(September 12, 2023) The Count Basie Orchestra has a unique sound in jazz music. The band combines the foot stomping sound of delta blues with the swing, virtuosic solos, and precise melodies of jazz music to create a sound that drew the music world to Kansas City. And here’s the thing, the Count Basie Orchestra remains the ambassador of swinging blues-based jazz nearly 40 years after William “Count” Basie left us.
The great vocalists who sang with the band throughout the years were a major component of the orchestra’s sound. Billie Holiday and Joe Williams are just two of the great singers who sang the blues while Basie’s band swang the blues. Their new project, The Count Basie Orchestra Swings The Blues, sees the ensemble continue to serve up a rollicking, swinging brand of bluesy jazz.
On the album, the orchestra backs a roster of legendary vocalists as they put their spin on blues tunes. Vocalists include Keb Mo, Bettye LaVette, Shameka Copeland, and Ledisi, who sings “Evil Gal Blues,” the song featured in this First Listen.
“Evil Gal Blues” is well within Ledisi’s wheelhouse. The band swings it hard and Ledisi is right there with them for the entire ride. She has fun with a playful song about a woman who is more than most men can handle. The blues come for Lediisi when she loses her man first to Uncle Sam and then to another woman. Ledisi has the chops to reach down and become a blues shouter when the situation and the instrumental arrangement calls for it. “Evil Gal Blues” stands as the ideal vehicle to showcase Ledisi’s. vocal virtues. Check it out here.
By Howard Dukes
Count Basie Orchestra feat. Ledisi
"Evil Gal Blues"
