Basie
by Count Basie And His Orchestra & Neal Hefti

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Count Basie And His Orchestra & Neal Hefti bestography
The best album by Count Basie is Basie which is ranked number 1964 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 866.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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Basie track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Basie rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 27 minutes ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 55 Music Albums of 1958 | 45/55 | 1 |
| 2026 | Top 38 Music Albums of 1958 | 14/38 | 3 | |
| 2026 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1950s | 67/100 | 7 | |
| 2026 | Rivera | Jazz | 18/100 | - |
| 2026 | Untitled | Top 29 Music Albums of the 1950s | 23/29 | 5 |
| 2026 | Jakor | Top 50 Music Albums of the 1950s | 34/50 | 7 |
| 2026 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1958 | 25/100 | 4 | |
| 2026 | Top 39 Music Albums of 1958 | 13/39 | 3 | |
| 2026 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1950s | 61/100 | 8 | |
| 2026 | byuzak | Top 39 Music Albums of 1958 | 9/39 | 4 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 168 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 866 | |||
Basie collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 63 members
Basie ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 161 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 10/29/2026 09:02 | 2,562 | 74/100 | |
| ! | 07/18/2026 00:18 | xhitmanx | 1,604 | 75/100 |
| ! | 01/21/2026 23:06 | Rivera | 2,055 | 82/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 5% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.1/100, a mean average of 75.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.2.
Basie favourites
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Basie forum mentions
Basie comments
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Basie's best record is a classic for Big Band Jazz. Arranged by Neal Hefti and featuring some great tenor sax work by Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Easy to see how this recording rejuvenated Basie's career.
Best Tracks: Midnite, Fantail, Spanky, Duet, Teddy the Toad.
This album is extremely relaxing and I always get the urge to stick on this album late in the evening when I want to just chill. It always makes me forget about everything else and I think that is due to the seamless nature of the music. All the songs suit each other very well which creates a cohesive experience. The instrumentals are solid with some outstanding performances on both the Trumpet and Trombone. There is nothing really exceptional about this album but it is a great listen. Overall, an album I come back to a lot and if your in the right mood this record is amazing even though it is weak at times.
I've always known this album as The Atomic Mr Basie, but the original title was indeed Basie. It could have been called Hefti, really, the arrangements are the star. The playing throughout is top-notch, ensemble and soloists alike. It's just so...unadventurous. It's a sort of clinic in big band arranging of a certain type.
Have to disagree with a couple of previous comments that this is Basie's best. That's almost a shocking thing to say. Basie's best was in the 30s, when he had Lester Young and Buck Clayton and all those guys, and I don't think this even comes close.
'The Kid From Red Bank' is an album highlight here! There's a few spots of greatness, but it's balanced out by some fairly mundane tracks as well. Overall a fairly decent album.
Energetic big band jazz. Enjoyable but I do find this genre a little bombastic and less interesting than others. Other's clearly love it though and kudos merrily un pc album art!
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