''Harry's Choice!'' is a

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American trumpeter

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...

with The Harry James Orchestra. The album was recorded in Hollywood, California in June, 1958 and released by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

on stereo LP (ST-1093), mono LP (T-1093), and a series of three

EPs An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EAP 1-1093, EAP 2-1093 and EAP 3-1093). After coasting through the mid-1950s, James made a complete reevaluation of where he was heading in his musical career.

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

provided the impetus by making a significant comeback with his newly formed "16 Men Swinging" band, and James wanted a band with a decided Basie flavor. This album is the third of several released on

representative of the Basie style that James adopted during this period, with some of the arrangements provided by former Basie saxophonist and arranger

Ernie Wilkins Ernest Brooks Wilkins Jr. (July 20, 1922 – June 5, 1999) was an American jazz saxophonist, conductor and arranger who spent several years with Count Basie. He also wrote for Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, and Dizzy Gillespie. He was musical direct ...

, whom James hired for his own band.

Track listing

Personnel

*Harry James - leader, trumpet * Willie Smith, Bob Poland, Ernie Small, Herb Lorden, Sam Firmature - saxophone *Bob Wolfe, Nick Buono,

Ollie Mitchell Oliver Edward Mitchell (April 8, 1927 – May 11, 2013) was an American musician and bandleader. He was the son of Harold Mitchell, lead trumpeter for MGM Studios, who taught Ollie to play the trumpet. Career Mitchell would go on to play in big ...

- trumpet *Bob Edmondson, Ernie Tack,

Ray Sims Ray C. Sims (January 18, 1921 - March 14, 2000) was an American jazz trombonist. He was the brother of Zoot Sims. Born in Wichita, Kansas, Sims played in territory bands in the early 1940s, then recorded with Anita O'Day and Benny Goodman shortl ...

- trombone *

Jack Perciful Jack T. Perciful (November 26, 1925, Moscow, Idaho – March 13, 2008, Olympia, Washington) was an American jazz pianist. Perciful learned piano from an early age; his mother was a pianist who played in silent movie houses. After enlisting in the ...

- piano *

Dennis Budimir Dennis Matthew Budimir (June 20, 1938 – January 10, 2023) was an American jazz and rock guitarist. He was considered to be a member of the Wrecking Crew. Biography Budimir learned to play piano and guitar in his youth and first played profe ...

- guitar *Russ Phillips - bass *

Jackie Mills Jackie Mills (born March 11, 1922, New York City - died March 22, 2010, Beaumont, California) was an American jazz drummer. Biography Mills first learned guitar before picking up drums when he was ten years old. He played in the swing groups of ...

- drums

References

{{Authority control Harry James albums 1958 albums Capitol Records albums Albums arranged by Ernie Wilkins Big band albums