Even while the Count Basie Orchestra was in the studio finishing work on its Tony Bennett album, A Swinging Christmas, the ensemble’s new album was already taking shape: a salute to such jazz titans as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Freddie Hubbard and John Coltrane, in addition to such living legends as Bennett, Quincy Jones, Hank Jones, Frank Wess, Jon Hendricks, Curtis Fuller, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and others. Mack Avenue Records presents Swinging, Singing, Playing: The Count Basie Orchestra Salutes the Jazz Masters featuring top-drawer performances by the big band and its all-star guest list that includes Jones, Wess, Hendricks, Fuller, Geri Allen, Nnenna Freelon, Janis Siegel, Butch Miles, Rufus Reid and, in a nod to the younger generation that embraces Basie music, sparkplug singer/pianist Jamie Cullum. Produced by Mack Avenue’s executive vice president of A&R Al Pryor and CBO producer / conductor of special projects Dennis Wilson, Swinging, Singing, Playing achieves just what the CD title boasts: a swinging good time of extraordinary blues-fueled performances that hail various jazz legends. “There was so much flat-out love when we recorded the album,” says Wilson, who served with the Basie band from 1977 to 1987, including seven years with the Count at the helm. “When we finished laying down each track there was so much huggin’ and kissin.’ It was like when Ella Fitzgerald used to tour with us. At the end, she gave us all presents. That’s what it felt like–good feelings all around.”