Basie in 1983
When Count Basie recorded Me and You, the founding of his own orchestra lay almost half a century behind him. The sessions took place at Group IV Studios in Los Angeles in February 1983, with the album appearing on Pablo that year. Norman Granz produced. The music belongs to Basie's late period and shows how actively his understanding of swing continued through another generation of players.
Although the title names the orchestra, the album uses both a large ensemble and an octet. Those different scales are part of its appeal. Basie's musical identity does not depend solely on the number of horns. It also emerges from the relationship between a concise piano figure, the steady rhythm and an ensemble response. That relationship can be followed across different group sizes.
The effect of a few notes
Freddie Green on guitar, Cleveland Eaton on bass and Dennis Mackrel on drums join Basie in the rhythm section. Green's steady chord work had been part of the orchestra's story for decades. Basie's piano places selected accents around it, leaving room between them. Listening to these four musicians beneath the more prominent horn lines reveals the organisation behind the apparently effortless movement.
Ernie Wilkins contributes arrangements and appears as the composer of both “Right On, Right On” and the title track. The repertoire combines these pieces with standards and Basie's own compositions. Nat Pierce's “Mr. Softie” opens the programme. “Moten Swing” reaches back into Basie's musical past, to Bennie Moten and the Kansas City environment in which he worked before leading his own orchestra. That history is carried forward by a later line-up.
Eight pieces, several perspectives
“She's Funny That Way” and “Easy Living” bring familiar songbook material into the programme. “Crip” and “Bridge Work” are Basie compositions. The eight tracks make up a working repertoire rather than a chronological retrospective, placing older songs and newer contributions alongside one another. The changing forms direct attention towards the players: how they approach a melody, withdraw from it and prepare the next entrance.
Alongside the rhythm section, the smaller group includes trumpeter Bob Summers, trombonist Booty Wood and saxophonists Eric Dixon and Chris Woods. The octet illustrates how many possibilities lie between a solo voice and a full orchestral statement. Me and You presents Basie directing a musical conversation whose conventions the participants know thoroughly. Some of its most telling details lie in short responses and accents placed together.
This LP edition
Analogue Productions releases AAPJ 193 in its Pablo series as a single 180-gram LP, pressed at Quality Record Pressings and playing at 33⅓ rpm. Matthew Lutthans mastered this edition at The Mastering Lab from the original analogue master tapes. Packaging consists of a single-pocket Stoughton tip-on jacket. It contains the eight-track programme of the album originally released in 1983, featuring Count Basie and his musicians.
More by Count Basie: 88 Basie Street · Basie Jam
Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe
Series: Pablo – all 30 records, musicians and the session book
Musicians
Documented selection of participating musicians. Personnel may vary by track; this list does not claim to be complete.
| Name | Instrument / role |
|---|---|
| Count Basie | Piano |
| Sonny Cohn | Trumpet |
| Bill Hughes | Trombone |
| Danny Turner | Alto saxophone |
| Eric Dixon | Tenor saxophone |
| Johnny Williams | Baritone saxophone |
| Freddie Green | Guitar |
| Cleveland Eaton | Double bass |
| Dennis Mackrel | Drums |
| Ernie Wilkins | Conductor |
How Michael hears this edition
Listening impression · paraphrased from the video
Michael is particularly impressed by the dynamic contrasts on this Pablo reissue: very quiet, gentle passages give way to forceful entrances from the drums or other instruments. He also highlights the clarity and soundstage. That interplay is what makes the listening experience so compelling for him.
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