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The Austrian answer to
Incognito is Count Basic.
Count  Basic
is a project of Peter Legat (guitar) featuring the female singer
Kelli Sae. Additional
musicians are today Willi Langer (bass), Dieter Kolbeck (keyboards),
Dirk Eichinger (drums), Laurinho Bandeira (percussion)
and .
The story of this group
began with the song "All Time High" in November 1991
on the compilation "1010 City Beat Vol. 2". The song
in the original version sung by Lynne Kieran developed into a
radio hit. In 1992 they released the album "Jazz In
The House". This album is rather unknown, even not listed
on Count Basic's website.
It was followed by
the fi rst
"official"album "Life Think It Over" in
1994. One can compare the Kelli Sae's vocals with those of the lead
singer of Brand New Heavies, while the brass background reminds
at Incognito (Fayyaz Virji - Incognito's trumpet player and
Richard Bailey - Incognito's drummer are on board). Bluey was so
fascinated that he engaged Kelli Sae for his album "Life,
Stranger Than Fiction", on which she sings on the
tracks 1, 4, 6 and 9 (Lead Vocals) and the scat on tack
13. Also to hear Peter's special Gibson (compare it with Ronny
Jordan) and also the Rhodes piano. The sound is fresh and
energetic, NAC and Smooth Jazz radio stations in USA gladly
broadcasted their music thanks to Instinct Records distribution.
"M.L. In The Sunshine"
reached the #1 place in the NAC/Smooth Jazz charts in 1995.
The next album "Movin'
In The Right  Direction" (1996) shares Incognito's
developement to go into a smoother R&B direction. Typical
the Maze classic cover "Joy And Pain". Radio &
Records notated a #3 place in the Smooth Jazz/New Adult
Contemporary LP of the year charts. This single went to #1 in
the charts again. One can observe that Instinct Records puts
pieces of both album at Acid Jazz and Smooth Jazz compilations.
Best player on all album is the exceptional guitarist Peter
Legat from the Vienna Jazz
Conservatory, where he actually taught as a jazz professor.
Favorite instrumental: "What's Up".
If you are interested in
more informations and soundsamples, I recommend:
Like other artists Count
Basic has released Best of albums, Remixed Versions, Maxi CDs
and more. A rather complete
discography is to find at
http://www.musik-datenbank.de/html/count_basic.html.
In 2000 Count Basic's
"Trust Your Instincts"
saw the light of world. The from many Smooth Jazz albums
well-known drum-machine groove sound has finally reached the
band. Kelli Sae as a "cover-girl" offers deep insights
in advertising new buyer markets. The style of the band reached
Pop status. Instinct Records comments:
"The group’s
third studio effort melds smooth R&B with their funk/jazz
roots creating a sound that is at once classic."
Don't misunderstand me,
that not a critical opinion ( I love this kind of music), but
this is definately not an Acid Jazz release and Count Basic 's
desciption as a soul/jazz hybrid hits the point. The cover
of Steve Wonder's "Living In The City" is my special
favorite.
Count Basic just
released a new album "Bigger & Brighter"  (2002).
It will be soon in the stores. Soundsamples of the new album are
already to find at Count
Basic's website. The new
album is a consistent continuation
of their earlier albums. Don't change a running system!
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