Play Along Count Basie

Create arrangements with texture and style with this complete guide to arranging for large horn sections! Now, for the first time, learn the same jazz ensemble arranging techniques taught by renowned Berklee College of Music faculty, and studied by the best and brightest arrangers working today. While the book focuses on classic big band and jazz styles, the core information about horn harmony and arranging can be used for any style, from hip-hop to ska. …

One of the great myths of jazz history is that by the final decade of his life, Lester Young was a burnout case, too drunk to stand up and play his horn, much less attain the creative flights of fancy that marked his groundbreaking work with Count Basie in the late '30s. But when these live recordings of Young playing with the Bill Potts Trio in Washington, D.C., were first released on LP in 1980, the jazz world had to re-evaluate its thinking. These privately recorded tapes revealed that not only was Prez far from being a broken shadow of his former self, he was blowing his heart out, obviously inspired by the playing of the trio behind him and the relaxed setting of the date itself. Kicking off with an uptempo take on "A Foggy Day," Young shows he's in full command of his chops, and the trio backs him buoyantly…

Leon Thomas became a star on the back of his original cut of The Creator Had A Master Plan recorded with Pharaoh Sanders. This success was consolidated with four studio albums and several live sessions recorded for Flying Dutchman. A year as a member of Santana brought him to the attention of an even wider audience. His yodeling style allied with deep blues roots has influenced several generations of jazz singers, most recently the Grammy Award-winning jazz star of 2012, Gregory Porter. Leon Thomas' music mixed spiritualism with African influences and became important to the acid jazz scene, where he was sampled by Galliano, while his records became sought after collector's items. In recent years the soul crowd has pushed up the value of his 45s Love Each Other and Just In Time To See The Sun. The Creator… pieces together the very best tracks from his five years at Flying Dutchman, including his collaborations with the Pharaoh Sanders band on his debut album, The Creator Has A Master Plan and Let The Rain Fall On Me; later more soul-influenced numbers, and the apocalyptic spiritual jazz masterpiece Shape Your Mind To Die. We have also found a previously unreleased full length version of his live favorite Um Um Um.

A fine swing clarinetist, an altoist whose sound was influenced by Johnny Hodges, a good soprano saxophonist, and a spirited blues vocalist, Woody Herman's greatest significance to jazz was as the leader of a long line of big bands. He always encouraged young talent and, more than practically any bandleader from the swing era, kept his repertoire quite modern.