If in the often-repeated (and, of course, vastly oversimplified) thumbnail history of the Swing Era, Count Basie had the rhythm and Duke Ellington had the precision, then Jimmie Lunceford, as Columbia/Legacy"s new retrospective shows, had both. Lunceford, an immensely popular bandleader in the late 1930s, may not have been given much screen time in Ken Burns"s Jazz, but he was no less important to the development of swing, and Lunceford Special is an excellent starting point for any appreciation of the Lunceford band. Lunceford"s patented sound was a two-beat swing rhythm enhanced by trumpeter Sy Oliver"s intricate arrangements, and there"s plenty of that sound on display here, from sugary vocal numbers like "Ain"t She Sweet" to Lunceford"s gently swinging "Well Alright Then." But Lunceford Special, which boasts an excellent recording quality altogether uncommon in recordings from this era, shows that the band had more up its sleeve than just crowd-pleasing dance numbers. Tunes like "Uptown Blues" and the title track show off the powerful horn arrangements that erupted behind first-rate soloists like tenor saxophonist Joe Thomas and trumpeter Eddie Tompkins, and the two versions of "Dinah" show the band"s versatility, dipping first into Dixieland and then into bebop. --Ezra Gale