★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Originally called Basie, also known as E=MC2 and reissued in 1994 as The Complete Atomic Basie. Also, although probably not ever offered as the actual title, "E=MC²=Count Basie Orchestra+Neal Hefti Arrangements" is written on the cover under the credit "Basie." So there's some titling issues here. Whatever you call it, this is swinging jazz with bebop influences. Muted horns and some pummeling drumming on the first half or so give this some rocking swagger. I prefer the rocking stuff, but more languid numbers like "Lil' Darlin'" have a lot of mood too. The horn solos on "Flight of the Foo Birds" and "Whirly-Bird" are exceptional. Knowing almost nothing about Basie, I was surprised to find out that the Count wasn't a composer or arranger at all, and some guy named Neal Hefti wrote all the songs on this and other Basie albums. Favorite tracks:
"Splanky," "Whirly-Bird," "Flight of the Foo Birds."
