Montage of guitarists. The guitarists pictured are named on the image page

A guitarist (or a guitar player) generally refers to a human who plays the guitar or some similar stringed instrument. The guitarist, in some cases, can also be a musician. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar by singing.

Versatility[link]

The guitarist controls an extremely versatile instrument. By using techniques such as bending and vibrato, the guitarist can make the guitar express a near vocal quality.

While with an ensemble, a guitarist can take the role of rhythm (playing with bass in the ensemble) or lead (playing on top of the bass in the ensemble) guitar.

A guitarist can also play along with a harmonica as a second instrument. Examples include Bob Dylan and Neil Young.^[1] Other instruments can be played successfully by a guitarist, i.e.; hi-hat cymbals, organ pedals, bass drum, nose harp, etc. Many guitarists also can sing or whistle. Some guitarists are also adept at other instruments, such as the piano, hammer dulcimer, tuba, xylophone and tympani.

Techniques[link]

The guitarist has several ways of playing the guitar depending on the type of strings (see Nylon-string guitar or Steel-string acoustic guitar) and including the guitar pick, fingernail, and/or fingertip (see fingerstyle guitar).^[2] It involves techniques derived from other stringed instruments such as 'legato playing' and various harmonics.

Art[link]

While music is generally regarded as a form of art in itself, playing an instrument such as the guitar seems to be an artistic gesture more applealing to the visual sense. The guitarist has long been a popular subject for artists. One of the more famous examples is the painting Degas's Father Listening to Lorenzo Pagans Playing the Guitar by Edgar Degas, which was painted sometime between 1869–72 and is currently owned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.^[3]

Notable guitarists[link]

There are several lists made by magazines or websites with the purpose of finding out who are the greatest guitarists of all time - for example The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine, or 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Guitar World magazine.

Rolling Stone[link]

In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine published a list called The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. This list included 100 guitarists whom the magazine editor David Fricke considered the best, with a brief introduction for each of them.^[4] The first in this list is the American guitarist Jimi Hendrix introduced by Pete Townshend, guitarist for The Who, who was, in his turn, ranked at #50 of the list.

In informing the list to readers, Paul MacInnes from British newspaper The Guardian expressed: "Surprisingly enough for an American magazine, the top 10 is fair jam-packed with Yanks", although he also noted three exceptions in the top 10.^[5] The online magazine Blogcritics criticized the list for introducing some undeserving guitarists while forgetting some artists perceived being perhaps more worthy, such as Johnny Marr, Phil Keaggy or John Petrucci.^[6]

In 2011, Rolling Stone updated the list, which in this time was chosen by a panel of guitarist and other experts. with the top 5 consisting of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards and Jeff Beck.^[7]

The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time is mentioned in many biographies about artists who appear in the list.^[8][9][10]

Guitar World[link]

Guitar World, a monthly music magazine devoted to guitar, also published their list of 100 greatest guitarists in the book Guitar World Presents the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time from the Pages of Guitar World Magazine.^[11] Different from the list of the Rolling Stone which was introduced in descending order, Guitar World preferred dividing the guitarists by music genre such as "Lords of Hard Rock" for hard rock artists or "Jazzmen" for jazz players. Despite the appearance in other magazines like Billboard,^[12] this publication by Guitar World was criticized for including no female musicians within its selection.^[13]

Others[link]

Following the death of Les Paul, TIME website presented their list of 10 greatest artists in Electric guitar. Like the Rolling Stone's list, Jimi Hendrix was chosen as the greatest guitarist followed by Slash from Guns 'N' Roses, B.B. King, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.^[14] Gigwise.com, an online music magazine, also ranks Jimi Hendrix as the greatest guitarist ever, followed by Jimmy Page, B.B. King, Keith Richards and Kirk Hammett.^[15]

See also[link]

Look up guitarist in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Guitarists

• List of guitarists
• List of bass guitarists
• List of lead guitarists
• List of rhythm guitarists
• List of slide guitarists
• List of lists of guitarists
• Category:Lists of guitarists

References[link]

Preston Reed (born April 13, 1955, Armonk, New York) is an American fingerstyle guitarist. In 1987 he invented a two-handed playing style and compositional approach that integrates the full percussive potential of the guitar body. In doing so Reed revolutionized guitar playing.

Biography[link]

Preston Reed learned guitar as a child on his father's guitar and, for a short time, classical guitar with a too-severe teacher. When he was 16 his interest was rekindled by Jorma Kaukonen's acoustic guitar-playing in Hot Tuna. He took the guitar again and began to compose his own songs in the style of Leo Kottke and John Fahey. His first public performance was at Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., in a concert with Allen Ginsberg. He continued recording and performing and signed his first major label record deal with MCA Records with the help of his friend Lyle Lovett.^[1]

Reed has played with various other musicians, spanning the spectrum between Linda Ronstadt and rock band NRBQ. He was featured on American radio and TV broadcasts. Between 1979 and 2007, he recorded 15 albums on several labels - mostly solo acoustic guitar -, guest-starred on other musicians productions, founded his own Outer Bridge label and featured on two solo videos. He has been commissioned for film soundtracks and a suite of original music for the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet.

Reed moved to Scotland in 2000.^[2]

Technique and musical influences[link]

Reed plays with his fingers, thumbs, fists and hands at once, suggesting a whole band at work: drummer, keyboard player, bass guitarist and several guitarists at once. Some of his tunes invoke impressions of rock bands and duelling guitars, but he is also a player of blues or ballads reminiscent of Bill Evans, one of his musical idols.^{[citation needed]}

As a teenager, Reed was influenced by Leo Kottke and John Fahey and in the beginning of his career was a fingerpicker with notable technical prowess. In the late 1980s, though, he developed his own, highly individual and percussive style, a short time after Michael Hedges published his first records using technically similar techniques, but creating very different music.^[3] He drew not only from fingerstyle, but from rock 'n' roll too, developing a very rhythmic drive in some of his compositions. Other pieces are very melodic and dreamy ballads.

His guitar style is characterised by the use of percussive effects he generates with both hands on various parts of the guitar body. He names them, appropriately, rim shots and bongo hits.^[4] He uses slap and tap techniques like slap harmonics or the generation of notes or whole chords with his left hand (hammer-on, pull-off). He uses both hands for tapping (two-hand tapping) and frets chords with his right hand (right-hand fretting). He often plays with both hands from above the guitar's neck. In many of his compositions, Reed uses altered tunings characterized by very low bass string tunings, for example BGDGAD or CGDGGD, though he also uses standard tuning on his latest CD, Spirit.

Guitars and technical equipment[link]

On his first recording Reed used a Martin D28 12 String and a Martin D28 6 String. He later used guitars made by the American luthier Michael Jacobson-Hardy.^[5] Later he played Washburn guitars with Seymour Duncan pickups^[4] and in the second half of the 1990s a custom Adamas Long Neck Ovation.

Around 2000 he began using several different guitars, not only steel-string acoustic, but also solid body electric guitars, semi-acoustic guitars, electrical baritone guitars, 12-string and classical guitars.^[2]

Reed recorded his 2007 album Spirit with a semi-acoustic Yamaha AE-2000 guitar.

Discography[link]

Studio recordings[link]

• 1979 Acoustic Guitar (Sky Records)
• 1982 Pointing Up (Flying Fish)
• 1982 Don't Be A Stranger (FolkStudio Records)
• 1984 Playing By Ear (Flying Fish)
• 1987 The Road Less Travelled (Flying Fish)
• 1989 Instrument Landing (MCA/Universal)
• 1990 Blue Vertigo (Capitol Nashville Master)
• 1990 Preston Reed (Flying Fish)
• 1991 Halfway Home (Liberty/Capitol Nashville)
• 1992 Border Towns (Liberty)
• 1995 Metal (Dusty Closet Records, re-released 2002 Outer Bridge)
• 1997 Ladies Night (Dusty Closet Records, re-released 2004 Outer Bridge)
• 2000 Handwritten Notes (Outer Bridge)
• 2005 History of Now (Outer Bridge)
• 2007 Spirit (Outer Bridge)

Collaborations[link]

• 1997 Groovemasters, with Laurence Juber (Solid Air Records)

Compilations[link]

• 1989 Universal Master Series (MCA)
• 1990 Master Series Sampler '89 (Capital Nashville)
• 1990 Master Series I (Capital Nashville)
• 1995 Acoustic Guitar Highlights (Acoustic Music Records)
• 1996 Acoustic Guitar Highlights II (Acoustic Music Records)
• 1997 Masters of Acoustic Guitar (Narada)
• 1997 Acoustic Guitar Highlights III (Acoustic Music Records)
• 2000 WGN Radio Live: Steve and Johnnie Live After Dark (Nation)

Video[link]

• 1994 The Guitar of Preston Reed: Expanding the Realm of Acoustic Playing (Homespun Video)
• 1997 Preston Reed in Concert (Homespun Video)

Video, guest-starring[link]

• 1995 Fingerstyle Guitar: New Dimensions and Explorations (Vestapol)
• 1996 Muriel Anderson’s All-Star Guitar Night (Homespun Video)
• 1997 Laurence Juber in Concert (Homespun Tapes)
• 1998 Great Guitar Lessons Fingerstyle Techniques (Homespun Tapes)
• 2002 Muriel Anderson’s All-Star Guitar Night II (Homespun Tapes)

Sheet music[link]

• Guitar Impact (2006). Bruce Muckala (MaraHaley Music).

See also[link]

Kaki King

References[link]

External links[link]

• Preston Reed Homepage
• Preston Reed at Millennium Center – biography and two full-length concert – videos

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]

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."

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]

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]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Count Basie

• Count Basie discography at iMusic.am
• International Jose Guillermo Carrillo Foundation
• Basie biography at swingmusic.net
• BBC Profile of Count Basie
• Downbeat Magazine
• U.S. Postal Service Biography
• Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom – May 23, 1985
• Basie biography and album list

Seongha Jeong (정성하) (colloquially: Sungha Jung) (born 2 September 1996) is a South Korean professional acoustic finger-style guitarist who has risen to fame on YouTube and other sites. As of 2012, his channel had over 17 million views, with his videos getting a total of over 454 million views, and also over 726,000 subscribers.^[1]

Seongha typically takes three days to learn and practice a new piece, and video-record it for upload onto YouTube.^[2] His genre selection is rather broad, as he learns and plays many pieces that are playable on guitar, therefore consequently spread across numerous genres.

Seongha has won 13 awards on YouTube, including 6 "#1" awards. Also on YouTube, Seongha has 523 videos with over one million views. Seongha's video with the most views is the one which shows him playing the theme from "Pirates Of The Caribbean".

In 2010, he was featured on Narsha's solo album "Narsha" for the song "I'm in Love" Seongha has composed 18 pieces as of February 2011, two of which are featured in his debut album, "Perfect Blue". He released his second album, "Irony", on 21 September 2011.

In 2011, he performed in the US with Trace Bundy, as well as touring in Scandinavia and Japan.^[1]

See also[link]

• Yuto Miyazawa, Seongha's Japanese electric guitar-playing counterpart
• Trace Bundy, Fellow acoustic guitarist with whom Seongha collaborates
• Ulli Bögershausen, Fellow acoustic guitarist who helped him get his sponsorship with Lakewood Guitars

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Jess Lewis (born July 28, 1947 in Aumsville, Oregon) is a retired amateur wrestler and American football player who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers in 1970.

College Wrestling[link]

Lewis was an accomplished wrestler for Oregon State, becoming a three-time conference champion (1968–1970), three-time All-American (1968–1970), and a two-time NCAA champion (1969, 1970) in the heavyweight division. He went on to compete in the 1968 World University Games and the 1968 Summer Olympics as a wrestler for the United States.^[1]

College football[link]

Lewis also played college football at Oregon State University where he earned All-American honors as a football player in 1967, and was a two-time All-Pac-8 Conference selection as a defensive tackle. He was selected as the team MVP in 1969.^[2]

NFL Football[link]

Upon graduating from Oregon State, Lewis was drafted in the 13th round of the 1970 NFL Draft by the Houston Oilers. The Oilers moved him to linebacker upon drafting him. Lewis played one season in the NFL.

References[link]

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