AMG REVIEW: There were a lot of compilations claiming to offer "the best of Count Basie" — the man recorded for just under 50 years, after all — but this one really means it. Until the CD boom came along, this two-LP set, containing more than a third of Basie's output in his first two years of recording for the Decca label, was the definitive account of his classic early years, and the best compilation that one could buy of the work that first made him famous. As with most Decca reissues of the LP era, the sound and packaging weren't all that they should have been, but the music here — including "One O'Clock Jump," "Sent for You Yesterday," "Jumpin' at the Woodside," and "Jive at Five" — and the band — featuring Lester Young, Herschel Evans, Buck Clayton, Walter Page, and Jo Jones — were all substantial enough to demand attention, regardless of those shortcomings. Anyone not yet sold on CDs who wants to start listening to Count Basie should start by tracking down this double LP. Recorded 1937-February 9, 1939. — Bruce Eder