Search - Quincy Jones, Sammy Nestico :: Basie & Beyond

To those post-baby boomers weaned on Michael Jackson's Thriller, this straight-ahead jazz date by the superproducer Quincy Jones, with Count Basie orchestra arranger Sammy Nestico, may seem out of place--a relic of Jones's distant jazz past. But to Q's old-school fans who grew up hearing him with Ray Charles and Lionel Hampton, and on albums like This is How I Feel About Jazz (1957) and Walkin' in Space, this CD is a long-awaited return to his roots. Jones arranged and produced a number of Basie LPs in the 1960s, and he also arranged the music when Frank Sinatra and Basie convened on classics like It Might As Well Be Spring, so it should surprise no one how well Basie and Beyond swings. The band is composed of topnotch West Coast session men, featuring flutist Hubert Laws, guitarist Paul Jackson Jr., and tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts. Along with a few no-nonsense tunes by Nestic--including "Ya Gotta Try ... Harder!," "The Joy of Cookin'," and "Out of the Night"--the date features Jones's several rare 1950s and '60s tunes: a midtempo update of "Jelly Roll" highlighted by tenor saxophonist Watts's Coltrane-ish lines. The Tadd Dameron-tinged ballad "Quintessence" and the late-night Kansas City stroll of "The Witching Hour" show Q's still got it. --Eugene Holley Jr.