The Basie band has gone through a number of incarnations in the years since his death in 1984, of which the versions led by Thad Jones, Frank Foster and Grover Mitchell stayed reasonably close to the spirit of the original band. So now, 34 years later, what do we get in Basie's name? The answer is an indifferent and rather anonymous big band, with some occasionally rough section work (such as the trombones in Wycliffe Gordon's guest feature ‘Can't Hide Love’). The trumpets add flares and shakes where they're not necessary, and the rhythm section lacks the swinging tidiness of Basie's own bands. So it's trading on Basie's reputation, but without much sense of the qualities that made the original band special. Maybe Concord realise this, so they have peppered the album with star guests, from the tasteless vocal mayhem of Take 6 to the harmonica of Stevie Wonder, by way of Jon Faddis's high note trumpet and Wycliffe Gordon's growling trombone. All this to little avail, however, when you look at details such as the timing of the horns on the opening of ‘Honeysuckle Rose’, which verge on parody, despite a vocal from Carmen Bradford that reminds us of her earlier days with this ghost band. One track, ‘Hello’ by Adele Adkins and Greg Kursten, is beautifully played with restraint and taste, but it's a lonely beacon in an otherwise rather shouty album without much depth. So, all in all, best invest in music by the original Basie band.