Count Basie Big Band - Live In Berlin 1963

180-gram double LP

Count Basie Big Band's Live In Berlin 1963 is an original master concert recording from Sportpalast Berlin. Live In Berlin 1963 is a release in the WDR The Cologne Broadcasts series produced by jazz historian Dr. Bernd Hoffmann. William James "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904-April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, Basie formed his own jazz orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording.

He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. WDR (West German Broadcasting Cologne) is the German public broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine- Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. Engineered by Franz-Josef Schwarz and re-mastered by Dirk Franken, both formats include musician credits and liner notes by journalist and radio host Karsten Mützelfeldt in English and German.