Joe Williams

Joe Williams – Every Day I Have the Blues (1959/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 11, 2023 · Comments off

Everyday I Have the Blues is an album by singer Joe Williams with Count Basie and His Orchestra featuring tracks recorded in 1959 (with one track from 1957 on the original LP) which was originally released on the Roulette label.

AllMusic awarded the album 4 stars and its review by John Bush states, “Joe Williams had enlivened the Count Basie band for so long that it was natural for Basie and company to return the favor on his 1959 solo LP for Roulette. And with a trio of Basie arrangers – Frank Foster, Ernie Wilkins, Thad Jones – providing charts for a rather small group here, the results are excellent”.

In DownBeat, Ralph Gleason finds “the Basie band really shining as an accompanying instrument” and argues this is Williams’ “best album under his own name.”

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Joe Williams – A Night at Count Basie’s (1956/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · March 23, 2023 · Comments off

Joe Williams - A Night at Count Basie's (1956/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz] Download

A Night at Count Basie’s is a live album by vocalist Joe Williams recorded at Count Basie’s nightclub in Harlem in 1956 and released on the Vanguard label.
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Count Basie, Joe Williams – Just the Blues (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · January 8, 2023 · Comments off

Jazz fans who discovered Count Basie and Joe Williams in the decades that followed Basie’s association with Roulette between 1958 and 1962 have been frustrated with the limited availability of many of these recordings in the era of the compact disc. This 1960 LP features Joe Williams with Count Basie & His Orchestra singing a mostly blues set with one exception, the torch song “Trav’lin’ Light.” The chemistry between the band and the singer is impeccable, as always, with Basie’s economical piano adding just the right touch when needed, and Williams is in great voice, though some unnecessary reverb added at the date proves to be distracting. A remake of the band’s earlier version of Walter Brown’s hit (co-written with Jay McShann) “Confessin’ the Blues” is swinging, while Al Grey’s growling trombone sets the stage for Williams in Leroy Carr’s “Night Time Is the Right Time.” There are misfires, including an overdone “Keep Your Hand on Your Heart,” while Williams seems to bog down “Mean Mistreater” after a promising instrumental introduction. But the vocalist more than makes up for any shortcomings with a perky original blues he brought to the session, “Lyin’ Woman.” Although this music was reissued as a part of The Complete Roulette Studio Recordings of Count Basie & His Orchestra, the sellout of that limited-edition set will make it tougher to find this rewarding music until the album is reissued separately on its own CD.

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Count Basie & Joe Williams – Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings (1955/2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · October 31, 2022 · Comments off

Joe Williams’ debut as the featured vocalist in Count Basie’s band was one of those landmark moments that even savvy observers don’t fully appreciate when it occurs, then realize years later how momentous an event they witnessed. Williams brought a different presence to the great Basie orchestra than the one Jimmy Rushing provided; he couldn’t shout like Rushing, but he was more effective on romantic and sentimental material, while he was almost as spectacular on surging blues, up-tempo wailers, and stomping standards. Basie’s band maintained an incredible groove behind Williams, who moved from authoritative statements on “Every Day I Have the Blues” and “Please Send Me Someone to Love” to brisk workouts on “Roll ‘Em Pete” and his definitive hit, “All Right, OK, You Win”.

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