ProJazz.net

“First Time! The Count Meets the Duke” is an album by American pianists, composers and bandleaders Duke Ellington and Count Basie with their combined Orchestras recorded and released on the Columbia label in 1961.

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars calling it “a very successful and surprisingly uncrowded encounter. On most selections Ellington and Basie both play piano (their interaction with each other is wonderful) and the arrangements allowed the stars from both bands to take turns soloing”.

Track listing:

00:00 Battle Royal (Duke Ellington)
05:30 To You (Thad Jones)
09:22 Take The “A” Train (Billy Strayhorn)
13:07  Corner Pocket” [a.k.a. “Until I Met You”] (Freddie Green, Donald Wolf)
17:58 Wild Man (Duke Ellington)
23:35 Segue in C (Frank Wess)
31:53 B D B (Ellington, Strayhorn)
35:52 Jumpin’ at the Woodside (Count Basie)

Personnel:
Duke Ellington, Count Basie – piano
Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Eddie Mullens, Ray Nance, Sonny Cohn, Lennie Johnson, Thad Jones, Snooky Young – trumpet
Lou Blackburn, Lawrence Brown, Henry Coker, Quentin Jackson, Benny Powell – trombone
Juan Tizol – valve trombone
Jimmy Hamilton – clarinet, tenor saxophone
Johnny Hodges – alto saxophone
Russell Procope, Marshal Royal – alto saxophone, clarinet
Frank Wess – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute
Paul Gonsalves, Frank Foster, Budd Johnson – tenor saxophone
Harry Carney, Charlie Fowlkes – baritone saxophone
Freddie Green – guitar
Aaron Bell, Eddie Jones – bass
Sam Woodyard, Sonny Payne – drums