The year 1958 was a big one for music. The 12-inch LP was firmly established as a format, stereo albums began to be released and jazz and pop musicians were hard at work in clubs, recording studios, on television shows and on movie sound stages. With improved fidelity and longer album sides came a big-band resurgence and an emphasis on renewed optimism, brassy bombast and swinging charts. [Pictured, from left: Trumpeter Don Fagerquist and tenor saxophonists Arno Marsh and Georgie Auld at Capitol Records in Hollywood in 1958, courtesy of Arno Marsh]
Here are my 10 favorite big band studio albums of 1958in order of preference. The month of recording is in parenthesis...
Basie Plays Hefti Count Basie (April)
Message From Newport Maynard Ferguson (May)
Band in BostonHerb Pomeroy (November)
Plays Gerry Mulligan ArrangementsGene Krupa (March)
Herman's Beat & Tito's Heat!Woody Herman and Tito Puente (September)
Chances Are it SwingsShorty Rogers (December)
Steve's SongsManny Albam (July)
Dance to South PacificLes Brown (January)
The Cosmic SceneDuke Ellington (April)
The Ballad StyleStan Kenton (May)
Here are my 10 favorite big band studio albums of 1958in order of preference. The month of recording is in parenthesis...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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