Jimmy Rushing

Frank Sinatra described singing with the Count Basie Orchestra as coasting on a crest of a wave -- the band had the power and you just rode with it. Judy Garland, the American banshee, described singing with the outfit as trying to be heard above the roar of a cannon. Jimmy Rushing, the lion-lunged fireplug, roared while riding the Basie wave from 1935 all the way to the shore of 1950. There are literally hundreds of albums, bootlegs and radio transcriptions from Rushing's period with the band and every track is a guaranteed blues-drenched, swinging blast. Don't stop there though, because even without Basie backing him up, Rushing recorded acres of top tunes. To many ears, Rushing's balls-to-the-wall style works best in small doses, but he went on to record good albums with every one from the Dave Brubeck Quartet to orchestras led by Oliver Nelson. His take on the perennial flag waver "There'll Be Some Changes Made" from the Brubeck album has recently been embraced by a new audience after it was used in a series of TV commercials.