1955 · Album
THE GREATEST!! Count Basie Plays, Joe Williams Sings Standards
Recorded 1956 · Verve · Produced by Norman Granz
Standards and Swagger: Williams Meets Basie's Band
Williams and Basie prove that classic songbook material still swings hard when given the right players and the right room.
This was Williams' follow-up to his debut with Basie, and the confidence shows immediately. The sessions happened in 1956 at a moment when both men were at full strength — Williams' voice had matured into something supple and authoritative, and Basie's orchestra was still the tightest big band in the country. The decision to focus entirely on standards was deliberate: no novelties, no stretching, just the American songbook played the way it was meant to be played.
The arrangements sit perfectly between Basie's relaxed, swinging aesthetic and Williams' need for space to phrase and breathe. "Teach Me Tonight," "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter," and the title track all showcase how a great vocalist and a great bandleader can work without getting in each other's way. The rhythm section pushes forward with that effortless propulsion Basie orchestras were famous for — no fussing, no rubato, just the groove moving ahead. Williams had already proven himself on his debut, but here he sounds less like a guest and more like he belongs in this company.
It's a straightforward album with no pretense and no filler, the kind of record that would be a natural starting point for anyone curious about either Williams or what Basie's orchestra sounded like in the mid-1950s. Not every session needs to reinvent anything. Sometimes the whole point is doing something well-known exactly right.
Who's playing
Eddie Jonesbass
Count Basiepiano
Freddie Greenguitar
Bill Grahamalto saxophone
Wendell Culleytrumpet
Reunald Jonestrumpet
Thad Jonestrumpet
Joe Newmantrumpet
Henry Cokertrombone
Bill Hughestrombone
Benny Powelltrombone
Sonny Paynedrums
Frank Fosterreeds
Charlie Fowlkesreeds
Marshall Royalreeds
Frank Wesswoodwind
Where next?
More by Joe Williams
Everyday I Have the Blues 1959
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Breakfast Dance and Barbecue 1959
Presenting Joe Williams and Thad Jones / Mel Lewis: The Jazz Orchestra 1968
Jump For Joy 1963
The musicians on this record
Their own records, close in time
