Basie Jam is two sides of some of the best swing ever recorded. This record was produced by Norman Granz and Pablo Records. Granz, responsible for one of the greatest jazz labels ever — Verve — knew what he was doing in a studio.

The Big Band sound of Count Basie and the other orchestra leaders dominated dance halls and the airwaves for almost two decades. This late 1973 session features the Count with an eight-piece band. As the title indicates, this recording is like a jam session, so all the tracks are based around the blues. After a classic Basie Piano intro the first track “Doubling Blues” swings like mad, but then you notice there’s something different going on when the solos start. What’s different is that Basie is playing Organ for most of the rest of the track and the difference is amazing. The little Piano phrases that we’re all so used to hearing Basie play aren’t there. Then after six minutes the piano comes back in and we finish track with Basie as we started.

For more of Basie’s organ playing have a listen to “One-Nighter” — a lovely medium tempo number on which he plays a restrained introductory solo, before Zoot Sims plays the opening tenor sax solo.

The running time is just under 50 minutes, and with only five tracks on the album that tells you that the musicians were given plenty of opportunity to stretch out. They do, and its well worth getting a copy of this album.

Mastered by Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab from the original analog master tape. Pressed at Quality Record Pressings for superior sound quality, and housed in a handsome Stoughton Printing tip-on gatefold jacket.