JANUARY 14

                COUNT BASIE
                I Told You So

                 Recording Date:
                    January 12-14, 1976
              
                 Peronnel:
                    Count Basie     P
                    Jimmy Forrest TS
                    Freddie Green  G
                    John Duke        B
                     Butch Miles     D
                     Eric Dixon       S
                     Danny Turner  S
                     Bobby Plater   AS
                     Sonny Cohn    TP



Pete Minger     TP
Bobby Mitchell  TP
John Thomas   TP
Al Grey            TB
Curtis Fuller     TB
Mel Wanzo       TB
Bill Hughes       TB

LINK

Review:
I TOLD YOU SO is a collection of tunes by composer/arranger Bill Holman as performed by Count Basie and his Orchestra. Even though the album was recorded in 1976, toward the end of Basie's career, the energy and level of musicianship is high. Holman's compositions are lively and complex, as the opener, "Tree Frog," with its ever-escalating dialogue between brass and saxophones, aptly demonstrates.

Holman's ear for the nuances and deep bluesy feeling of Basie's orchestra rings through in songs like "Flirt," "Blues For Alphy," and "Plain Brown Wrapper," which features a tasty, intertwining piano vs. orchestra lines, with fine solos from saxophonist Jimmy Forrest and trombonist Al Grey. Holman's excellent songwriting and arranging skills combined with the top-drawer elegance and swing of Basie and his boys make this a thoroughly satisfying date.
From CD Universe.

By Scott Yanow

This is one of Count Basie's best big-band studio recordings for Norman Granz during his Pablo years. The arrangements by Bill Holman are both challenging and swinging, containing enough surprises to make this session a real standout.