Count Basie

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

wn.com/count basie

COUNT BASIE Swingin' the Blues, 1941 HOT big band swing jazz

Oscar Peterson & Count Basie - Slow Blues

Count Basie Orchestra - CornerPocket (1962)

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Canada
Canada () is a country in North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area. Canada's common border with the United States to the south and northwest is the longest in the world.
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Chicago
Chicago ( or ) is the largest city in the state of Illinois. With over 2.8 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous city in the country. Its metropolitan area, commonly named "Chicagoland," is the 26th most populous in the world, home to an estimated 9.7 million people spread across the U.S. states of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County.
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Count Basie Theatre
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Florida
Florida () is a state of the United States. It is located in the Southeastern United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. Much of the state's land mass is a large peninsula with the Gulf of Mexico to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Caribbean to the south. Florida was admitted as the 27th U.S. state in 1845, after a three hundred year period of European colonization.
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France
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Germany
Germany (), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (, ), is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The territory of Germany covers 357.021 km2 and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state of the European Union, and home to the third-largest number of international migrants worldwide.
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Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural, and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlem was annexed to New York City in 1873.
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Hollywood
Hollywood is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California - situated west-northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word "Hollywood" is often used as a metonym of American cinema, and is often interchangeably used to refer to the greater Los Angeles area in general. The nicknames StarStruck Town and Tinseltown refer to Hollywood and its movie industry. Today, much of the movie industry has dispersed into surrounding areas such as the Westside neighborhood, but significant auxiliary industries, such as editing, effects, props, post-production, and lighting companies remain in Hollywood, as does the backlot of Paramount Pictures.
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Hollywood, Florida
Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of July 1, 2008, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 141,740. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now the twelfth largest city in Florida. Hollywood is a Principal City of the South Florida metropolitan area, which is home to 5,413,212 people.
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Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is a term used in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States to refer to both the Atlantic coast of New Jersey and the adjacent resort and residential communities.
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Las Vegas Valley
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Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and number of books. The head of the Library is the Librarian of Congress, currently James H. Billington.
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London
London () is the capital of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who called it Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
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Netherlands
{{Infobox country
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New Jersey
New Jersey (, ) is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. It is bordered on the northeast by New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware. New Jersey lies largely within the sprawling metropolitan areas of New York City and Philadelphia. It is the most densely populated state in the United States.
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New Orleans
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Oklahoma
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Red Bank, New Jersey
Red Bank is a Borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey incorporated in 1908. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough had a population of 11,844.
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Roseland Ballroom
The Roseland Ballroom (also referred to as Roseland Dance City) is a multi-purpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's theatre district, on West 52nd Street.
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Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900 seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected (in April 1988). The London Philharmonic Orchestra performs the majority of its London concerts in the hall.
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San Francisco
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Texas
Texas () is the second-largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.
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Tulsa
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United States
The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
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Agnes de Mille
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Al Killian
Al Killian (October 15, 1916 – September 5, 1950) was an American jazz trumpet player and occasional bandleader during the big band era, also known for playing jump blues and East Coast blues. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama.
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Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre for both the stage and on film. He won three Tony Awards and three Academy Awards, among other honors.
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Alexander Schneider
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Alexandra Danilova
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Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey, Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York. Ailey is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th century concert dance. His company gained the nickname "Cultural Ambassador to the World" because of its extensive international touring. Ailey's choreographic masterpiece Revelations is believed to be the best-known and most often seen modern dance performance.
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Alwin Nikolais
Alwin Nikolais (November 25, 1910 in Southington, Connecticut – May 8, 1993) was an American choreographer.
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Ann Miller
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Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor (4 April 1908 – 19 April 1987) was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.
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Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include award-winning plays such as All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, and The Crucible.
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Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky (May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004), better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He is also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings.
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Ben Webster
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Bennie Moten
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Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King. In 1958, he performed with Billie Holiday at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival.
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Benny Goodman
In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman (May 30, 1909 - June 13, 1986) led one of the most popular musical groups in America. His January 16, 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's 'coming out' party to the world of 'respectable' music."
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Benny Morton
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Bette Davis
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Beverly Sills
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Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner (born Joseph Vernon Turner Jr., May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and Roll", Turner's career as a performer stretched from the 1920s into the 1980s.
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Billie Holiday
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Billy Eckstine
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Bing Crosby
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Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.
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Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda ( 9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie ''The Gang's All Here''. She is considered the precursor of Brazil's Tropicalismo.
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Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach (January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986), better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English-American actor. With his distinctive yet not quite placeable Mid-Atlantic accent, he was noted as perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man: handsome, virile, charismatic, and charming.
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Charlie Fowlkes
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Charlie Parker
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Chick Webb
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Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, nicknamed "The King of Hollywood" in his heyday. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Gable seventh among the greatest male stars of all time.
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Claudette Colbert
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Count Basie
William "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years. Many notable musicians came to prominence under his direction, including tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison and singers Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams. Basie's theme songs were "One O'Clock Jump" and "April In Paris".
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Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye (January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian.
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Dickie Wells
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Dicky Wells
William Wells, (June 10, 1907? - November 12, 1985), more famous under the name of Dicky Wells (sometimes Dickie Wells), was an American jazz trombonist.
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Dinah Shore
http://wn.com/Dinah_Shore
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer.
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Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was a composer, pianist, and big band leader.
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Earl Hines
Earl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983) was "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".
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Earle Warren
Earle Warren (1914-1995) was an alto saxophonist and occasional singer with Count Basie.
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Ed Lewis (musician)
Ed Lewis (January 22, 1909 - September 18, 1985) was an American jazz trumpeter.
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Eddie Durham
Eddie Durham (19 August 1906–6 March 1987) was an American jazz guitarist, trombonist, composer and musical arranger of the swing music medium born in San Marcos, Texas, probably best known for his work with musicians like Cab Calloway, Willie Bryant, Andy Kirk, Glenn Miller, Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie, among others. He is the co-composer of the tune "Topsy", recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra and later by many others. He also was the arranger for Glenn Miller's "In the Mood". He is also credited for creating the world's first electric guitar solo with a Gibson ES-150 guitar in 1938.
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Elia Kazan
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Ella Fitzgerald
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Ernie Wilkins
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Erroll Garner
Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His best-known composition, the ballad "Misty", has become a jazz standard. Allmusic.com calls him "one of the most distinctive of all pianists" and a "brilliant virtuoso".
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Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy (November 18, 1899–March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born conductor and violinist.
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Fats Waller
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Frank Sinatra
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Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), born Frederick Austerlitz, was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. He is particularly associated with Ginger Rogers, with whom he made ten films.
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Freddie Green
Frederick William "Freddie" Green (b. March 31, 1911 – d. March 1, 1987) was an American swing jazz guitarist. He was especially noted for his sophisticated rhythm guitar in big band settings, particularly for the Count Basie orchestra, where he was part of the "All-American Rhythm Section" with Basie on piano, Jo Jones on drums, and Walter Page on bass.
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Frederick Loewe
Frederick Loewe (June 10, 1901 February 14, 1988), was an Austrian-American composer. He collaborated with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner on the long running Broadway musicals My Fair Lady and Camelot, with book and lyrics by Lerner, both of which were made into films.
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Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer. A major exponent of 20th century filmed dance, Kelly was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks and the likeable characters that he played on screen.
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George Abbott
George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was an American theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than eight decades.
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George Burns
George Burns (January 20, 1896 – March 9, 1996), born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.
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George Shearing
Sir George Shearing, OBE (born August 13, 1919) is an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group which recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he has had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s.
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Gian Carlo Menotti
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Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller (March 1, 1904 – missing December 15, 1944) was an American jazz musician (trombone), arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big bands". Miller's signature recordings include In the Mood, American Patrol, Chattanooga Choo Choo, String of Pearls, Tuxedo Junction, Moonlight Serenade, Little Brown Jug and Pennsylvania 6-5000. While traveling to entertain U.S. troops in France during World War II, Miller's plane disappeared in bad weather over the English Channel. His body has never been found.
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Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. (originally Belafonete; born March 1, 1927) is an American musician, singer, actor, and social activist. One of the most successful pop singers in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso," a title which he was very reluctant to accept (according to the documentary Calypso Dreams) for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. Belafonte is perhaps best known for singing the "Banana Boat Song", with its signature lyric "Day-O." Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for civil rights and humanitarian causes, and was a vocal critic of the policies of the George W. Bush Administration. He also worked as an actor.
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Harry Edison
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Helen Humes
Helen Humes (June 23, 1913 - September 9, 1981) was an American jazz and blues singer.
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Herschel Evans
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Hume Cronyn
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Idrees Sulieman
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Isaac Stern
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James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. (July 17, 1899 – March 30, 1986) was an American film actor. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of roles, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time.
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James P. Johnson
James P. Johnson [also known as Jimmy Johnson] (February 1, 1894–November 17, 1955) was an American pianist and composer. With Luckey Roberts, Johnson was arguably the most important pioneer of the stride style of jazz piano playing.
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James Stewart
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Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Jerome Levitch, March 16, 1926) is an American comedian, actor, film producer, writer, film director and singer. He is best-known for his slapstick humor in stage, radio, screen, recording and television. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the comedy team of Martin and Lewis. In addition to the team's popular nightclub work, they starred in a successful series of comedy films for Paramount Pictures. As an innovative filmmaker, Lewis is credited with inventing the video assist system in cinematography. Lewis is also known for his charity fund-raising telethons and position as national chairman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).
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Jessica Tandy
Jessie Alice "Jessica" Tandy (7 June 1909 – 11 September 1994) was an English stage and film actress.
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Jimmy Mundy
Jimmy Mundy (28 June 1907–24 April 1983) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, arranger, and composer, best known for his arrangements for Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Earl Hines.
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Jimmy Rushing
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Jo Jones
:For other persons named Jonathan Jones, see Jonathan Jones
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John F. Kennedy
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John H. Hammond
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Johnny Letman
Johnny Letman (September 6, 1917 - July 17, 1992) was an American jazz trumpeter.
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Judy Garland
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Katherine Dunham
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Lena Horne
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Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein (, ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim. He was probably best known to the public as the longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic, for conducting concerts by many of the world's leading orchestras, and for writing the music for West Side Story, Candide, Wonderful Town, and On the Town. Bernstein was the first classical music conductor to make numerous television appearances between 1954 and 1989. He had a formidable piano technique and as a composer also wrote symphonies and other concert music. According to The New York Times, he was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history."
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Leontyne Price
Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an American soprano. Born and raised in the segregated Deep South, she rose to international fame during a period of racial change in the 1950s and 60s, and was the first African-American to become a leading prima donna at the Metropolitan Opera.
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Lester Young
Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums.
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Lillian Gish
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Louis Armstrong
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Lucille Ball
http://wn.com/Lucille_Ball
Marshall Royal
Marshall Royal (or Marshal Royal, 12 May 1912 – 5 May 1995) was an American clarinettist and alto saxophonist best known for his work with Count Basie, with whose band he played for nearly twenty years.
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Mary Martin
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Matthew Gee
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Mel Brooks
Melvin "Mel" Kaminsky (born June 28, 1926), better known by his stage name Mel Brooks, is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor, and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. Brooks is a member of the short list of entertainers with the distinction of having won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony award. Three of his films ranked in the Top 20 on the American Film Institute's list of the Top 100 comedy films of all-time: Blazing Saddles, The Producers and Young Frankenstein.
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Merce Cunningham
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Miles Davis
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Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy (August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles in The Thin Man (1934). Her successful pairing with William Powell resulted in fourteen films together, including several subsequent Thin Man films.
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Nathan Milstein
Nathan Mironovich Milstein (January 13, 1904 (Old Style: December 31, 1903)December 21, 1992) was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist.
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Neal Hefti
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Neil Peart
Neil Peart () OC, (born September 12, 1952) is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer and primary lyricist for the rock band Rush.
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Norman Granz
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Oscar Peterson
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Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with it in 1943. "Mr. C.", as he was nicknamed, sold millions of records for Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and pioneered a weekly musical variety television show, which set the standards for the genre and proved to be one of the most successful in television history. His combined success on television and popular recordings was not matched by any other artist of the time. A popular television performer and recording artist, Perry Como produced numerous hit records with record sales so high the label literally stopped counting at Como's behest. His weekly television shows and seasonal specials were broadcast throughout the world and his popularity seemingly had no geographical or language boundaries. Como's appeal spanned generations and he was widely respected for both his professional standards and the conduct in his personal life. In the official RCA Records Billboard magazine memorial, his life was summed up in these few words: "50 years of music and a life well lived. An example to all." Composer Ervin Drake said of him,"... [o]ccasionally someone like Perry comes along and won't 'go with the flow' and still prevails in spite of all the bankrupt others who surround him and importune him to yield to their values. Only occasionally."
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Queen Elizabeth II
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Quincy Jones
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Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930June 10, 2004), better known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. Ray was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm & blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his Modern Sounds albums. While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company.
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Roger L. Stevens
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Ronald Reagan
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Roy Eldridge
Roy David Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz" was an American jazz trumpet player. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos and his strong influence on Dizzy Gillespie mark him as one of the most exciting musicians of the swing era and a precursor of bebop.
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Rudolf Serkin
Rudolf Serkin (March 28, 1903 – May 8, 1991), was a Bohemian-born pianist.
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Sammy Davis, Jr.
http://wn.com/Sammy_Davis_Jr
Sammy Nestico
Samuel "Sammy" Louis Nestico (born February 6, 1924 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a prolific and well known composer and arranger of big band music. Nestico is most known for his arrangements for the Count Basie orchestra.[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink;=SAMMY|NESTICO&sql;=11:fifwxq8gldke~T1 Allmusic]
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Snooky Young
:"Eugene Young" redirects here. For the character from The Practice, see Eugene Young (character).
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Sonny Greer
Sonny Greer (13 December 1895–23 March 1982) was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with Duke Ellington.
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Stan Getz
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Tommy Turrentine
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Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett (born Anthony Dominick Benedetto; August 3, 1926) is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz.
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Vera Lynn
Dame Vera Lynn, DBE (born Vera Margaret Welch on 20 March 1917) is an English singer and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops. Nicknamed "The Forces' Sweetheart", the songs most associated with her are "We'll Meet Again" and "The White Cliffs of Dover". She remained popular after the war, recording such hits as ''Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart'' and "My Son, My Son". In 2009, she became the oldest living artist to make it to No. 1 on the British album chart, at the age of 92.
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Vic Dickenson
Vic (Victor) Dickenson (August 6, 1906 - November 16, 1984) was an African-American jazz trombonist. Dickenson's career started out in the 1920s and led him through musical partnerships with such legends as Count Basie (1940-41), Sidney Bechet (1941) and Earl Hines . Also a soloist of wide acclaim, Vic Dickenson was known for the distinctive sound he coaxed out of the trombone.
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Virgil Thomson
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Walter Page
Walter Sylvester Page (February 9, 1900–December 20, 1957), nicknamed "Hoss," was an African American jazz bassist and leader of the Oklahoma City Blue Devils jazz orchestra from 1925–1931. He was born in Gallatin, Missouri, and his career began with Bennie Moten, performing with the seminal bandleader from 1918–1923.
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William Morris
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William Schuman
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Yehudi Menuhin
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Zoot Sims
John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 - March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.
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COUNT BASIE Swingin' the Blues, 1941 HOT big band swing jazz

COUNT BASIE Excerpts from the oddly titled "Dance of the Gremlins" (thanks to mf...

published: 15 Oct 2008

Author: that1940sguy

Oscar Peterson & Count Basie - Slow Blues

Oscar Peterson & Count Basie (piano) Niels Pedersen (bass) Martin Drew (drums) it'...

published: 11 Mar 2007

Author: palanzana

Count Basie Orchestra - CornerPocket (1962)

The Count Basie Orchestra of 1962, in all its swinging glory. Frank Wess, Frank Foster, Er...

published: 25 Mar 2009

Author: Ken James

Basie Boogies with the Big Band ('40s)

Count Basie's all over the keyboard in this boogie woogie oriented piece....

published: 13 Feb 2007

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Count Basie - Booty's Blues

Count Basie playing a duet with bassist Cleveland Eaton. Trombone solo is by Booty Wood. C...

published: 25 Aug 2006

Author: reidojazz

Count Basie - Splanky

Count Basie Splanky...

published: 10 May 2009

Author: Chelsea Gifford

Count Basie - Basie Boogie

Count Basie - piano...

published: 19 Jan 2008

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Count Basie - April in Paris

One of the greatest bands ever, Count Basie's Orchestra, playing a great big band tune...

published: 25 Nov 2009

Author: TheJazzplaylist

Frank "Sugar Chile Robinson" with Count Basie

musical prodigy...

published: 18 Dec 2009

Author: LadyCoolJazz

Count Basie - Good Time Blues

The Count Basie Orchestra: Dale Carley, Chris Albert, Sonny Cohn, Bob Summers (tp)...

published: 28 Nov 2009

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Count Basie - Cute

"Cute" perfomed by Count Basie Orchestra...

published: 05 Aug 2011

Author: otsuyan1228

Count BASIE & His Orchestra " Air Mail Special " !!!

RARE OLDIES SOUNDIES WITH MR COUNT BASIE & HIS ORCHESTRA ! William "Count" B...

published: 11 Apr 2009

Author: JUSTASITTINANDAROCK

Ray Charles & Count Basie - Ray Sings Basie Swings EPK

Ray Charles & Count Basie - Ray Sings Basie Swings EPK for the album due in stores 10/...

published: 30 Aug 2006

Author: concordrecords

Count Basie & Joe Williams - Well Alright ,Okay,You Win

Joe Williams sings with Count Basie & His Orchestra...

published: 19 Mar 2007

Author: carlosmayfastjumpers

Percebeiros (Sea Bites) 1920x1080

http://www.enpiedeguerra.tv/percebeiros/ (12 min) Corto documental dirigido por David Ber...

published: 03 Dec 2011

Author: enpiedeguerra

Sex and the Shekinah Glory

Some things really get us excited. Having a baby is always an exciting time. You want to t...

published: 23 Nov 2009

Author: Jim Tompkins

Percebeiros (Sea Bites) 1280x720

Corto Documental dirigido por David Beriain sobre la historia de Serxio Ces, percebeiro de...

published: 03 Dec 2011

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Philip Catherine à Avignon

Philip Catherine dirige la "master class" au Tremplin Jazz / Avignon. (extraits-aout 200...

published: 10 Feb 2010

Author: Vaucluse HD

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Photo: USAF / Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison

File - U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Morgan Curry briefs Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III on the capabilities of a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, Sept. 10, 2009.

From Chariots to Drones: The Folly of Advanced Weapons

WorldNews.com

09 Oct 2012

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling Facing Alexander the Great on the plains of Gaugamela, King Darius III was overly confident in his new and secretive weapon. Along with selecting and...

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Photo: AP / Mexico's Attorney General's Office, file

ALTERNATIVE CROP OF XLAT102 - FILE - This undated file photo, downloaded from the Mexico's Attorney General's Office most wanted criminals webpage on Nov. 2, 2010, shows alleged Zeta drug cartel leader and founder Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano in an undisclosed location.

Mexico navy claims Zetas cartel leader death

Al Jazeera

09 Oct 2012

Heriberto Lazcano, the leader of the Zetas drug cartel, has apparently been killed in a firefight with marines in the northern border state of Coahuila, the Mexican navy has said. The navy said there...

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Photo: US DoD / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

NATO says it's ready to defend Turkey

San Francisco Chronicle

10 Oct 2012

Brussels -- NATO is ready to defend Turkey, the alliance's top official said Tuesday, in a direct warning to Syria after a week of cross-border artillery and mortar exchanges dramatically escalated...

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Photo: AP / Firdia Lisnawati

Indonesian police officers line up during a security parade in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012.

Bali police warn of terror threat on bomb anniversary

BBC News

10 Oct 2012

Indonesian police have warned of possible attacks targeting Friday's ceremony marking 10 years since the Bali bombings. A top Bali police official said security was being tightened after...

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Photo: AP / SANA

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian security officers gather at the scene in front of destroyed buildings where triple bombs exploded at the Saadallah al-Jabri square, in Aleppo city, Syria, Wednesday Oct. 3, 2012.

Syria sinks into abyss: UN chief urges Damascus to declare unilateral truce

Middle East Online

09 Oct 2012

DAMASCUS - Twin blasts at a military base near Damascus by suicide bombers, one driving a bomb-laden ambulance, killed dozens of people while the fate of prisoners held there is unknown, a watchdog...

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How Count Basie made orchestra forever swing 05 Oct 2012

Sydney Morning Herald SWING, the subtle variations in rhythm that make people want to move, is at once the most important element in jazz or blues and the least discussed. The reason is simple. There is little to say about it. Although its effect on the emotions and the...(size: 1.6Kb)

Count Basie names new CEO 21 Sep 2012

Asbury Park Press RED BANK â More leadership changes...(size: 0.3Kb)

Free Film Series at the Count Basie today 14 Aug 2012

Cinema Treasures RED BANK, NJ — The lovely Count Basie Theatre is open...(size: 0.4Kb)

Count Basie Theater Free Film Series: 'SpongeBob Squarepants: The Movie' 14 Aug 2012

The Examiner Related topics spongebobCount Basie Theater Advertisement On Tuesday, August 14 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. kids of all ages can see their favorite characters in the 2004 movie"SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie" where SpongeBob SquarePants has a dream of becoming the manager of the Krusty Krab restaurant....(size: 6.9Kb)

Rumson's Justine L. Robertson tapped as Count Basie interim CEO 02 Jul 2012

Asbury Park Press The Count Basie...(size: 0.1Kb)

Bob Dylan's birthday celebration concert, May 24 at Count Basie Theatre 22 May 2012

Asbury Park Press Bob Dylan turns 71 on Thursday, and if...(size: 0.3Kb)

We remember big band leader Count Basie 18 Apr 2012

The Examiner Q. Where does Count Basie and his wonderful orchestra place on your list of top big bands? A. Count Basie and his orchestra placed ninth on the list of my "Big Band Era/Best of the Big Bands" lecture audiences. The boy from Red Bank, New Jersey, William "Count" Basie started out playing piano and...(size: 5.6Kb)

Album: Frank Sinatra & Count Basie, Complete Reprise Studio Recordings (Universal) 08 Apr 2012

The Independent What's not to like? Well, you might claim that...(size: 0.3Kb)

Lidia Bastianich brings Lidia LIVE to the Count Basie Theatre 06 Apr 2012

The Examiner Lidia Bastianich is the culinary doyen of Italian cooking and epitomizes the American Dream, especially unique for a woman not born in America. She arrived in America with her family at the age of 12 and has built a food empire that includes six restaurants, a cooking school, a production company,...(size: 11.4Kb)

Metropolitan Klezmer performs Sunday at Count Basie in Red Bank 16 Mar 2012

Asbury Park Press Metropolitan Klezmer isn't just a klezmer band. The New York- based group, which will perform Sunday at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, is a klezmer act at its core, but there are elements of swing, Latin, folk and jazz in its songbook. "Variety has always been a good thing for us,"...(size: 2.2Kb)

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Count Basie
from the 1955 film Rhythm and Blues Revue
Background information
Birth name	William James Basie
Born	(1904-08-21)August 21, 1904 Red Bank, New Jersey, United States
Died	April 26, 1984(1984-04-26) (aged 79) Hollywood, Florida, United States
Genres	Jazz, Swing, big band, piano blues
Occupations	Musician, bandleader, composer
Instruments	Piano, organ
Years active	1924–1984

William "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984^[1]) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. His mother first taught him piano and he started performing in his teens. Dropping out of school, he learned to operate lights for vaudeville and improvised to accompany silent films at a local theater in his town of Red Bank, New Jersey. By 16, he increasingly played jazz piano at parties, resorts and other venues. In 1924, he went to Harlem, where his performing career expanded; he toured with groups to the major jazz cities of Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City. In 1929 he joined Bennie Moten's band in Kansas City, and played with them for years, until Moten's death in 1935.

That year Basie formed his own jazz orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. Many notable musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, the guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison and singers Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams. Basie's theme songs were "One O'Clock Jump," developed in 1935 in the early days of his band, and "April In Paris".

Biography [link]

Early life and education [link]

William Basie was born to Harvey Lee and Lillian Basie in Red Bank, New Jersey.^[2]^[3] His father worked as a coachman and caretaker for a wealthy judge. After automobiles replaced horses, his father became a groundskeeper and handyman for several wealthy families in the area.^[4] His mother, a piano player who gave Basie his first piano lessons, took in laundry and baked cakes for sale. She paid 25 cents a lesson for piano instruction for him.^[5]^[6]

Not much of a student in school, Basie dreamed of a traveling life, inspired by touring carnivals which came to town. He finished junior high school^[7] but spent much of his time at the Palace Theater in Red Bank, where doing occasional chores gained him free admission to performances. He learned to operate the spotlights for the vaudeville shows. One day, when the pianist failed to arrive by show time, Basie took his place. Playing by ear, he quickly learned to improvise music appropriate to the acts and the silent movies.^[8]

Though a natural at the piano, Basie preferred drums. Discouraged by the obvious talents of Sonny Greer, who also lived in Red Bank and became Duke Ellington's drummer in 1919, Basie at age 15 switched to piano exclusively.^[5] Greer and Basie played together in venues until Greer set out on his professional career. By then, Basie was playing with pick-up groups for dances, resorts, and amateur shows, including Harry Richardson's "Kings of Syncopation".^[9] When not playing a gig, he hung out at the local pool hall with other musicians, where he picked up on upcoming play dates and gossip. He got some jobs in Asbury Park at the Jersey Shore, and played at the Hong Kong Inn until a better player took his place.^[10]

Early career [link]

Around 1924, Basie went to Harlem, a hotbed of jazz, where he lived down the block from the Alhambra Theater. Early after his arrival, he bumped into Sonny Greer, who was by then the drummer for the Washingtonians, Duke Ellington's early band.^[11] Soon, Basie met many of the Harlem musicians who were "making the scene," including Willie "the Lion" Smith and James P. Johnson.

Basie toured in several acts between 1925 and 1927, including Katie Krippen and Her Kiddies as part of the Hippity Hop show; on the Keith, the Columbia Burlesque, and the Theater Owners Bookers Association (T.O.B.A.) vaudeville circuits; and as a soloist and accompanist to blues singers Katie Krippen and Gonzelle White.^[12]^[13] His touring took him to Kansas City, St. Louis, New Orleans, and Chicago. Throughout his tours, Basie met many great jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong.^[14]

Back in Harlem in 1925, Basie got his first steady job at Leroy's, a place known for its piano players and its "cutting contests." The place catered to "uptown celebrities," and typically the band winged every number without sheet music (using "head arrangements").^[15] He met Fats Waller, who was playing organ at the Lincoln Theater accompanying silent movies, and Waller taught him how to play that instrument. (Basie later played organ at the Eblon Theater in Kansas City).^[1] As he did with Duke Ellington, Willie "the Lion" Smith helped Basie out during the lean times by arranging gigs at "house-rent parties," introducing him to other top musicians, and teaching him some piano technique.^[16]

In 1928 Basie was in Tulsa and heard Walter Page and his Famous Blue Devils, one of the first big bands, which featured Jimmy Rushing on vocals.^[17] A few months later, he was invited to join the band, which played mostly in Texas and Oklahoma. It was at this time that he began to be known as "Count" Basie (see Jazz royalty).^[18]

Kansas City years [link]

The following year, in 1929 Basie became the pianist with the Bennie Moten band based in Kansas City, inspired by Moten's ambition to raise his band to the level of Duke Ellington's or Fletcher Henderson's.^[19] Where the Blue Devils were "snappier" and more "bluesy," the Moten band was classier and more respected, and played in the "Kansas City stomp" style.^[20] In addition to playing piano, Basie was co-arranger with Eddie Durham, who notated the music.^[21] During a stay in Chicago, Basie recorded with the band. He occasionally played four-hand piano and dual pianos with Moten, who also conducted.^[22] The band improved with several personnel changes, including the addition of tenor saxophonist Ben Webster.

When the band voted Moten out, Basie took over for several months, calling the group "Count Basie and his Cherry Blossoms." When his own band folded, he rejoined Moten with a newly re-organized band.^[23] When Moten died in 1935 after a surgical procedure, the band unsuccessfully tried to stay together but couldn't make a go of it.

Basie formed a new band that year, which included many Moten alumni, with the important addition of tenor player Lester Young. They played at the Reno Club and sometimes were broadcast on local radio. Late one night with time to fill, the band started improvising. Basie liked the results and named the piece "One O'Clock Jump."^[24] According to Basie, "we hit it with the rhythm section and went into the riffs, and the riffs just stuck. We set the thing up front in D-flat, and then we just went on playing in F." It became his signature tune.^[25]

John Hammond and first recordings [link]

Basie and band, with vocalist Ethel Waters, from the film Stage Door Canteen (1943)

At the end of 1936, Basie and his band, now billed as "Count Basie and His Barons of Rhythm," moved from Kansas City to Chicago, where they honed their repertoire at a long engagement at the Grand Terrace Ballroom.^[26] Right from the start, Basie's band was noted for its rhythm section. Another Basie innovation was the use of two tenor saxophone players; at the time, most bands had just one. When Young complained of Herschel Evans' vibrato, Basie placed them on either side of the alto players, and soon had the tenor players engaged in "duels". Many other bands later adapted the split tenor arrangement.^[27]

In that city in October 1936, the band had a recording session which the producer John Hammond later described as "the only perfect, completely perfect recording session I've ever had anything to do with".^[28] Hammond had heard Basie's band over short-wave radio and went to Kansas City to check them out.^[29] He invited them to record, in performances which were Lester Young's earliest recordings. Those four sides were released under the band name of Jones-Smith Incorporated; the sides were "Shoe Shine Boy", "Evening", "Boogie Woogie", and "Oh, Lady Be Good". Basie had already signed with Decca Records, but did not have his first recording session with them until January 1937.^[30]

By then, Basie's sound was characterized by a "jumping" beat and the contrapuntal accents of his own piano. His personnel around 1937 included: Lester Young and Herschel Evans (tenor sax), Freddie Green (guitar), Jo Jones (drums), Walter Page (bass), Earle Warren (alto sax), Buck Clayton and Harry Edison (trumpet), Benny Morton and Dickie Wells (trombone).^[31] Lester Young, known as "Prez" by the band, came up with nicknames for all the other band members. He called Basie "Holy Man", "Holy Main", and just plain "Holy".^[32]

Basie favored blues, and he would showcase some of the most notable blues singers of the era after he went to New York: Billie Holiday, Jimmy Rushing, Big Joe Turner, Helen Humes, and Joe Williams. He also hired arrangers who knew how to maximize the band's abilities, such as Eddie Durham and Jimmy Mundy.

New York City and the Swing years [link]

When Basie took his orchestra to New York in 1937, they made the Woodside Hotel in Queens their base (they often rehearsed in its basement). Soon, they were booked at the Roseland Ballroom for the Christmas show. Basie recalled a review, which said something like, "We caught the great Count Basie band which is supposed to be so hot he was going to come in here and set the Roseland on fire. Well, the Roseland is still standing".^[33] Compared to the reigning band of Fletcher Henderson, Basie's band lacked polish and presentation.^[34]

The producer John Hammond continued to advise and encourage the band, and they soon came up with some adjustments, including softer playing, more solos, and more standards. They paced themselves to save their hottest numbers for later in the show, to give the audience a chance to warm up.^[35] His first official recordings for Decca followed, under contract to agent MCA, including "Pennies from Heaven" and "Honeysuckle Rose".^[36]

Hammond introduced Basie to Billie Holiday, whom he invited to sing with the band. (Holiday didn't record with Basie, as she had her own record contract and preferred working with small combos).^[37] The band's first appearance at the Apollo Theater followed, with the vocalists Holiday and Jimmy Rushing getting the most attention.^[38] Durham returned to help with arranging and composing, but for the most part, the orchestra worked out its numbers in rehearsal, with Basie guiding the proceedings. There were often no musical notations made. Once the musicians found what they liked, they usually were able to repeat it using their "head arrangements" and collective memory.^[39]

Next, Basie played at the Savoy, which was noted more for jitterbugging, while the Roseland was a place for fox-trots and congas.^[40] In early 1938, the Savoy was the meeting ground for a "battle of the bands" with Chick Webb's group. Basie had Holiday, and Webb countered with the singer Ella Fitzgerald. As Metronome magazine proclaimed, "Basie's Brilliant Band Conquers Chick's"; the article described the evening:

"Throughout the fight, which never let down in its intensity during the whole fray, Chick took the aggressive, with the Count playing along easily and, on the whole, more musically scientifically. Undismayed by Chick's forceful drum beating, which sent the audience into shouts of encouragement and appreciation and casual beads of perspiration to drop from Chick's brow onto the brass cymbals, the Count maintained an attitude of poise and self-assurance. He constantly parried Chick's thundering haymakers with tantalizing runs and arpeggios which teased more and more force from his adversary".^[41]

The publicity over the big band battle, before and after, gave the Basie band a boost and wider recognition. Soon after, Benny Goodman recorded their signature "One O'Clock Jump" with his band.^[42]

A few months later, Holiday left for Artie Shaw's band. Hammond introduced Helen Humes, whom Basie hired; she stayed with Basie for four years.^[43] When Eddie Durham left for Glenn Miller's orchestra, he was replaced by Dicky Wells. Basie's 14-man band began playing at the Famous Door, a mid-town nightspot with a CBS network feed and air conditioning. Their fame took a huge leap.^[44] Adding to their play book, Basie received arrangements from Jimmy Mundy (who had also worked with Benny Goodman and Earl Hines), particularly for "Cherokee", "Easy Does It", and "Super Chief".^[45] In 1939, Basie and his band made a major cross-country tour, including their first West Coast dates. A few months later, Basie quit MCA and signed with the William Morris Agency, who got them better fees.^[46]

On the West Coast, in 1942 the band did a spot in Reveille With Beverly, a musical film starring Ann Miller, and a "Command Performance" for Armed Forces Radio, with Hollywood stars Clark Gable, Bette Davis, Carmen Miranda, Jerry Colonna, and the singer Dinah Shore.^[47] Other minor movie spots followed, including Choo Choo Swing, Crazy House, Top Man, and Hit Parade of 1943.^[48] They also started to record with RCA.^[49] The war years caused a lot of members turn over, and the band worked many play dates with lower pay. Dance hall bookings were down sharply as swing began to fade, the effects of the musicians' strikes of 1942-44 and 1948 began to be felt, and the public's taste grew for singers.

Marriage and family [link]

Basie had married Catherine Morgan in the late 1930s. In 1942, they moved to Queens.

Post-war and later years [link]

The big band era appeared to have ended after the war, and Basie disbanded the group. For a while, he performed in combos, sometimes stretched to an orchestra. In 1950, he headlined the Universal-International short film "Sugar Chile" Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet. He reformed his group as a 16-piece orchestra in 1952. Basie credits Billy Eckstine, a top male vocalist of the time, for prompting his return to Big Band. He said that Norman Granz got them into the Birdland club and promoted the new band through recordings on the Mercury, Clef, and Verve labels.^[50] The jukebox era had begun, and Basie shared the exposure along with early rock'n'roll and rhythm and blues artists. Basie's new band was more of an ensemble group, with fewer solo turns, and relying less on "head" and more on written arrangements.

Basie added touches of bebop "so long as it made sense", and he required that "it all had to have feeling". Basie's band was sharing Birdland with such bebop greats as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. Behind the occasional bebop solos, he always kept his strict rhythmic pulse, "so it doesn't matter what they do up front; the audience gets the beat".^[51] Basie also added flute to some numbers, a novelty at the time that became widely copied.^[52] Soon, his band was touring and recording again. The new band included: Paul Campbell, Tommy Turrentine, Johnny Letman, Idrees Sulieman, and Joe Newman (trumpet); Jimmy Wilkins, Benny Powell, Matthew Gee (trombone); Paul Quinichette and Floyd "Candy" Johnson (tenor sax); Marshall Royal and Ernie Wilkins (alto sax); and Charlie Fowlkes (baritone sax).^[53] Down Beat magazine reported, "(Basie) has managed to assemble an ensemble that can thrill both the listener who remembers 1938 and the youngster who has never before heard a big band like this."^[54]

In 1954, the band made its first European tour. Jazz was especially appreciated in France, The Netherlands, and Germany in the 1950s; these countries were the stomping grounds for many expatriate American jazz stars who were either resurrecting their careers or sitting out the years of racial divide in the United States. Neal Hefti began to provide arrangements, notably "Lil Darlin'". By the mid-1950s, Basie's band had become one of the preeminent backing big bands for some of the most prominent jazz vocalists of the time. They also toured with the "Birdland Stars of 1955", whose lineup included Sarah Vaughan, Erroll Garner, Lester Young, George Shearing, and Stan Getz.^[55]

In 1957, Basie released the live album Count Basie at Newport. "April in Paris" (arrangement by Wild Bill Davis) was a best-selling instrumental and the title song for the hit album.^[56] The Basie band made two tours in the British Isles and on the second, they put on a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II, along with Judy Garland, Vera Lynn, and Mario Lanza.^[57] He was a guest on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, a venue also opened to several other black entertainers. In 1959, Basie's band recorded a "greatest hits" double album The Count Basie Story (Frank Foster, arranger) and "Basie and Eckstine, Inc.": album featuring Billy Eckstine, Quincy Jones (as arranger) and the Count Basie Orchestra. It was released by Roulette Records, then later reissued by Capital Records.

Later that year, Basie appeared on a television special with Fred Astaire, featuring a dance solo to "Sweet Georgia Brown", followed in January 1960 by Basie performing at one of the five John F. Kennedy Inaugural Balls.^[58] That summer, Basie and Duke Ellington combined forces for the recording First Time! The Count Meets the Duke, each providing four numbers from their play books.^[59]

Count Basie (left) in concert (Cologne 1975)

During the balance of the 1960s, the band kept busy with tours, recordings, television appearances, festivals, Las Vegas shows, and travel abroad, including cruises. Some time around 1964, Basie adopted his trademark yachting cap.^[60]

Through steady changes in personnel, Basie led the band into the 1970s. Basie made a few more movie appearances, such as the Jerry Lewis film Cinderfella (1960) and the Mel Brooks movie Blazing Saddles (1974), playing his arrangement of "April in Paris".

Basie died of pancreatic cancer in Hollywood, Florida on April 26, 1984 at the age of 79.^[1]

Count Basie and his Orchestra [link]

The musicians associated with Count Basie over the years included the following:

c.1937: Joe Keyes, Buck Clayton, Carl Smith, George Hunt, Dan Minor, Caughey Roberts, Herschel Evans, Lester Young, Jack Washington, Claude Williams, Walter Page, Jo Jones.
c.1939: Ed Lewis, Buck Clayton, Shad Collins, Harry Edison, Earle Warren, Buddy Tate, Benny Morton, Dicky Wells, Freddie Green.
1940: Al Killian, Vic Dickenson.
1943: Joe Newman, Snooky Young, Eli Robinson, Robert Scott, Jimmy Powell, Rudy Rutherford, Rodney Richardson.

The singers [link]

Basie hitched his star to some of the most famous vocalists of the 1950s and 1960s, which helped keep the Big Band sound alive and added greatly to his recording catalog. Jimmy Rushing sang with Basie in the late 1930s. Joe Williams toured with the band and was featured on the 1957 album One O'Clock Jump, and 1956's Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings, with "Every Day (I Have the Blues)" becoming a huge hit. With Billy Eckstine on the album Basie-Eckstine Inc., in 1959. Ella Fitzgerald made some memorable recordings with Basie, including the 1963 album Ella and Basie!. With the 'New Testament' Basie band in full swing, and arrangements written by a youthful Quincy Jones, this album proved a swinging respite from her Songbook recordings and constant touring she did during this period. She even toured with the Basie Orchestra in the mid-1970s, and Fitzgerald and Basie also met on the 1979 albums A Classy Pair, Digital III at Montreux, and A Perfect Match, the last two also recorded live at Montreux. In addition to Quincy Jones, Basie was using arrangers such as Benny Carter (Kansas City Suite), Neal Hefti (The Atomic Mr Basie), and Sammy Nestico (Basie-Straight Ahead).

Frank Sinatra recorded for the first time with Basie on 1962's Sinatra-Basie and for a second studio album on 1964's It Might as Well Be Swing, which was arranged by Quincy Jones. Jones also arranged and conducted 1966's live Sinatra at the Sands. In May 1970, Sinatra performed in London's Royal Festival Hall with the Basie orchestra, in a charity benefit for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Sinatra later said of this concert "I have a funny feeling that those two nights could have been my finest hour, really. It went so well; it was so thrilling and exciting".^[61]

Basie also recorded with Tony Bennett in the early 1960s — their albums together included the live recording at Las Vegas and Strike Up the Band, a studio album. Basie also toured with Bennett, including a date at Carnegie Hall. Other notable recordings were with Sammy Davis, Jr., Bing Crosby, and Sarah Vaughan. One of Basie's biggest regrets was never recording with Louis Armstrong, though they shared the same bill several times.^[62]

Legacy and honors [link]

Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey

Count Basie introduced several generations of listeners to the Big Band sound and left an influential catalog. Basie is remembered by many who worked for him as being considerate of musicians and their opinions, modest, relaxed, fun-loving, dryly witty, and always enthusiastic about his music.^[63] In his autobiography, he wrote, "I think the band can really swing when it swings easy, when it can just play along like you are cutting butter."^[64]

In Red Bank, New Jersey, the Count Basie Theatre, a property on Main Street redeveloped for live performances, and Count Basie Field were named in his honor.
Mechanic Street, where he grew up with his family, has the honorary title of Count Basie Way.
In 2009, Edgecombe Avenue and 160th Street in Washington Heights, Manhattan, were renamed as Paul Robeson Boulevard and Count Basie Place. The corner is the location of 555 Edgecombe Avenue, also known as the Paul Robeson Home, a National Historic Landmark where Count Basie had also lived.

Representation in other media [link]

Jerry Lewis used "Blues in Hoss' Flat" from Basie's Chairman of the Board album, as the basis for his own "Chairman of the Board" routine in the movie The Errand Boy.
"Blues in Hoss' Flat," composed by Basie band member Frank Foster, was used by the radio DJ Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins as his theme song in San Francisco and New York.
In Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Brenda Fricker's "Pigeon Lady" character claims to have heard Basie in Carnegie Hall.
Drummer Neil Peart of the Canadian rock band Rush recorded a version of "One O'Clock Jump" with the Buddy Rich Big Band, and has used it at the end of his drum solos on the 2002 Vapor Trails Tour and Rush's 30th Anniversary Tour.

Discography [link]

The majority of Basie's recordings were made with his big band, see Count Basie Orchestra Discography.

From 1929-1932 Basie was part of Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra:

Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra (1929-1932): Basie Beginnings (1929-1932, RCA/Bluebird Records)

Basie also made several small group recordings without his band:

Count Basie Sextet (1954, Clef)
Count Basie and the Kansas City 7 (1962, Impulse!)
Basie Swingin' Voices Singin' (1966, EMI)
Loose Walk (with Roy Eldridge) (1972, Pablo)
Basie Jam (1973, Pablo)
The Bosses (with Big Joe Turner) (1973)
For the First Time (1974, Pablo)
Satch and Josh (with Oscar Peterson)
Basie & Zoot (with Zoot Sims) (1975, Pablo)
For the Second Time (1975, Pablo)
Basie Jam 2 (1976, Pablo)
Basie Jam 3 (1976, Pablo)
Kansas City 5 (1977, Pablo)
The Gifted Ones (with Dizzy Gillespie) (1977, Pablo)
Basie Jam: Montreux '77 (live) (1977, Pablo)
Satch and Josh...Again (with Oscar Peterson) (1977, Pablo)
Night Rider (with Oscar Peterson) (1978, Pablo)
Count Basie Meets Oscar Peterson – The Timekeepers (with Oscar Peterson) (1978, Pablo)
Yessir, That's My Baby (with Oscar Peterson) (1978, Pablo)
Kansas City 8: Get Together (1979, Pablo)
Kansas City 7 (1980, Pablo)
Kansas City 6 (1981, Pablo)
Mostly Blues...and Some Others (1983, Pablo)

Filmography [link]

Hit Parade of 1943 (1943) – as himself
Sugar Chile Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet (1950) – as himself
Cinderfella (1960) – as himself
Blazing Saddles (1974) – as himself with his orchestra

Awards [link]

Grammy Awards [link]

Year	Category	Title	Genre	Results
Count Basie Grammy Award history^[65]
1982	Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band	Warm Breeze	Jazz	Winner
1984	Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band	88 Basie Street	Jazz	Winner
1980	Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band	On The Road	Jazz	Winner
1977	Best Jazz Performance By A Big Band	Prime Time	Jazz	Winner
1976	Best Jazz Performance By A Soloist (Instrumental)	Basie And Zoot	Jazz	Winner
1963	Best Performance By An Orchestra – For Dancing	This Time By Basie! Hits Of The 50's And 60's	Pop	Winner
1960	Best Performance By A Band For Dancing	Dance With Basie	Pop	Winner
1958	Best Performance By A Dance Band	Basie	Pop	Winner
1958	Best Jazz Performance, Group	Basie	Jazz	Winner

Grammy Hall of Fame [link]

By 2011, four recordings of Count Basie had been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."

Year recorded	Title	genre	Label	Year inducted
Count Basie Grammy Hall of Fame Awards^[66]
1939	Lester Leaps In	Jazz (Single)	Vocalion	2005
1955	Everyday (I Have the Blues)	Jazz (Single)	Clef	1992
1955	April in Paris	Jazz (Single)	Clef	1985
1937	One O'Clock Jump	Jazz (Single)	Decca	1979

Honors and inductions [link]

On May 23, 1985, William "Count" Basie was presented, posthumously, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan. The award was received by his son, Aaron Woodward.

On September 11, 1996 the U.S. Post Office issued a Count Basie 32 cents postage stamp. Basie is a part of the Big Band Leaders issue, which, is in turn, part of the Legends of American Music series.

In 2009, Basie was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.^[67]

Year	Category	Result	Notes
Count Basie award history
2007	Long Island Music Hall of Fame	Inducted
2005	Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame	Inducted
2002	Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award	Winner
1983	NEA Jazz Masters	Winner
1981	Grammy Trustees Award	Winner
1981	Kennedy Center Honors	Honoree
late 1970s	Hollywood Walk of Fame	Honoree	at 6508 Hollywood Blvd.
1970	Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia	Initiated	Mu Nu Chapter
1958	Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame	Inducted

National Recording Registry [link]

In 2005, Count Basie's song "One O'Clock Jump" (1937) was included by the National Recording Preservation Board in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.^[68] The board selects songs in an annual basis that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

References [link]

^ ^a ^b ^c Wilson, John S. (27 April 1984). "On This Day: Count Basie, 79, Band Leader And Master of Swing, Dead". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0821.html. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
^ Basie Centennial Ball
^ Basie, Count (1985). Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie. Paladin Grafton Books. p. 25. ISBN 0-586-08638-2.
^ Count Basie (1985), Good Morning Blues, p. 26
^ ^a ^b Count Basie, 1985, p. 33
^ Count Basie and his Friends, myspace.com
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 29
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 32
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 33–34, plate 3
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 41
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 51
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 55
^ Robinson, J. Bradford. Count Basie. in Kernfeld, Barry. ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd Edition, Vol. 1. London: MacMillan, 2002. p. 155.
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 96
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 68
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 77
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 6
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 20
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 116
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 120
^ Count Basie, 1985, plate 10
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 122
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 146
^ Dance, 1980, p. 67
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 162
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 171
^ Stanley Dance, The World of Count Basie, Da Capo, New York, 1980, ISBN 0-306-80245-7, p. 68
^ 1981 interview cited in "The Lester Young Story" (Properbox 16) p14–15
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 165
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 181
^ Leonard Feather, The Encyclopedia of Jazz, Bonanza Books, 1960, p.112
^ Dance, 1980, p. 104
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 184
^ Dance, 1980, p. 107
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 188
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 186
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 200
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 190
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 199
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 202
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 208
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 207
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 211
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 217–218
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 229
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 247
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 260
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 262
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 274
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 289–290
^ Dance, 1980, p. 5
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 281, 304
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 293
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 299
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 315
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 318
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 323
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 335, 337
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 339
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 353
^ Pignon, Charles (2004). The Sinatra Treasures, Virgin Books, ISBN 1-85227-184-1
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 362
^ Dance, 1980, pp. 7–8
^ Count Basie, 1985, p. 370
^ Grammy Award search engine^{[dead link]}
^ "Grammy Hall of Fame Database". Grammy.org. http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
^ The Newark Star Ledger.
^ "2005 National Recording Registry choices". Loc.gov. 2011-05-13. http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-2005reg.html. Retrieved 2011-10-22.

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Count Basie

v t e Kennedy Center Honorees (1980s)

1980	Leonard Bernstein James Cagney Agnes de Mille Lynn Fontanne Leontyne Price

1981	Count Basie Cary Grant Helen Hayes Jerome Robbins Rudolf Serkin

1982	George Abbott Lillian Gish Benny Goodman Gene Kelly Eugene Ormandy

1983	Katherine Dunham Elia Kazan Frank Sinatra James Stewart Virgil Thomson

1984	Lena Horne Danny Kaye Gian Carlo Menotti Arthur Miller Isaac Stern

1985	Merce Cunningham Irene Dunne Bob Hope Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe Beverly Sills

1986	Lucille Ball Hume Cronyn & Jessica Tandy Yehudi Menuhin Antony Tudor Ray Charles

1987	Perry Como Bette Davis Sammy Davis, Jr. Nathan Milstein Alwin Nikolais

1988	Alvin Ailey George Burns Myrna Loy Alexander Schneider Roger L. Stevens

1989	Harry Belafonte Claudette Colbert Alexandra Danilova Mary Martin William Schuman

complete list 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

Persondata
Name	Basie, Count
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 21, 1904
Place of birth	Red Bank, New Jersey, U.S.
Date of death	April 26, 1984
Place of death	Hollywood, Florida, U.S.

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Basie

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

Basie, Count Filmography

Born: ['1904-08-21']

Died: ['1984-04-26']

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Contents

Biography [link]

Early life and education [link]

Early career [link]

Kansas City years [link]

John Hammond and first recordings [link]

New York City and the Swing years [link]

Marriage and family [link]

Post-war and later years [link]

Count Basie and his Orchestra [link]

The singers [link]

Legacy and honors [link]

Representation in other media [link]

Discography [link]

Filmography [link]

Awards [link]

Grammy Awards [link]

Grammy Hall of Fame [link]

Honors and inductions [link]

National Recording Registry [link]

References [link]

External links [link]

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