Similar Albums:
- Artist: Ella Fitzgerald/Count Basie/Joe Williams
- Rating:
- Release Date: 1957
- Total Time: 49:51
- Type: Compilation (best of)
- Genre: Vocal Music
Review
This recording could be considered a near-sibling to April In Paris, since several of its tracks date from sessions out of the same month. Others overlap with material cut for The Greatest! Count Basie Plays . . . Joe Williams Sings Standards, and it isn't as compelling a record, either as a Joe Williams vehicle or a Basie showcase, as either of those, though it does have its moments, most notably the original finale, Arranger Ernie Wilkins' "From Coast to Coast," an 8½-minute blow-out; the Ella Fitzgerald-Joe Williams duet on "Too Close For Comfort," and the title track, rearranged by Wilkins but close to the classic rendering, which features lively solos by Frank Wess, Benny Powell, Frank Foster, and (especially)Joe Newman and Henry Coker. Williams is the dominant presence on the album, singing on seven of the original 10 tracks, and his presence is a bit of a drag on some of the proceedings, especially "Only Forever." His work with Basie from this era is better represented on Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings, although he and the band acquit themselves very well here on "Stop, Pretty Baby, Stop," where all hands are firing on all cylinders at once for a change. The bonus tracks include a heavier, punchier outtake of "One O'Clock Jump" featuring the same soloists, plus a Williams-solo version of "Too Close For Comfort." The CD is a good package, with superb sound, though some historical notes would've been nice to put the sessions in perspective. A handy mid-priced reissue. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Too Close for Comfort | Jerry Bock, |
(3:02) | |
| Smack Dab in the Middle | Ella Fitzgerald, |
(3:36) | |
| Amazing Love | Joe Williams, |
(3:28) | |
| Only Forever | James V. Monaco, Johnny Burke | Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Williams, |
(3:34) |
| Don't Worry 'Bout Me | Ted Koehler, Rube Bloom | (3:01) | |
| Stop, Pretty Baby | Leon Washington, Red Saunders, |
Joe Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, |
(3:04) |
| One O'Clock Jump | Count Basie | (4:29) | |
| Jamboree | (4:56) | ||
| I Don't Like You No More | Joe Williams, |
(2:37) | |
| From Coast to Coast | (8:31) | ||
| Too Close for Comfort [Alternate Version][Alternate Take][#][*] | Jerry Bock, |
Joe Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, |
(2:56) |
| One O'Clock Jump [EP Version][*] | Count Basie | (2:03) | |
| One O'Clock Jump [Alternate Take][#][*] | Count Basie | (4:34) |
