think it’s that piece that earned this album a spot in the book in the first place. And Basie’s piano playing is pretty engaging, if you like that kind of thing, but that’s not unique to this record. But is this an essential jazz album, especially from this era? Honestly, no. Jazz is a hard genre to get into because it lacks a clear hook 90% of the time, but there are a 1,000,001 memorable jazz songs, and albums filled with jazz cuts that get stuck in your head for day. Basie has some examples himself! But unfortunately, while The Atomic is good and seems to be a noteworthy example of jazz while it was transitioning sounds, this album contains zero stand-out, flat-out, stuck-in-your-head-for-days jazz cuts. Even at its best. That isn’t to say it’s bad, because it isn’t, but it never really shines, either. Which is fine if you’re just bouncing around listening to jazz albums you pulled out of the bin, but that is far from a standing ovation or strong recommendation. If some of these songs – especially cuts on Side B – came on my Spotify shuffle, I wouldn’t hit skip (especially if I’m in the mood for jazz, which is why they’d be on my shuffle list in the first place). But I doubt that I will ever revisit this album in full ever again after today. Maybe another Basie would have been a smarter choice.

This is like the heavy metal of jazz. It was thoroughly enjoyable

Easy listening

Nice jazzy instrumental. Solid background music.

Swing is not really my thing but this is a good album

en stark tvåa. ganska gött emellanåt och inte för långt album. coolt att det är 50-tal. däremot är det här inte riktigt för mig.

4.0

Nice mix of exciting, high energy jazz ensembles and slower tracks. I'm not too familiar with jazz / orchestral music so I cannot compare it to other albums in the genre, but I can say I enjoyed the album. It's a nice album for passive listening while focusing on other tasks. Some of the higher energy songs had me envisioning animations and cartoons to accompany them. Oh, and I really like the album cover. It's great.

Bit jazzy, bit chill. No lyrics, just music

not bad, pretty cool tunes probably a 3/5 maybe even a 4 definitely a banger

This was fun, you can see how it’s the bridge between big band and rock and roll. Enjoyable listen.

If I wanted to listen to an hour of instrumental jazz, this is probably the album I’d listen to. Unfortunately I don’t think I’d want to listen to an hour of instrumental jazz very often.

A nice listen. This is definitely the oldest one so far (and obviously so). It was exactly what I needed today, too (I was too stressed for lyrics). The big-band really lifted my spirits. :)

As a random album that came across my plate, I found it to be fun, energetic, and high-energy, but it also had some really good mellow sections with wonderful pianos and great percussion. That being said, I'm always open to listening to anything that comes my way, but this was definitely the first big band, swing, ballroom jazz album I've ever played from beginning to end. Other than that, it's fair to say this is definitely not my usual style of music, so I don't have much of a reference point on what makes this such a monumental album compared to others from its era and genre.

Great example of big band music, and the blurry lines between that and the more accessible side of jazz. I liked it, especially the drumming, and appreciate its place on the genre, but not sure how deep down the rabbit hole I feel the need to venture. I loved the cover art though - but not sure it would pass the legal dept. nowadays!

Basie is a jazz icon, and rightfully so. Not my favorite thing to listen to, but certainly enjoyable.

I enjoyed this. It was a nice palette cleanser, definitely music that I'm not very familiar with and it was a nice little head bopping background music soundtrack to my day. I'll give it a 3. At one point I was trying to look at it as objectively as possible, and as the musicians are obviously very talented, I wondered if it didnt deserve 4 stars. Then as I continued listening I felt like it was just a very long album. When I checked, I had blown past the album by 4-5 songs and hadn't noticed. So while I'm sure that these people are fantastic artists, the reality is that they're not *so* good that I could differentiate their sound from the next 5 artists that popped up. Ultimately, then, it was a pleasant little aside, and a happy 3 stars.

could i write poetry to this? y

Interesting. I haven't heard Basie in this context before.

Great album

first listen.

I have never listened to a lot of jazz, but I've decided to give this a shot. It was nice, but not something I would listen to regularly. At times, I felt like I was in a really fancy restaurant, or watching a soap opera about the 20's, or in a Pink Panther episode. I'd listen to it again while drinking a nice bottle of wine, since it wasn't bad at all, but not something to listen to frequently.

This album is able to capture a lot of different feelings over it's runtime. From epic upbeat big band sounds to more slow and intimate conversations. Truly an album with a track for any stage of a fancy evening. The album has a whole has a very familiar sound, with less of the experimentation of jazz. The solos are incredible and a really loved "Duet". Overall, very good but maybe not something I will be revisiting often.

Enjoyed it, but wouldn’t choose to play it

I enjoy big band music but it all starts to sound the same to me after a while, especially since I listen at work so I'm not usually paying full attention to it.

I've never listened to big band music before, but I will be going forward. This was a really fun album.

Enjoyed this big band sound. The songs were short and different enough to keep the album interesting and a fun listen.

It was one of those albums in which you listened to the first track and knew it was going to be great from beginning to end.

I mean it was a fine album to listen to. It sounded really good which is more than I can say for quite a few of the albums we've had, but I don't think it would ever rise above the level of background dinner music for me. I just don't really connect with jazz/big band music as much as other genres. It just doesn't really do it for me. Also I don't understand why this was on the list, sure it sounded fine but good/revolutionary enough for me to NEED to listen to it before I died? I don't really think so.

classic big band/jazz sound. can tell Basie & his orchestra had played together for quite a while-they all blend so well together. excellent album

Love me the oldies and classics

Great Jazz! Really enjoyed listening to it after so many years. Not my usual music but thoroughly enjoyable.

This is a good album with the typical big band flair to it. I've listened to a few Jazz albums so far in this challenge, and I don't like this album as much as the other ones I've listened to. Still, this album doesn't really have a low light. I struggle to pick a favorite song as I find myself liking a lot of them the same. I would probably go with 'Lil' Darlin' as it closes the album strongly. It was a pleasant album to listen to. FAVORITE SONGS - Lil' Darlin' - Duet - Whirly-Bird 3.5/5

Soundtrack from fallout

1.5 Not for me though it was more tolerable than the Charles Mingus album.

I really liked this.

Cuphead soundtrack be like

Pretty cool

Basie can swing! Definitely in my top 30 jazz albums. I looked for this record for a while during pandemic.

I don't really know why but it wasn't what I was expecting - it wasn't bad tho

Schöner Jazz. Die dicken Bläsersätze muss man aber mögen.

1. red bank - 1.5 2. duet - 1.5 3. zupper - 1 4. foo birdz - 1.5 5. double - 1.5 6. teddy - 1 7. bird - 1.5 8. blue - 1.5 9. zplanky - 1 10. fantail - 1.5 11. darling - 2

This album was okay. It's decent background music, but I'm not that into big band/old Hollywood jazz stuff. Would be kind of fun to listen to while cleaning or something, but I wouldn't go out of my way to hear it.

The cover of the album (an atomic bomb) does not indicate the content, which is a big-band style orchestra (without singing).

It was fun swing/big band. Not bad but not super memorable.

Correcto. Big band no es mi estilo de jazz favorito.

MARAVILHOSO MEU DEUS QUE COISA INCRÍVEL, FODA, BOM DEMAIS

Count Basie was a jazz pianist that led one of the most successful "big bands" in music history. He toured and recorded with his orchestra for almost fifty years. The Atomic Mr. Basie is a studio album Count Basie recorded after his orchestra had been together for almost twenty years. This is an incredible collection of tracks of remarkable depth and range. This is potentially the best of Basie's extensive catalog, and a canonical part of American jazz.

Love jazz with lots of wind and brass

Fire

Yeah this swings

Favourite song - Teddy the toad

Great big band sound

The music the hip kids listened to the year I was born. I should listen to this every year on my birthday. I like this! Time travel music. 3 stars no problem.

Classic jazz at its finest! What a masterpiece!

Итс олрайт. Лучшая песня - Lil' Darlin'.

Fun listen

Loved the album, made me feel like playing Fallout New Vegas again

Pretty cool. Pretty samey.

Has real swing, fun listen and very reminiscent of its era.

More concentration than I possess is needed to lift me away from the noir cinema association this brings me, but it's a fine example of this sort of formation flying. I kept thinking of scenes from Touch of Evil, among others.

The most interesting big band music I've ever heard - way ahead of its time, really good! [EDIT: Sounds like a bunch of soundtrack themes to exciting yet unmade films thrown together. "Duet", in particular is great. Extra points for the cover art. Boom]

All I hear is the Family Guy theme song over and over again. I guess its OK and really good clean musicians but not my thing. Did enjoyed it for a few songs until they all became too similar.

Jazz again :(

Doubt I’ll listen to any of this again but it wasn’t awful.

Decent example of big band

Didn't listen through it all the way through admittedly. I do like the sound, but couldn't tell you anything in particular from an individual song

Very good, great background music (that's not meant to be an insult).

Enjoyed this album

7/10. Feel good album. Nice vibes.

High energy big band stuff and easy going mellow stuff. I don't care for much big bands but this is good. It came out in 1958 so that probably helps. I like this quite a bit actually.

Fun, jazzy tunes. Probably not something I’ll spend much time with but maybe one to listen to on a Sunday

Big band’s last gasp. Really enjoyed it

I got very excited when I heard the name of this album but it turns out it is just jazz with a big band. Oh well. Listens: 1 Rating: 2

Good stuff. All I pictured with this music was the Naked Gun collection of movies. “Interesting” album cover.

I don’t know what to call this genre, orchestra, big band, whatever, but it’s not something I listen to. Not to say I didn’t like this, but it felt like something I would put on in the background

Good background music and cool album cover for an album from the 50s Rating: 3.4

Big band, swing. This album was pretty good, lots of energy and very dense. There were some really exciting songs, some ok songs, and some pretty forgettable songs, so it was a mixed experience. But I did have fun listening. Lots of cool solos and what I would guess were some improvisational bits. I don't really know what to say other than that, it was just fun to listen to but I wasn't very engaged. Maybe I still just don't get the genres yet, maybe it's just not quite for me. It was evident that everyone in the album had fun and were playing their hearts out. The album was fun for me as well, so I guess it does its job. Won't revisit, but I did like it. 3/5

Fun album Standout Songs: The Kid from Red Bank Flight of the Foo Birds

Pretty good swing album with a misleading cover. Pretty bold of him to have an atomic explosion on the cover post WW2 and during the red scare. The music was interesting with good playing. I wouldn't go out of my way to listen.

Good swing music, reminds me of Fallout.

5/10 That's nice. 5-2-2024

Yet another example on this list of how dance music used to be way cooler than it is now. Albums like this make me truly tired of getting packed into a small dark room with 18 dollar cocktails just so that I can gyrate in my allotted square foot of space. I also think that there is a really cool level of fatalism present in this album. The world could end any day now in nuclear Armageddon, let's have four martinis and swing! Our fatalism today is much more depressing. Let's make fatalism fun again.

Skemmtileg, oft frekar svipuð. Uppáhalds lag: Lil' Darlin

Not bad. Not particularly engaging for me.

Fun, instrumental swing. Nothing mind-blowing but I enjoyed it quite a bit throughout.

After Supper is the Standout here. Great album.

As a certified "not a big fan of jazz" person, this was actually really pleasant. It's especially been a breath of fresh air after the past couple duds I've gotten. I still don't fully understand jazz, but this was a pretty good listen. 7/10 Would I listen again? If I'm feeling jazzy

Have never listened to big band and am kind of loving this. Let’s see how an albums-worth of this goes. Okay. This is cool. Especially liked the first three and Teddy the Toad

I listened to this because Joe “I cook da pizza” Dosch said it was his favorite jazz albums. I definitely enjoyed it but I feel like there is a ceiling for albums like this. I can’t appreciate the sax parts as much as other people

Think this I liked this less than I should have bc I was incredibly hangry while this was playing. The sound of the music was good, sound of my stomach growling-not so good. Enjoyed it like a 6/10

Pretty good! Not the biggest jazz listener but this was very solid. 7/10

7/10 - Pretty Jazzy. Earlier pieces were better imo, and flight of the foo birds was great. Some of the songs when less things are happening it is less interesting.

Just not a fan of jazz, got pretty bored and a little annoyed

Pretty good 7/10

Not a big fan of the big bands. The first song is very good though!

A 7.5/10 ! Really lush and happy instrumentals, a timeless sound ❤️

Enjoyable listen while sitting in traffic on my way to work, very fun record.

To my surprise, the fact that there were no lyrics wasn’t what I didn’t like about this album. I think that after seeing it was only 40 minutes, I was shocked how long it felt. The first two songs I was vibing with but after awhile it unfortunately just sounded similar and somewhat boring..

Obviously old-timey and almost like it's SO old-fashioned it goes beyond dated and is just kind of fun. Swing/big band is not really music I listen to at all but this is great to work to, just sort of hit in the right way today. I like it. Interesting choice of cover art tho... Bonus point for no vocals. 8/10 4 stars.

Hearing the first notes of this record felt really refreshing after so many rock records. I prefer laid back, spare jazz to the Big Band feel. Unfortunately on this record you find mainly the second. Sometimes you hear some creaking from the players themselves or the surrounding what let me take off my headphones quiet often, to check if someone was entering the shared flat I live in. It made the record more intimate and gave me the feeling of sitting next to the musicians.

No

Not much to say here fun listen

Yeah, no

In a nutshell: explosive The band is slick. Pleasant listening. The Atomic Mr Basie would be a good entry point for appreciating jazz/swing. Overall: 7/10

This was fun

I love this kinda music! but it's not a 5star for me personally

Ladies, better hide your mans Cigar boxes, cause Count Basie is coming to town. I wish I had a boujee rich setup where I could play poker smoking to this album, because it only seems fitting. I’ve really grown a liking to Jazz and Soul lately, so I very much appreciated this one- just chilled out vibes

It’s so easy I see big band jazz I give it a 5 it’s all a science. Jesus what a well paced and beautiful album that is short compositions while still feeling engaging through its runtime. Drummer is on point and Basie on the piano is always a pleasure. This is a 10/10

Not a bad album to start off my 1/1001. I do adore swing/jazz. First Count Basie album I've listened in full. Favorite: Duet Least: Splanky

Turns out I can't stand jazz

Cool.

Smooth and relaxed. Big band is the best kind of jazz.

I love this. It’s weirdly comforting yet fun to listen to.

Classic album, classic sound. A nice mix of songs both sultry and energetic. Musicianship is top notch. Fave Songs: Whirlybird, Splanky, Fantail, Midnite Blue, Teddy the Toad, Flight of the Foo Birds

that was fun

Swing, agradable.

This is nice, I like count basie. 68/100

This simply isn’t for me - 2.5/5

Big Band Sound. Meinem Papa hätte es gefallen.

Top notch musicians - but the style is not for me

Just fine. Not my genre, and maybe it's just me but the songs really blend together after a while. Cool album art and name though. 4/10 (2/5)

Fun. Although kind of bonkers album art. In high school I played trombone in jazz band so I felt very much at ease listening to this. If you like this album then I recommend you also check out the album Sinatra At The Sands where Basie and his orchestra are Frank’s backing band.

Pretty good! A solid kinda classic jazz album, maybe it didn’t move me the way other jazz albums do, but it was lots of fun!

I was excited for this one, but it left me wanting.

Was not sure what to expect going in, and still not sure what I got coming out of it

A pleasant listen!

Very good work/study music

Cartoons have forever ruined this type of music for me. I can't take any of it seriously. Tom and Jerry absolutely bastarsized it. Not really my thing anyway.

Not an unpleasant album by any means. I did feel like I was in a classic sleuthing movie at times. That is not a terrible vibe but its not one I seek out very often. 3.5/5

Felt like I was trapped in a Tom & Jerry cartoon. There’s worse places I guess. I can respect the musicianship gone into this and I have endured so much worse on this 1,001 list. At least the wife didn’t walk in and tell me to switch this rubbish off, so I will give a solid 2.

Pleasant but uninspiring. Not crap enough for a 1, but not good enough for a 2. I'll see how I feel in the morning.

I recognise that it's great for it's time, however it is a genre I am not quite qualified to speak on. Nice listening though, and that's what matters, isn't it?

Vet fortfarande nt riktigt skillnaden på ett bra och ett fantastiskt jazz album. Men ja tyckte iaf de här va bra

I really enjoyed this. Definitely going to have to listen to our more. 4/5

This piece was long but had a lot of musical gems mixed into the runtime , I really liked the blend of traditional romantic chord progressions intermixed with the predominantly bebop Jazz inspired record

Really great compositions, but im not much of a big band jazz guy. Still sounded great

Don't know much about swing but I feel like this should be a 5. Really enjoyed it and it sound tracked my moving furniture yesterday quite nicely. I've got to imagine the cover art here was pretty abrasive for 1958. I think it's great.

This was nice! In context with some of our more recent music... it sounds like it was made by people on a completely different planet than the music just 10 years later. Obviously, this was well on its way out even in 1958, but… still! I think I still can’t quite comprehend how radical the shift in music was in those 10 years. At some point, I recognized track 2 again, and had this moment of wait– have I just been repeating track 2 over and over? Let me get onto track 3! And then I realized that I had listened all the way through the album, and had almost no recollection of the other tracks. It was pleasant though! Nice palette cleanser, given the recent ones I've been working through. 3/5

I'm too scared of jazz

Atomic!

There is nothing tighter than a Basie horn section, and they do it while absolutely dripping with style and dynamic range. Favorite track is Splanky, but it's a tough choice.

The Atomic Mr Basie is an absolute riot, great jazz/big band sound with an INCREDIBLE walking bass driving every song along at every tempo you could want, but it's at its best when it's rollicking at speed and everyone's having fun. It's highly skilled and infinitely listenable, just not especially memorable for someone like me. It's a very easy 4.

Definitely a good listen - didn't grab me as much as one of the Miles Davis albums that we've had, but elevated above most of the other jazz that we've had so far. Agree that it's better when its pacier, which it too often isn't really. Think it's a high 3/5 rather than anything more.

I can see how this is described as the pinnacle of swing/big band. It seemed like they had thrown everything this music stood for into one album. The quality is obvious to see and it deserves it's place here. It's an interesting stepping stone on the progression of music and I'm glad I'm listened but it's not going to feature in regular rotation.

Omg so cool dawg 😍i fw this shit

A lot of fun. Bouncy jazz. What's not to love?

Enjoyed it. Generally I much prefer a smaller jazz combo to a big band, particularly from the 50s & 60s, but refreshing to step away from the country-rock for a minute.

Probably doesn't come off as explosive as the cover would suggest nowadays, but this is a good time! Just hard for an entirely instrumental jazz album to stand out as a must-listen for me personally unless it does something really unique.

Jazz is shit.

That's pretty good! 7/10

Precioso

Classic smooth Jazz.

Just straight jazz, no filler but nothing extraordinary OTHER than the fact this was from the 50’s! Feels a bit more contemporary which is cool. 2.8

Jazzy. But jazz is more fun with a big(ish) band than some dude meandering away on a piano with equally aimless bass accompaniment. A little short of “atomic” in my book, but not hard to listen to.

Another one I listened to several times.

I liked it. I like big band jazz way better than the smaller scale style. Again, wish there were 1/2 stars. This would be 3.5 for me.

this was a very good album to listen to while sitting in the garden reading. jaunty.

Sounds fine I guess. I don’t really listen to this type of music.

I have not heard of this album before. I don’t listen to jazz so it was quite boring, didn’t notice when a song changed. Great as background music but I don’t think I will listen again.

Niiice.

While big band music from the 50s is not a genre I gravitate toward, I dug the smoothness and swagger that The Atomic Mr. Basie provided throughout its 40-minute runtime. I could absolutely see myself pairing this album with a perfectly made martini. Bonus points for: 1) Song titles like "Flight of the Foo Birds," "Whirly-Bird," and--my personal favorite--"Splanky," as well as 2) an eye-catching cover, something fairly unusual for this genre of music in 1958. Interesting Factoids from Wikipedia: *The album won Best Jazz Performance, Group and Best Performance by a Dance Band awards at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards (May 4, 1959). *(Count Basie) led (the Count Basie Orchestra) for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. *Neal Hefti (who co-arranged the album alongside the CBO) went on to write music for The Odd Couple movie and TV series and for the Batman TV series. Standout Tracks: The Kid From Red Bank, Flight of the Foo Birds, Whirly-Bird, Splanky

Pleasant orchestral jazz, could be a looney tunes soundtrack. Stand-out: Teddy the Toad

Some great old fashioned jazz here. Really liked this. 4 stars.

I've never listened to big band before - very impressive

BL: Heard of Count Basie through word of mouth but never knowingly listened to his works, will be interested to hear. AL: unless I'm missing some major historical context this to me just feels like a regular, run of the mill Jazz album of its time, of which I don't feel particularly strong towards, most of the tracks blended into one and didn't provide any terms of notable listening. Quite dissapointed with this FT: didn't have one 2/5

yes nice good

Glad I got to hear it but not my kind of thing. I'll give it a 3 because it was actually great background music for cleaning the house

Year I was born! Fantastic album, magic. Great energy. Great songs.

Great big band album of the 50’s. Solid vibe!

good old fashioned Count

Pretty fun. Strong opener!

This album is a (nuclear) blast!

Good but gets old

I don't like jazz, but this was actually kind of fun. I was imagining young people dancing to this in 1958. Not bad, but still not something I would normally listen to nor will I listen to it again.

Ol timey hoo-hah. Give every instrument a sassy air and slap a mute on it -- now that's music!

Meh

I feel like I'm in my Grandma's kitchen.

Another big band instrumental. No thanks.

6.2/10 Couples saves which is great. Loved listening to this. Not my favorite style but it’s unique. A lot of dynamic jazz which is fun to listen to and broaden my musical horizons

Any one track taken in isolation is nice enough, the trouble is they all sound the same. Some have a slightly slower tempo, some faster.

This was good just not my cup of tea

Rating: 5/10 Meh.

A very cool way to start the day. I’m not into jazz, but if I do listen to it, I prefer this big band swing style.

I'm not familiar with Count Basie's music, or this album, but I thought this was fine to listen to. I don't know much about swing, big band, or jazz music, so it's hard for me to come up with anything objective to say about this album. I enjoyed the more piano forward sound of the first song, but the rest of the album didn't really rely on that sound, which was kind of a bummer, because I thought this might be the first jazz-ish album that I was going to really have a strong love for. The album turned out to be fine, but there just wasn't anything noteworthy about it for me.

Fun, engaging, tight. "Lil' Darlin" an awesome closer. "Flight of the Foo Birds" is outstanding. Great album cover to boot.

I don't mind Big Band stuff. The slower stuff gets a little boring for me, the swingier up tempo stuff is better.

Nice jazz band music although personally I prefer just jazz piano

I loved this album. Definitely one of my favorite albums on the list.

No thanks

Don’t really like jazz but my ears were pleased

I really like this album! This music is super fun to listen to

Loved this jazzy vibe! Favorite song was obviously Teddy the Toad but Midnite Blue is my new stripping song

This is big band music at its best! All of the musicians went off on this album. I also find it interesting how the atom bomb shaped popular culture in the 1950s. It seems controversial, even now, to put an atomic explosion on the cover of an atom. Best Songs: The Kid from Red Bank, After Supper, Flight of the Foo Birds, Midnite Blue, Lil' Darlin' Worst Songs: Teddy the Toad

This is sort of what i expected to find in this collection, and damn did the atomic mr basie not disappoint

Men in brass houses.

Fine listen, just not my thing.

Jazz, Swing, 1958, sehr flott -> 4

Still don't get old jazz

first listen it's good but short and doesn't break the mold which may be unfair because it is the mold?

Nice jazz. Would listen to again

They're popping, but not really my style.

Very "oldschool movie type jazz"

With jazz only on the periphery of my listening life this turned out to be a treat - loved that big band sound and Midnight Blue in particular - the musical thread was always clear, holding my attention with quite gorgeous harmonies.

Count Basie at his big band best, Escalera would be proud

This guy sure loves his horns

<3

Lyssnade inte

Jazzy Jazz

This was a decent listen. I’m not huge into big band, so it was just going as I was doing other stuff.

Man, this is so lovely. The bops are bright and lively; the calmer songs are so warm and soothing. Gorgeous.

Awesome awesome awesome. Ended up buying it. I don’t know why I don’t listen to more big band when I always end up enjoying it so much.

This came to me on a Friday spent the whole weekend listening to it really enjoyed it

FALLOUT!!!! I LOVE BIG BAND MUSIC

It's good music, it really is, I'm just not overly impressed by any of it. There are jazz albums from around this time period that I connect with and enjoy much more. But it's not bad.

This was something different for me, I’ve never really heard much of this type of music outside of old movies. It was great, not something I’d sit down and listen to much, but it is terrific background music that kind of transports me back to the 1950’s seen in movies.

Count Basie didn't invent big band, but this album is a flawless presentation of everything that makes it great. You'd have to be properly miserable to not enjoy this.

rlly good!! i loved the quick riffs 3.5/5

nice

1958 so can see why this is in. Tighter than a gnat's chuff. So tight you can see right through it. If all big band was all killer no filler like this then I'd like it a whole lot more.

jazzy; fun!

Gewoon fijne jazz, luistert lekker weg.

Wonderful big band album. Great variety in the tracks, yet they all sounded fantastic, this is the type of music that I want from this list. Different and unique.

Really enjoyed the big band, hard to rank it by comparison with everything else

Clever jazz, but not really to my liking as far as jazz goes.

Fantastic!

The ragtime influence is apparent in Count Basie's piano playing and is folded into more contemporary big band jazz forms and chords. Overall, Count Basie is one of the best bandleaders in jazz and this is one of his best records. Big band was one of the longest lasting popular genres and this album was recorded towards the end of its reign. Despite that, the music is still exciting and shows why this music has endured so well.

Look doctor, my skull won't stop moving back and forth!

I became aware of this album a few weeks ago after hearing a track on the radio. It blew me away. The rest of the album is equally excellent. The Basie Orchestra is tight and rocks. Neal (The Batman TV theme) Hefti arrangements are amazing. Basie's piano playing is energetic and alive. The music explodes from the speakers. I listened to complete sessions album which adds, I think, four more tracks to the original release. Each track was good enough to have made the cut back in the day. I recommend giving this a spin!!

Jazz really comes alive with this album. This album is as explosive as the fitting title and derivative album cover. Wonderful!

Talented jazz musicians, but not necessarily my cup of tea.

Great music...an era long ago...my parents listened to this type of music....very good memories for me..

🎷🎺🎸🥁🪕

This album cover is NOT what I expected the accompanying music to sound like, lol! Otherwise, I like the electric energy of the orchestra. Very playful. A good 'ole time. If I was to host a swanky academic party, I might put this on as people got their drinks?

A solid album! It is just jazz, but it's good jazz, made time fly while working. It isn't an album I'll listen to very often, but it's good background music, very well put together! High recommendation for folks who enjoys listening to a lot of jazz music.

3.1/5 Best Track: Splanky

Bereits einige wegweisende Stücke. Mein Favorit: Fantail. Tolles Album!