Mobile Fidelity - MFSL2-401 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl  

Numbered Limited Edition -   Pressed at RTI  

Mastered by Kreig Wunderlich  at MFSL

Digital clone of original 1998 PCM digital master to analog console to lathe
This recording was originally made on 4-track analog tape in 1966. It was not mixed until 1998, onto U-Matic tape, using the Sony 1630 PCM digital system.

The Absolute Sound Super Disc List    TAS Harry Pearson Super LP List

Sounds fabulous with the same great sonics of the Sinatra original  - Sound 10/10  HIFI +

Buy this album and enjoy the finest swing band ever in you-are-there sound. - TheAudioBeat.

MoFi's Krieg Wunderlich did an astounding job maintaining a fine tonal balance; add to that a stupendous dynamic window - Soundart

Mastered from the Original Master Tapes! Pressed at RTI! Swinging Hard and Heavy With Orchestral Support, Live Big-Band Album Recorded During the Count's Warm-Up Sets for Sinatra in Early 1966 in Vegas

Incredible Sound: Mastered from the Original Master Tapes, Reissue Improves Upon Renowned Dynamics, Presence, Crispness, and Balances

Long Out-of-Print, Seminal Classic is Perfect Complement to Sinatra at the Sands

Count Basie and Frank Sinatra had the perfect arrangement at the Sands. Before the Chairman hit the stage in Vegas, Count Basie and his big band warmed up the already enthusiastic crowd with a brief set of their own. A dynamite entertainer, the legendary leader causes hearts to race, hips to shake, and fingers to snap with high-energy readings of his trademark swing music, taken to feverish heights by both his first-rate orchestra and the incredibly swank setting. Fortunately, the finest of Basie and Co.’s introductory performances from the historic 1966 dates have been preserved here and serve as a seminal complement to Frank's iconic Sinatra at the Sands.

Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity’s analog version of Live at the Sands (Before Frank) gives you a dead-center, eighth-row seat at the famed Sin City club. You’ll just need to supply your own table and cocktail. Renowned for its sonic clarity, transparency, crispness, and punch, the record is now tremendously enhanced, with improved tonality, a deeper soundstage, correct balances, and life-like presence. Each horn occupies its own space, and Basie’s transfixing piano — a focal point throughout — resonates with gorgeous detail and impeccable pacing. The collective’s energy almost demands to be measured with an SPL meter.

Captured in late January and early February 1966, Live at the Sands (Before Frank) contains most of Basie’s signature pieces delivered with an enthusiasm, style, and brassiness that exceed that gracing nearly any of the Count’s studio efforts. His band is stacked to the nines, with tenor saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, saxophonist/flautist Eric Dixon, and drummer “Sonny” Payne among the prized cast. The Sands dates marked the first time in years that these players, as well as trombonist Al Grey, gathered onstage together.

Encouraged by Basie, the instrumentalists engage in a series of call-and-response passages and standout solos, not the least of which is Davis’ turn on a white-hot “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” and he and Dixon’s exchanges on “This Could Be the Start of Something Big.” No slouch, Basie approaches “Makin’ Whoopee” with graceful playfulness, and oversees the assortment of up-tempo swing numbers and mellow ballads with astute melodicism. A sublime version of the Don Gibson country standard “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” arranged by Quincy Jones, can almost be considered a bonus

No, it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing - and Basie and his mates have plenty of it on this superb outing. Big-band jazz seldom enjoyed such levels of rhythmic precision, expert charts, or unfettered joy. Unbelievably, this gem has been out of print for years, with original copies both on vinyl and CD commanding steep prices. Mobile Fidelity’s reissue restores not only the sonics but the record’s place in jazz history.

• Half-Speed Production and Mastering by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
• Specially Plated and Pressed on 180 grams of High Definition Vinyl
• Special Static Free - Dust Free Inner Sleeve
• Heavy Duty Protective Packaging
• Mastered from the Original Master Tapes
• Pressed at RTI

Musicians:
Count Basie, piano
Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, tenor saxophone
Eric Dixon, saxophone, flute
“Sonny” Payne, drums
Al Grey, trombone

Selections:
1. Introduction
2. Splanky
3. I Can’t Stop Loving You
4. I Needs to Be Bee’d With
5. Flight of the Foo Birds
6. Satin Doll
7. Makin’ Whoopee!
8. Corner Pocket
9. One O’Clock Jump
10. Hello Little Girl
11. Whirly Bird
12. Blues for Ilene
13. This Could Be the Start of Something Big
14. Jumpin’ at the Woodside

RTI HQ-180 Vinyl

Record Technology is a world class record pressing plant located in Camarillo, California. We have been operating since 1974, pressing for most audiophile record labels and for many quality minded independent and major record labels from around the world.