Count Basie One O'clock Jump

1956 was a pivotal year for Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Joe Williams. Ella was at the top of her game, Basie was enjoying a second acclaimed career with his 'New Testament Big Band,' and singer Joe Williams had just won the New Jazz Star award in the Critics' poll. With these three magnificent artists on his label, it was a no-brainer for Norman Granz to feature them in two LPs, "One O Clock Jump" and "Metronome All-Stars 1956." By now Basie was the leader of probably the hardest swinging band in jazz, and with Ella and Joe on board it was a marriage made in jazz heaven. She and Joe shine throughout, whether singing separately, or adlibbing together as they do on Joe's revisited hit Every Day I Have the Blues. The band swings compulsively behind them at all times, while the fun includes the scat dialogues between Joe and Ella on Party Blues, with Basie's small combo backing. Gathered here in chronological order for the first time, these must-have sessions mark a memorable coming together of three major jazz talents.