First Time! The Count Meets The Duke (studio album)
by Count Basie & Duke Ellington
Condition: Used
Condition: Used
Condition: Very Good
Count Basie & Duke Ellington bestography
First Time! The Count Meets The Duke is ranked as the best album by Count Basie & Duke Ellington.
(N.B. Bestographies do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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First Time! The Count Meets The Duke track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
First Time! The Count Meets The Duke rankings
All 13 charts that this album appears in:
Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
---|---|---|---|---|
2025 | ![]() | Top 100 Music Albums of 1961 | 53/100 | 2 |
2025 | TodFitz | Top 86 Music Albums of 1961 | 30/86 | 3 |
2025 | replacementlevel | Top 30 Music Albums of 1961 | 19/30 | 2 |
2025 | Olli | Top 41 Music Albums of 1961 | 27/41 | 2 |
2024 | ![]() | AM Bubbling Under 1960s 3 | 67/88 | - |
2024 | ![]() | Top 35 Music Albums of 1961 | 24/35 | 2 |
2024 | ![]() | #801-900 Overall | 7/100 | - |
2020 | ![]() | Top 100 Music Albums of 1961 | 84/100 | 1 |
2019 | ReelBigToph | Top 100 Music Albums of 1961 | 6/100 | 5 |
2018 | ![]() | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s | 99/100 | 0 |
2018 | glynspsa | Top 10 Music Albums of 1961 | 6/10 | 3 |
2017 | ![]() | Top 19 Music Albums of the 1960s | 18/19 | 2 |
2016 | hedera | Top 10 Music Albums of 1961 | 8/10 | 2 |
Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 13 | |||
Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 23 |
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!
First Time! The Count Meets The Duke collection
Showing all 12 members who have this album in their collection
First Time! The Count Meets The Duke ratings

where:
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 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 19 ratings for this album.
Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
---|---|---|---|---|
70/100 ![]() | 05/06/2025 12:33 | ![]() | ![]() | 78/100 |
70/100 ![]() | 05/20/2024 23:11 | BorderFreeAndrew | ![]() | 74/100 |
75/100 ![]() | 01/22/2024 18:15 | replacementlevel | ![]() | 70/100 |
90/100 ![]() | 11/06/2023 22:02 | ![]() | ![]() | 88/100 |
65/100 ![]() | 10/25/2023 11:34 | ![]() | ![]() | 69/100 |
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 25% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 73.6/100, a mean average of 74.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 10.4.
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First Time! The Count Meets The Duke favourites
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First Time! The Count Meets The Duke comments
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Two big bands playing in conjunction with each other, with two amazing pianists at the helm. Yet somehow, no one oversteps one another and everyone blends together in one giant band with a huge sound. Having Basie's band in one ear and Ellington's band in the other is an interesting touch, but not sure if I like it. I'd recommend listening to this in mono if you aren't into the stereo version.

From classic jazz to blues. Great work!

Plays real nice on vinyl.
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