| Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | December 10, 1962(LP) June 20, 1988(CD) | |||
| Recorded | October 2–3, 1962 | |||
| Studio | United Recording, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | Vocal jazz,jazz | |||
| Length | 33:05 | |||
| Label | Reprise FS 1008 | |||
| Frank Sinatra chronology | ||||
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| Count Basie chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Mojo | [2] |
| New Record Mirror | [3] |
Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First (a.k.a.Sinatra-Basie) is a 1962 studio album byFrank Sinatra, arranged byNeal Hefti.
This was the first recording that Sinatra made with theCount Basie Orchestra. In 1964, Sinatra and Basie would make a final studio recording,It Might as Well Be Swing, orchestrated byQuincy Jones, and Sinatra's first live album,Sinatra at the Sands (1966) would feature the Basie band.
Sinatra appeared on an episode ofThe Dinah Shore Show that aired on December 9, 1962, the day beforeSinatra-Basie was released, and performed the album's arrangement of "Please Be Kind".
According toWill Friedwald's bookSinatra! The Song Is You:
Basie didn't play piano on several of the tracks: "The day before the first date, we rehearsed all day, all night", said [Sinatra's longtime pianist]Bill Miller, officially serving as contractor. "Everybody also came in an hour before so we could go over them again." As Joe Bushkin has pointed out, "The Basie guys could read [sheet music] as well as anystudio band", but to help them nail the charts even tighter, Sinatra and Miller brought in ace lead trumpeter Al Porcino. Basie was a capable but not an expert reader, Miller continued, "and he was very slow to learn new tunes, so on a couple of the songs, he said, 'You play it.'" Long story short, Bill Miller played piano on "Pennies from Heaven."[4][excessive quote]
Tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9:
3-October-1962 (Wednesday) - Hollywood.United Recording (from 7:30 to 11:00 P.M.).
Al Porcino, Thad Jones, Fip Ricard, Sonny Cohn, Al Aarons (tpt); Henry Coker, Rufus Wagner, Benny Powell (tbn); Marshall Royal (alt); Frank Wess (alt/fl); Frank Foster (ten); Eric Dixon (ten/fl); Charles Fowlkes (bar/fl); Count Basie, Bill Miller (p); Freddie Green (g); Buddy Catlett (b); Sonny Payne (d). Neal Hefti (arr & cond).
Tracks 2, 7, 8, 10;
2-October-1962 (Tuesday) - Hollywood. United Recording (from 7:30 to 10:30 P.M.).
Al Porcino, Thad Jones, Fip Ricard, Sonny Cohn, Al Aarons (tpt); Henry Coker, Rufus Wagner, Benny Powell (tbn); Marshall Royal (alt); Frank Wess (alt/fl); Frank Foster (ten); Eric Dixon (ten/fl); Charles Fowlkes (bar); Count Basie, Bill Miller (p); Freddie Green (g); Buddy Catlett (b); Sonny Payne (d). Neal Hefti (arr & cond).[5]
