Afrique

One of the great names of jazz, Count Basie's career endured for over 50 years with a host of classic songs and recordings. His band's pounding rhythm and horn sections included such important names as Lester Young and Frank Foster.

Afrique was Count Basie's sole Flying Dutchman LP, where he worked with arranger Oliver Nelson, who carefully updated his classic sound without compromise. Nelson mixed a set of originals with carefully chosen numbers from Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders and Gabor Szabo. The result is a triumphant late-era (1971) classic from the Count.