I spent a totally magical evening at the RFH in 1956. The first ever appearance in the UK of the Count Basie Orchestra. Wow - the sounds that greeted me on that amazing occasion are still very vivid today. Immense new tunes and arrangements by people like Ernie Wilkins and Neal Hefti; the incredible and immaculate section work and of course, the inspired soloists, people like Joe Neuman, Thad Jones, Frank Wess and Frank [?] Foster and underlining it, the feather-light rhythm section with its contagious pulsation led by the Count with his elliptical piano style, with the enduring Freddie Greene on guitar and the exciting Sonny Payne on drums. << less