Tuesday 4 October 2016

Our Shining Hour – SAMMY DAVIS JR & COUNT BASIE****

My Shining Hour/Teach Me Tonight/Work Song/Why Try To Change Me Now/Blues For Mr Charlie/April In Paris/ New York City Blues/You’re Nobody Till Someone Loves You/She’s A Woman/The Girl From Ipanema/Keepin’ Out Of Mischief Now/Bill Basie Won’t You Please Come Home

Our Shining Hour was a unique collaboration between two musical giants Sammy Davis Jr and Count Basie, performing some slow jazz numbers arranged by Quincy Jones. (US:141)

“Unbelievable. A perfect combination of two giants, encouraging each other to cap it all off. Basie's horns are powerful and sharp as knives and Davis tries to keep up to this energy. An incredibly good record.”

“Sammy Davis, Jr. singing songs arranged by Quincy Jones to the accompaniment of Count Basie and his orchestra - this recording could not possibly be anything but fantastic. I prefer Sammy's finger-snapping, toe-tapping showstoppers, but every so often it's nice to sit down and listen to the world's greatest entertainer relax and sing some slow jazz songs. The musical accompaniment here is, in a word, excellent. Rather than overshadow Sammy's singing, it actually heightens the amazing effect of his singular vocal stylings.”

“Sammy and The Count lay down some of the best, most intense studio tracks I have ever heard. This pairs one of the best ever singers with one of the world's legendary musicians. You also get some of Sammy's harder to find tunes and some classic lounge the way only Sammy could do it. A must if you’re a real fan.”

“The combination of these two music greats on one LP is a treasure. April In Paris is a real blockbuster. The entire album is top shelf. Even the cover is classic Sammy. If you don't have any Sammy in your collection, this is a good one to start with.”

“Sammy Davis Jr. and Count Basie make a formidable team: they work well together here to produce a great performance. Quincy Jones wrote the musical arrangements on this album and the quality of his work is abundantly clear.”

“Both were excellent musicians, what more can be said? Except that they work perfectly together in these songs. Basie's more complicated kinds of jazz are a perfect background for Davis' energetic and stylized vocals.”

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