The Atomic Mr Basie

Pretty cool. Pretty good. Pretty fresh even here in the 2020s. Still not my favorite style but yeah it's good.

$$$

Me ha sorprendido lo irreverente de la portada visto en 2023. El disco no está mal Jazz tranquilito más que una bomba como indica la portada.

The epitome of big band music. Great jazzy horns, walking basslines and drums.

As far as large orchestral jazz bands go, I really don’t mind listening to this type of music. However, it is not my go to for casual listening. Mostly, I feel as though I’m playing fallout 3 and exploring the dystopian landscape. Nothing wrong with this music, but the situation has to be just right. The music blends well together and you could listen to this whole album without really realizing that there are too many individual songs. The mastering is good for the time.

This was pretty good.

Perfectly inoffensive and listenable. I don't love it but, more importantly, I don't hate it.

3.5

"The Atomic Mr. Basie" is an album by American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader and composer Count Basie and his Orchestra. Swing and big band are the noted genres. This apparently caught a lot of the big band core audience by surprise with its forward-looking statement within a big band recording. A fair bit of free-form jazz going on here for sure. The Orchestra included four trumpets, five trombones, five on sax and flute, a drummer, a guitarist, a bassist and Basie on piano. This album won Best Jazz Performance for Group and Best Performance by a Dance Band at the first Grammy's. Wow! "Kid from Red Bank" kicks things off with piano, horns and a prominent rhythm section. Back and forth between the piano and horns. A piano jam. It was written by Basie and Neal Hefti who would go on to do a lot of 60's TV songs including Batman! "Whirlybird" has a big horn start and a driving bass. Hey, a horn jam. The album ends with my two favorite songs. "Fantail" is fast paced. A great drum solo. OK, I could dance to this. An explosive horn ending. "Li'l Darlin" is slow and sultry. More jazzy and relaxing. Dominating horns. I've opened up more to big band musictoday than from the early to mid 1970's where I'd be forced to watch PBS Lawrence Welk re-runs while staying at my grandparents. The only break I'd get was having to run down to the basement and get my Grandpa another beer and since that was quite often, it lessen the big band pain. Now, I would quite enjoy this: the music. Not running down to the basement. Anyway, an enjoyable listen if like big band music or even jazz.

High School Jazz band energy... living for this

Solid hot jazz

Swing jazz, which is not really my kind of jazz. Also a bit dated. not a favourite

good but a little bit boring

Interessante

It was okay, had a few good tunes but Jazz is not really my thing.

Listened Before? N Count Basie was incredible. I'm familiar with his work from his time with Frank Sinatra, but I've never listened to just him and his orchestra. It's a good solid jazz/big band record. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Fantail

I can certainly understand why it is considered good, but it's not really my type of music. The first couple of tracks sounded familiar and were interesting listens but after that, the remaining tracks melded into one another. Overall not bad for background, choring music.

Pretty decent. Hard to distinguish it from other music of its kind so I'm not overly infactuated with it, but I still enjoyed it nevertheless.

It was a-ok background music.

Not a bad album. Have heard some of these pieces before but never knew they where by Count Basie.

Pretty good album :) Made me want to listen to jazz all day Splanky slayed 💅🏽 but we all knew that

Listened to the first 3 songs, I like it

I want to come back to this album

good big band music. i chilled to it, coulda done it to it. wink wink. whatever, someone out there wining and dining their lover to this shit. toot toot mother fucker.

Bit dull, in contrast to the album cover

Maybe because i lived through the swing revival. Thought this was pretty good.

T3B 1. Splanky 2. Midnite Blues 3. Teddy the Toad Little older, but still great Jazz.

I don't get jazz. This is pleasant enough but I don't really have to ability to differentiate it from most other work in the genre. It certainly doesn't suck, but I will probably never ever listen to it by choice again.

Fine bit of swing a ling ling

It's nice, but if I'm honest it just feels like background music, or the theme tune to an old looney tunes cartoon.

Kinda fun.

The sort of jazz I can dig

Big band isn’t really for me

Pretty cool.

Big Band/Piano Jazz. Not really my thing. 2.5/5

A more than decent jazz album, quite enjoyable and interesting. Maybe not my cup of tea, but a solid record for sure.

It’s jazz

A lot of energy but the horns are a bit much for morning listening.

23rd September 2022 Listened mainly on Sunday driving back to our hotel from castle bay in France. Chris and Imane’s wedding weekend. Big band jazz, very cool.

It was very nice. The sort of jazz you'd think of if you pictured a cool 1950s beatnik saying hey Daddio. Very dated (duhdoy, it's 70 years old), but the band is so tight, and the whole thing was very enjoyable, even though it just further confirms jazz as soon me thing I will always respect, but rarely love.

Good, but felt a bit like background music for vocal jazz. If you’re into jazz you’ll find something you like though

4/11, 36%

It’s a fine big band album. I feel like big band doesn’t really stray too far from that classic sound, which is fine, but still won’t blow me away necessarily. 5/10

I’m normally not a fan of jazz (that’s was this was, right?), but I didn’t hate it.

Ik heb een hekel aan jazz, maar omdat dit zo'n kort plaatje was en ik me er nauwelijks aan gestoord heb: drie sterren.

70/100: Our first jazz album, and a big band jazz album at that! This was a really fun listen to and came at a perfect time: on a day where I had to knock out a lot of homework. This album provided the perfect soundtrack for that. Although, I wouldn’t ever listen to this album solely to listen to it, I think that’s an unfair metric for jazz. I find my appreciation for jazz doesn’t come from listening to it in the same way that I listen to other genres—making the act of listening to the music the primary focus. I instead find it beautiful how jazz unconsciously seeps into your mind while it plays as background music to another activity. Multiple times while working on my aero homework, I found myself unconsciously bobbing from side to side to the music I had gotten so used to hearing for the past hour that I forgot it was even playing. That’s the power of jazz, and this album did as good of a job as most jazz albums I’ve listened to in revealing that power. There are jazz albums I like better than this one, though, and I hope to see those at some point in this project.

Was really digging it at first but by the end felt super over it

Cool album cover, sweet piano flicks, all right jazz music, not really any memorable songs, good vibe.

I dug it. Not sure how often I’d go back to it though.

Good jazz album, not my cup of tea though

Solid jazz album, sadly for someone of my generation music without lyrics all is harder to distinguish. The songs didn’t sound the same but it makes me very curious why they were named like they were.

Fun jazz.

6/10 not quite my style, not bad, not exceptional. At some point, probably influential. Cowboy Bebop vibes. Bouncy horns and dreamy waltzes.

Du bon big band, mais j'avais plus l'impression d'écouter une compilation qu'un album avec une narrative et un flux constant.

Not usually a fan of jazz but it was pretty good working music. I liked the piano bits

Big band jazz, not my favorite jazz, but still good.

nothing necessarily fantastic but the big band interplay is an interesting chemistry that can't be found in every aspect of jazz. with that being said, this isn't the most interesting jazz you can listen to, that's for sure...

I don't deserve to judge this album.

I dig it

so so

V chilled. 6/10.

This album makes me feel like I’m wandering around 1950s Manhattan

Babbety.

Decent. Kinda cool, felt pretty bored most of the time. 5/10

not my bag, but good for what it is.

This was fine, just like all the other instrumental albums on this list. I didn't notice when the album ended and Spotify started playing another artist.

Good Jazz

really liked one of the songs

reiseradioen på nrk jo litt tom og jerry og kanskje

A bit much of a good thing.

Not my jam. Cool album cover though

Good but only so often I would listen to this

I should probably sit down with these more instrumental ones and try headphones but they are fantastic background music while I work.

Hard to believe this is as old as it is!

I haven't heard a ton of big band stuff but among the stuff I've heard this is one of the cooler ones. Makes me want to explore more for sure. The cover is striking too and very different than what I'd expect from a big band album, or any 50s album really.

Well it's nice enough but I really couldn't tell the end from the start from the middle.

Tbf not bad, big band not necessarily for me but didn't mind

I'm still not much of a jazz fan, but this is on the good side of it.

I don't know if I loved any one song, here, but this could play all day every day in the background of where ever I am and I'd be okay with it.

Strong 3

5/1/2022 Today's Album: "The Atomic Mr Basie" by Count Basie - Basie, his big bands, and his orchestra ruled jazz for decades. Just going back through this man's discography, you can see albums from all the way back in 1936 up to as recent as the mid 90s! His jazz stylings are always iconic and even from my little experience with playing jazz, I know that his tracks are some of the most fun to play as a brass player. The fact he stayed relevant throughout essentially the entire 20th century is truly astonishing, but it isn't for no reason. These jazz tracks are ones that created the blueprint of what popular jazz music is and it is obvious that Basie never stopped innovating through the changing of what was popular in jazz throughout the decades. As for this album, the production quality, although perhaps lacking by today's standards, is pretty outstanding for being released in the late 50s. The performances are very lively and the improv from whoever is soloing at a given moment are always spot on and full of creative passion. I like that there are a variety of different jazz moods on this album, and although there is sort of this dated fuzz to a lot of the sounds recorded here, the performances really do shine through. The horns really take the spotlight on this album and it is to be expected from a Basie record. Not to say the other instruments aren't also fantastic, but horn quality, tone, range, and consistency like I'm hearing on this record it so so hard to achieve from a horn section and it is just pulled off so well in every track. Aside from that though, the saxophones are all in time with each other and whenever one of them solo's it sounds fantastic. The rhythm section feels pretty standard for a jazz outfit, but given the spotlight shined on the band, it really isn't too big of a deal. I like the tracks where the tempo picks up because Basie just has this touch with these fast and chaotic tracks that just pulls me in every time. Overall, I find myself enjoying this album as a listening experience, but it doesn't do a ton to really "impress" me in terms of jazz music. However, it is still a ton of really solid jazz tracks with some admirable solos. Jazz to me is something that is always great as background music and this album is great for exactly that. Give this one if you like ragtime jazz music. Highlights: The Kid from Red Bank, Duet, Flight of the Foo Birds, Whirly-Bird, Splanky, Score: 6.5/10 50's Jazz

Shannah unexpectedly liked. 3/5 Jane expectedly liked. 3/5 Bill liked but felt it was a bit generic. 2.5/5 Conor agrees with Bill. 2.5/5 2.75/5

Three stars, maybe? The swan song of Big Band Jazz and an all-time classic for many (plus, what an album cover!). Obviously, this is a landmark record for many but I'm not sure I'm sold on this one. Besides, there are so many *huge* gaps when it comes to jazz in Dimery's list that I think you'd first need to fill those gaps with all the wonderful albums in the genre that are still missing in the list, and then see if there's room left for "The Atomic Mr Basie". And I don't even think I'm an expert in jazz (it's just that all the important masterpieces from the post-bop period of the sixties *need* to be included, period). So, to put it in a nutshell, I can understand listening to *The Atomic Mr. Basie* once because of its cultural importance, and overall it's been an interesting or fun listen, if not a pleasant one. But I'm not sure I ever want to play that album again now I've listened to it once. Number of albums left to review or just listen to:  more than 900, I've temporarily lost count here Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens:  approximately a half so far Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: a quarter (including this one) Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): the last quarter

Disc icònic del director i pianista, envoltat de primers noms del jazz, amb una secció de vents molt potent i uns temes que brillen amb uns arranjaments i una producció de primer nivell

Jakas odmiana na liscie, tym razem powialo z hameryki dosc oldskulowo, bo big bandowy swingowy krazek the atomic mr basie Counta Basie i jego orkiestry, ktora przewodzil pan Neal Hefti, 39 minutowy krazek sklada sie z 11 utworow, ktore brzmia tak jak czlowiek sobie wyobraza brzmienie gdy slyszy, ze bedzie grany jakis big band jazzowy, jak dla mnie brzmiaca mocno kinowo, bo ile razy takie potezne kompozycje mozna uslyszec w filmach czy bajeczkach, kolejna dziwna sprawa, ze hinskie bajki tak czesto siegaja, a raczej siegaly, bo kojarzy mi sie to bardziej ze starociami gangsterskimi i hardo boilowanymi mscicielami lat 90, pomimo tego, ze plyta pana Counta Basiego to nie dominuje muzycznie tu jego fortepian, a raczej slychac bardziej trebaczy ktorych w takim big bandzie musialo byc kilku, gdy do tego dodac saksy, drumy, gitary, tamburino, to pianino schodzi na drugi plan, ale jednak znajda sie kawalki ktore hajlajtuja wlasnie skillsy pana Basiego, jak na midnite blue, ale tak czy inaczej jest to album calego zespolu a nie jednego czlowieka, czy to gwiazdy tej orkiestry czy pana konduktora, krazek plusuje takze tym ze posiada wylacznie autorskie kompozycje, a nie jak czesto bywa na nagraniach z lat 50, chociaz 58 to juz mocna koncowka, klasykow danego gatunku, bo przeciez standardy najlepiej sie sprzedaja, bo wszyscy je znaja i kochaja, a tutaj same nowosci, z ciekawostej plyta wygrala najlepszego jazzowego performenca na pierwszych grammy, na plejke dodam wspomniany juz kawalek hajlajtujacy klawisze midnite blue i dodatkowo flight of the foo birds za najpozytywniejsze wajby z calego krazka

3 stars because I don't know anything about jazz. I assume it's incredible.

Liked this just fine. Enjoyable but not amazing.

Not really that much into this kinda jazz but it was enjoyable enough for what it was.

N'ayant pas regardé l'année de publication de ce CD et au vu de sa couverture, je m'attendais à un album punk. Les premières notes de jazz m'ont de ce fait agréablement surpris. Mon seul petit regret reste le moment où la bombe atomique explose et nous cause un acouphène de plusieurs minutes. Dommage.

Je pense que Robert prend un malin plaisir à se foutre de nous.

I'm not the biggest big band fan, but I love jazz

¡Ay, las ganas de hacer burlesque que me dio!

Good swing music. Final track was my favorite.

Swing, agradable

I don't like very much the jazz but I think Count Basie is one of the best.

Jazz is good but not big band jazz. Didn’t listen to all of it.

Enjoyable, not as good as some of the other jazz albums I've had on here. But still a pleasant listen throughout.

Bon swing

For a swing album from 1959 it was ok, nothing more than background music though

It's very good. What else can you say. 3/5

I quite like Count Basie's big band music, but I noticed that I like contemporary renditions much more than the "real thing". I put that to recording quality: my favourite takes on Basie are audiophile recordings. A well made recording turns the visceral impact of the big band is something else. The originals are, of course, still very good, even if their recording quality cannot compare.

Classic Jazz/Swing orchestra who played with prime Sinatra. Great to listen to whilst WFH. Not sure I'd go back to it many times like i do with Miles but enjoyed it enough to give it 3/5.

Ta bueno. Hace tiempo no escucho algo parecido, me falta escuchar más cosas de esa época

Nights out in the 50s must have been an absolute blast.

Ba-ba-BAAAAAAA

Little too jazz not enough big band for me. Not sure I get it mainly

I think this was good and technically really strong, but big band simply isn't my thing!

The type of music that makes me nostalgic for a time I wasn’t even alive. Easy listening and good background music

a sense of grandiose and scale that elevates a record filled with bombastic instrumentation.

It's nice to put a sound to an iconic name of the big band / jazz world. Not my usual genre but I quite enjoyed it, especially the tracks where the bass skips along at a good pace. It all sounds very neatly put together. I'm a fan of the album cover and the cute track names too.

Nice to have on in the background. With no reference point for swing music, I'm struggling to say much more about it though.

The best of this album IMO: - Midnite Blue Aggressive and lively. Sweet jazz. Entertaining. Window to the past. 3.2/5

I prefer more relaxed jazz at the moment, but I still enjoyed a few of the songs.

I was expecting swing cheese, but it thankfully never arrived. The music carries itself without cheap tricks, and the elements that are cliched now are there but in pleasant variety. The first track impressed me with sounds that I didn't expect to hear from acoustic instruments (the brass in particular). The rest of the record was more standard big-band fare.

I genuinely do not like listening to this music but it’s not bad. I appreciate the artistry for sure though, and it reminds me of music from a Tom and Jerry cartoon lol. I read that one of the artists involved did the 60s Batman theme and that makes total sense

Big Band has never really been my thing, but there's some other jazz elements and fun things that kept my interest. Ultimately, I appreciate it more than I actually enjoy it

My co-judge commented that she could do without the punchy blasts from the brass section. I guess in the days before electrification that was the only way to blow everybody’s heads off. Listening to music on your home stereo could never compare to listening to it live. I like the solos throughout and especially the drumming. I guess in '58 the younger hip crowd was listening to bebop but I guess if you wanted to dance, big band was the way to go.

It's not often you can describe an album as foofy *and* splanky, but this is a rare example!

Nice Big Band arrangements, though my interest wanes as it goes on, relegating Basie to background music (a fate worse than death). Not a bad listen, but there are better big band albums out there.

Mjög skemmtileg plata.

Not too bad. Some good instrumental grooves.

Pretty jazzy, good for background music or to relax to.

Didn’t mind it. Big band and swing aren’t my wheelhouse at all, but I can appreciate the musicianship on display here.

Very well done with lots of instruments to enjoy. Nice diversity of styles between songs too. Even with that, I was a little over it by the end despite being a short album. The high energy songs were engaging but the couple of slower ones really killed the vibe for me. No vocals, obviously.

3, pleasant enough instrumental.

Music for a sexy lift.

Cool, Daddy-O.

Smoooooooooooooooth

This just rips. What a great album.

Rating: 6/10

Interesting and educational look at jazz

Good background music

Hjazz

Not a huge fan of the big band sound. I can appreciate it but don't necessarily enjoy it.

Pretty good album

Bin kein großer Freund des Big-Band-Sounds. Die Kompositionen und die Arrangements sind großartig.

Big band jazz is not my cuppa but you can clearly hear the talent in this album.

It was an easy listen. I am not sure I would wilfully listen to it again though.

I don't care much for jazz, but Count Basie is on another level. This album was easy to get through.

started ok but then found it repetative, im not the target audience

Probably the best jazz so far.

This album is a little earlier than my preferred period of Jazz but you can hear its role in being a bridge between the Jazz of the 30s/40s and what would come next. Interesting as a historical document but not one I would reach for on the shelf.

Not my bag really, but enjoyable, liked volare.

Kul med jazz!

Det är jazz, baby. Vet inte tillräckligt om jazz för att veta någonting. Vet att jag gillar det, när det spelades i lägenheten samtidigt som jag gjorde annat. Hade älskat att sitta på en bar med det här spelandes i bakgrunden, men kommer nog inte återkomma till just det här albumet så ofta. Men, ändå, jag älskar jazzen. Varför? Vet inte. Jag bara flyter med. Det kanske är det som är JAZZ, BÄJBY. Bästa låt: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I was dreading this, and it was a bit too jazz-like for my tastes, but it was ok. Would I listen again voluntarily? No. Would I turn it off if it came on? Depends how far away the phone is…

Big band stuff

Exactly as advertised. But one of those jazz albums that's more a collection of songs than a cohesive album.

Outside my normal preferred genres, but pleasant to listen to. Nothing stuck out in particular.

Big band jazz makes me think of Hanna Barbara cartoons. I’m listening to this expecting the Jetsons or something. I could take it or leave it. I can tell there’s something more to it than usual big-band jazz, but I don’t have the jazz knowledge to identify it; I don’t know what to listen for. Favourite track: “Fantail”

I like jazz, but I don't prefer big band. This is obviously great, but just not suited to my tastes. 3.5*

In Conclusione: diciamo che è difficile non divertirsi con lo swing e le big band hanno sempre il loro fascino. Non conoscevo Count Basie prima di questo album nonostante mi pare di capire fosse piuttosto famoso. Diciamo che è un tipo di musica fortemente legata ad un tipo di atmosfera quindi è difficile sentirsela quotidianamente però è stato sicuramente piacevole.

re: the rascals fun 60s!! and weird stereo effects which is quite fun in this day and age... and this is fun jazz i suppose

Something of a surprise. I was expecting to have to bail but it kept me interested.

Pretty good, has a nice composition of instruments and got me hooked on a jazzy feeling the entire time

Not bad. Was vibing to it all day

Jazz, I like it but I also don’t know jazz that well so who knows could be amazing and I don’t realize it.

This album was pleasant to listen to

Deve ser giro para apreciadores de jazz, para mim foi um álbum com músicas muito semelhantes e não muito interessantes. No geral deve ser um bom álbum para entendidos na matéria. Nota:5/10

Reminds me of like half of all Fallout music is like.

Appreciated an intro to Count Basie - didn’t know about him - one of the greats in jazz and big band. The slow songs hit, esp ✨ After Supper 💘

Only 4 up tempo 'explosive' songs the rest was kinda basic ngl. I have a love for jazz but some of these were too simple laid back saloon songs. Good to improvise with

Not a huge Big Band fan, but this was cool.

I’m not sure I liked this as much as Cadence but it was a nice change of pace, good energy. I’m glad I was exposed to it.

I liked it

like an old film, or a fancy restaurant!

Fun jazz vibes

I was waiting for the Family Guy theme tune, but it never came. Was a nice listen though. I can imagine sitting in a cocktail bar listening to this.

Fun to have on. Big up the big band.

Quite fun. Will stick it on for bants every now and then

From a quick glance at the album cover I was initially expecting some nihilistic punk quartet. Probably as far from that as it’s possible to get. Quite enjoyed it, although it’s more at the Tom and Jerry soundtrack end of the jazz spectrum than I’d normally go for.

Not bad

Es ameno, pero nada mas

FT: Flight of the foo birds

like a Tom and Jerry soundtrack. But in a good way

A lot of jammers on this album. One of my favourites so far, def top three. Fav tracks is basically the entire album, def a honeymoon phase to it but I'm liking just the loud horns really.

Jazz clásico con buenos instrumentos, ritmos y melodías. Un muy buen piano

Primera escolta d'aquest pianista i director de jazz. Un álbum agradable, d'aquells que et transporta a una altra època. No sóc prou entès de jazz com per a fer-ne una valoració musical, només puc dir que segurament escoltaré més àlbums de Count Basie.

Sin más. Musical, de fondo, jazz

based on the cover art and title I was hoping for some wild ass music. This album isn't bad, but nothing really jumped out at me.

Jazz eller rass?

Feels like fallout music. Cover and title really has the fallout feel to it i.e. the 'atomic', the 'E=MC^2', and the mushroom cloud in the cover background. Album was released right around cold war escalation as well, theme seems to make sense. Jazzy.

very fast paced groovy 50s dance music. loud and robust. overall enjoyable :) cool album cover also

Was a bit of fun, but wouldn't choose it

I liked it at first cause I grew up with it. Wore on me after a while. Legit part of it sounded like it came from the Flintstones’ theme song

Fav Song: Splanky

This was not what I expected it to be but it's quite good.

A solid bop that just makes me want to play Fallout 3, but nothing that blew my mind! I love the energy on the tracks, it was samey, but I can't look at it and say I didn't enjoy!

Definitely listened to it more in the background, but would love get all dressed up, make myself a quarantini and slow dance with myself to this on a rainy day

This sounds like both cartoon music, and the music played at a hollywood awards ceremony when a winner walks to the stage. I like the slower calmer tracks, but the more up tempo ones really make me want to tap dance. I can't tap dance so I don't why that particular thing, I'd like to slide along a sparkly lit up floor in my tap shoes.

Good jazzy vibes

I like it but a whole album of this stuff is a bit much for me.

Old school for 1958 but good background music.

after one listen - band/jazz is usually not my type of music, but somehow this is was what i needed right now. 3.5-4

Different but nice, good to garden to

50’er Swing/jazz band, indflydelsesrigt, afslappende, flydende

Fun stuff but I thought it got a little repetitive after awhile

1958. Key Songs: The Kid from Red Bank, Splanky

big band jazz isn't really my thing but this was pretty cool in spots, really dynamic and didn't bore the shit out of me. 3/5.

Jag kan inte riktigt bedöma det här. Jag kan inse att det är bra, låtarna i sig är rätt bra och att det säkert är duktiga instrumentalister om man ska bryta ner det. Men jag gillar inte orkesterjazz, förstår det inte. Duktiga instrumentalister ger mig heller ingenting, jag lyssnar hellre på ett punkband som knappt kan 2 ackord än

Inte för att det är något fel på det. Men jag går inte riktigt igång på storbandsjazzen från 50-talet.

This was not at all what I expected based on the album over. Still significantly better than Mariah Carey’s bullshit.

IDK about this but I just can't get along with it. (Maybe because I only listen to lyrical music and this is just instrumental). This would fit a restaurant or a cafe but just for vibe it is just not it. Also this is kind of irritating for me if you know. It is a 3/10 or 1.5/5 for me

I didn't enjoy this one as much as my last jazz album if it even is jazz

Neal Hefti's arrangements are so bombastic on The Atomic Mr. Basie that, on first listen, the melodies seem almost obliterated by the brass explosions, home cinema system dynamics and sheer variety of colour. Then you discover that Hefti wrote the melodies too, and realise the excess is not an accident. The tunes are built to survive the blast. This is big band jazz as precision engineering. Every section has a purpose, every instrumental line knows where it is going, and the conversation between Count Basie's piano and the orchestra gives the music a dramatic shape that avoids the parade of individual showcases that can make other jazz records feel like a succession of auditions. Is that argument against individual expression - no, that doesn't hold up. But it does swing, it moves, and as dance music it understands that complexity is only useful if the audience can still find its way home. Better than the looping bars of contemporary dance, I think. The real limitation is that professional perfection can become airless. The arrangements are so neat, the machine so well built, that there is no sense of danger. The explosions are contained. This is music designed to impress, delight and entertain rather than unsettle. And to entertain an audience of a by-gone age at that. All now dead. So, in the end, unsettle it does, as all timeslips do. It is hard to hear it, with contemporary ears, as anything other than an artefact - the soundtrack to Fallout or the sound coming from a spookily sealed fallout shelter. Music from the brief moment when "atomic" still sounded like a promise rather than a threat, it feels strange to those raised on rock'n'roll, the music that was powered by the fear of mutually assured destruction. It survived the blast, but no one else did. 2 If there was a time when this music could be heard as possessing even the slightest edge - whether in instrumental daring, compositional innovation or even the novel thrill of presenting a notable big band, tonight, in your living room - that moment passed long before I was born. All I hear is music for game show hosts to jog out on stage to, or music to accompany montages of people shopping or sight-seeing in big American cities. Whether this music was intended to be, or fit to be, disposable fluff in 1958 - that’s what time has made it. That it took excellent musicians to register this triviality does evoke a certain amount of pity, which is more than can be said for the disposable fluff our culture produces these days. Then again, it’s not like any of these talented people turned up looking to make ‘Art’ or express something, is it? They probably just wanted their money at the end of the shift, which I trust they got. Of course there is still the Arranger. Isn’t he the Expressive quantity here? Wouldn’t he have been the one sitting up nights agonising over harmony and structure; wanting it all just so for its own wonderful sake? ‘Neal Hefti’ I read, is the man, and he went on to write the music for the Batman TV show - KAPOW! Apparently he spent his later years focusing on ‘taking care of my copyrights’. ZAP!! Anyway, this Count Basie album - 40 minutes long - would have been just as good, probably better, if it lasted as long as it took Ed Sullivan to come on stage, or as long it takes to beat up a gang of mercenary thugs. 1.5/5

Struggle with albums without lyrics

2.5

It was definitely a jazz album, i remember that much

Oli ihan letkeä levy, vaikka jazz ei oikein putoakkaan mulle. Ihan ok soitantaa.

I'm not going to pretend I have the music education or bona fides to assess whether or not this is a must-hear jazz record. I'm just going to be the dumb consumer that I am here. I see an album cover of an atomic bomb blast and I'm thinking the music is going to be aggressive or nihilistic or at the very least kind of dynamic. Maybe it just wasn't captured by the recording. Obviously it wasn't bad but it doesn't really stand out beyond any of the music that sounds like this. Would maybe be a 3 but when I saw the nuke it gave me hope it was at least going to be strange or interesting

A lot of the same, didn’t really grab me at all

eh, it's fine? like I'm not the biggest fan of 60's jazz honestly. It's not bad, just wouldn't listen too again.

I love jazz but it has this tendency to fall into background music without any vocals

There's no way I will enjoy this. But we shall listen and see... If I'm being as kind as I can, as someone who thinks Big Band and Swing are two of the worst stanks on music ever, this reminds me of Tom And Jerry. Like a scene where Tom has dressed up as a lady cat and another boy cat thinks he's purdy and dances around the house with him until one of them gets slapped with an ironing board or something. The musicians are at the top of their game, but it's just so naff. All that blowing and twiddling but every moment of every song morphs into one big brass mess and none of it does anything for me. Yet more evidence that the 50s was an awful time for music.

La noire, private investigator in the rain, roaring 20s

Also not fully for me; funny to see what pop was back in the day. Very jazzy

Not my cup of tea

Just felt like nothing. I got to the end of it and I can’t recall a single sound.

Big band swing Splanky is a simultaneously great and terrible name for a song

Ok but not my thing

Ehhh

Smoooooth jazz. I could fall asleep to this. Not bad, not exciting at all though.

Something different! I liked this as background music. It dragged on a bit at the end but it was technically very good.

Jazzy - not for me but definitely good in the genre

There's just no scenario where I needed to hear this album in this lifetime.

Not for me

No me gusto es muy antiguo para mi gusto, no lo termine de escuchar.

Just not my thing

I'm really not a fan of swing or jazz, but this was alright. I can appreciate the musicality and the talent and that's why I've given it 2 stars, as we all know this isn't a "my favourite albums" list.

Preferred the quieter ones , ok ish background music . As Sinatra would say 58 ' was a very good year' but this isn't as great as Glen Miller .

Definitely too young for big band and still too young for jazz. Despite The Atomic Mr Basie being a piano player, that was forty minutes of blaring horns. The musicianship is good, just not for lil’ young me. (2.0*s) Dated, and outdated.

I approached this album with mild curiosity because it's so far out of my genre experience. I found that it was pleasant enough, there was just nothing for me to really grab on to. I respect that what Basie and his band are doing is very good in their particular milieu, but it just doesn't have context for me.

Good sounds, good album, good tunes for a rainy day.

Really just not my thing, so it is hard for me to appreciate the talent.

Forgettable big band crap

Boring

I’m sure this is very good big band / jazz. Totally not my jam. Just really don’t like this kind of music.

Neat brass. Just kinda liked other, more low-key jazz stuff more.

Great musicianship but I can’t imagine listening to it again

The 1001 pushes me into 50s big band jazz, a genre my Spotify account rarely ventures into. It reminds me of my late father-in-law, who no doubt would have enjoyed numbers such as Midnite Blue. If pushed for a favourite track, I'd probably go eith Double O, although Flight Of The Foo Birds brings to my mind Carry On theme tunes and Splanky reminds me of Police Squad and Naked Gun. The Count's influence lasted far beyond the 50s, but while I appreciate the musicality, it's not to my taste. 2 stars, thank you and what's next?

it was fun but again again again its not for me

I've heard enough instrumental albums now, and plus my one friend has played quite a bit of jazz for me, to know that there is better stuff out there than this. It's not bad, just comparative there's stuff I enjoy a lot more.

not what i was expecting. def not for me.

Not my cup of tea, but served as little dose of different type of music experience in my day, I guess. Not too bad,liked the dark/mysterious vibes :duet,after supper.

Another one for the 'Jazz isn't for me' pile.

Not something I would usually listen to but this was pretty enjoyable. Might not stick it back on again but absolutely fine and if it's your thing, I can see why.

Not my thing at all.

I can’t comprehend jazz yet

4/5 Was okay. Just sounded like generic big band music to me

Labāk, bet joprojām ne pārāk interesanti.

Yep. It's a big band I don't know what I should feel Cocktail party time!

yeah idk. no strong feeling on this one. "after supper", "midnight blue" and "splanky" are all a little bit sexual with it but other than that i really don't have much to say about this album. i'm sure there's a good reason it's on here, i could see these guys being big at the time and the wiki article does mention that it picked up two different awards at the first ever grammys so i guess this popped the fuck off in 1958. but its 2026 these days.... guess it's just not for me. i feel mean giving it a 2, but to be blunt there's no way i'd pick this out for another listen when my only thought on it is "yep, that's big band", so what choice do i have. for what its worth i dont think its necessarily a bad album, just one that i couldn't get into myself. sorry mr basie. yknow, as i close this out i'm realising i actually do have one strong feeling on this album after all: the feeling that i'm missing something. so maybe some day i'll come back to this one and i'll finally Get It, and then i'll feel ashamed for my words and deeds. even if i don't, i'm sure the cover art will still go hard.

All right, we’re jumping into a Time Machine I’m sure this album was an absolute banger when it got first released like they were lining up wherever they can to pick up this record but in 2026 I mean if you want to step back in time and feel like you’re in the 1920s and Gatsby‘s party I guess you could pick up this record at least it was short and only 40 minutes two stars can’t be too mean on a jazz record from the 50s. They were trying at least. 2/5

Solo me dio un poco de tranquilidad, hay que escucharlo cuando estés haciendo algo…

Fair play I guess but I really don’t enjoy this kind of thing

Well, at least nobody was singing about love over it

Hmmm, it's fine. I like the style, and wanted to hear more music like this, but most of it didn't really grab me. The big band meets jazz vibe is cool, but to my tastes a lot of it felt pretty plodding without much hooks or identity to the songs. Just my own taste.

Some great driving beats with saxophone, trumpet and piano working well together but nothing revolutionary. I liked it but probably won’t be back

It was fun, different from what I usually listen to, but really just not my style.

One of the better jazz albums I’ve gotten but still not really for me. Feels like waiting music.

Jazz.

I love jazz, or what people percieve to be “jazz”, but I’ve always struggled with most big band jazz. The more instruments involved and the styling of music seems to provide me less to think about and results in me becoming less interested - particularly when the “orchestra” is used as it is here. Definitely a me thing. So this was enjoyable, but didn’t really do much for me sadly. Superb playing - particularly Basie himself - and perfectly good for what it is, just not really my thing.

One of those weird and rare jazz albums that I actually think would be better if it *weren't* instrumental. It's pretty fun at times, but the whole vibe just feels like it's missing something. I feel like I should be hearing Frank Sinatra's voice singing over all of these, but instead I'm left with perfectly good instrumentals, but that could just benefit from having one extra layer that would make it a lot more complete.

cartoony type music

if it had lyrics we could of made it biggg

I'm not really into listening to jazz but the music is very good and I could maybe see myself listening to it as ambient music to an event, dinner, etc. Very talented musicians.

Would be great for a Fallout game or smth. Or just casual listening. Not really what I wanted this morning.

Smooth jazz - just not my cut of tea

it's jazz

My wife was a Kenny G fan back in the day. I could see me enjoying this a little more of I was on a date with her and then seeing Ron Burgundy dancing all over the tables. Yea, that would be cool, for a few minutes, then I'd have to kill him. This is Jazz. Not my thing but could see me enjoying in the right time and environment. This just wasn't the time or the environment. 2

2.5 This may quite possibly be the most misleading album cover I’ve seen on this list yet. It also sounds like it could be the oldest thus far, but it’s actually three years newer than a Sinatra album we had. It never really occurred to me until this listening that big band music is pretty much extinct aside from the occasional fancy event or New Year’s Eve performance, but I was still surprised to see in the cultural zeitgeist in 1958 nonetheless, when rock & roll had already taken the world by storm and Elvis’ hips had brought the nation to its knees. Given its appearance here, I’m guessing it’s an album that critics probably consider to be one of the last great outings for the genre. And… it’s fine? Idk, I’m no expert on big band music (I’m not even sure those exist anymore), but this sounds like most everything else I’ve heard that I would classify as such, and likewise, I found its overall enjoyability to be very dependent on my mood. At its best, it evoked thoughts of Las Vegas, old movies, and Fallout (I checked to see if the Count ever made an appearance in the games, but I guess he’s too new). At its worst, the horns were grating and it gave me a headache while I was trying to focus on work. Given my earlier comments about the state of the genre, it seems that we collectively decided as a society that there’s a time and a place for this kind of music, and a Wednesday during work doesn’t seem to be it. I could definitely see myself enjoying this more in the right frame of mind and environment, but given its overall unremarkable nature and the fact that it got on my nerves half the time, I don’t feel I can go any higher than a 2.5. I guess ask me again how I feel come New Year’s Eve. Or when I'm in Vegas celebrating Michigan State’s NCAA men’s hockey championship. Go green.

Eh it's instrumental jazz. Best song: Duet

Clean and quality. Just not something id listen to regularly. 2/5

Somehow never heard this before. Was quite good. This note is a reminder to myself to listen again

Jazz that’s palatable to white people in the 50s.

Just not my jam. The music was pleasant enough. I felt like I was at the "Enchantment Under the Sea" dance in Back to the Future, just before Michael J. Fox comes in. It was all very well done, it just didn't wow me.

Certainly something I would normally never gravitate towards. Didn't hate it. Don't know if I would listen again though 4/10

OK not bad

While I'm glad to have heard it, It's not going to find a place in my collection I would certainly have preferred some vocals in the collection, rather than just instrumentals Its good, just not really something that I need in my life

Wo simmer da? In 1958?? ah ja simmer. Demfall legitim dass ned so fühle, 1960 isch scho biz d Untergrenze vo musig woni no fühle. 2 mal Mr Saxobeat

Zuu jazzig experimentell sooorry. Bin nöd so bildet.

Não gosto muito de jazz alegrinho, então a maioria não é pra mim aqui.. Mas teve alguns momentos bem fortes - #8 por exemplo (Midnite Blue).

5/10

A good example of what it is and represents but not something I can sit and listen to. Reminds me too much of those days in the UK and in the early 60’s when all there was to listen to was the BBC Light programme and big bands were the thing along with crooners. Still my dad liked it so that’s good. Note to younger reviewers - when you’re slagging off dad rock you need to remember this Count Basie stuff was the dad rock when we were cutting our musical teeth. Dire Straits et al don’t appear so bad after all? 2/5 31/1/26

2.09

Fallout fiilikset. Ajoittain mukavaa svengiä mutta muuten ei mun juttu oo tämä. Jazzit ei oo oikein koskaan ollu. Olin lähinnä iloinen kun levy loppui.

Did not really like the lack of vocals, still amazing how a story can be told through pure depth of instruments

Chill jazz

Boring jazz/swing music. I don't think this really deserves a place on this list. It's a boring as all the other jazz I've been served up so far.

Very jazzy I thought some of the piano riffs were very simple and got a bit boring after a while Would be a good album for a classic Disney film thou 2.5/5

Catcht mich leider so gar nicht. Die Definition von Hintergrundgedudel, leider in dem Fall im negativen Sinn.

Sorry Count, jazz is just not my thing.

Μου θυμιζει χριστουγεννα αυτο το jazzy/swing vibe αλλα δε μπορω να ακουω για πολλη ωρα τρομπετες και σαξωφονα στα αυτια μου

Big band music often sounds like background music to me. This is not an exception. It’s a pleasant listen but not a memorable one.

Big band musicianship is impressive but the blasting horns puncuating throughout each song gets old. I don't doubt this is a good album for the genre. It's just not for me.

Mitä

amazing instrumentals, cover art is impactful

Look, jazz is jazz. We’ve been through this. What I will say is this is the most I’ve liked a jazz album so far, and if I could give it 2.5*, I would.

unfortunately just not really for me. great music, just not something i’d come back to.

2.5. Some solid grooves, but a little...boring. Didn't hate it, but couldn't quite get my blood pumping past the first track