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Unlike his fellow jazz royal Duke Ellington, William ‘Count’ Basie wasn’t a master composer or arranger. If you’re looking for dazzling instrumental textures or surprising chord changes, you bought the wrong disc. But if swing’s your thing, Basie’s place is central HQ. Sporting some of jazz’s finest soloists, as well as perhaps its tightest rhythm section, the Basie band specialized in tunes that bounce with joy and beg you to shake your bones. — Mac Randall