The Count Basie Orchestra's initial studio album for Pablo mostly features pleasant but lightweight arrangements by Sammy Nestico. The music is quite recognizable as Basie's but the results are somewhat forgettable and predictable.

One of the best-known blues musicians in Israel, American singer/songwriter/guitarist Lazer Lloyd (born Lloyd Paul Blumen) carved a career for himself by promoting the blues genre in the Middle East, where it was lesser known than at home. A soulful singer and guitarist, he was born in New York and raised in Madison, Connecticut on blues, folk, rock, and jazz by a musician father, having access to his extensive record collection. Eventually developing a style that incorporated all of these genre influences into his emotive blues, he was playing lead guitar along the East Coast with his band Legacy by age 15. He started singing and writing songs while a music major at Skidmore College in upstate New York, where he studied under the tutelage of musicians including jazz bassist Milt Hinton and Blood, Sweat & Tears' Randy Brecker…