Jazz musician, born in Red Bank, New Jersey, USA. He received his first piano lessons at age six from his mother, and worked as an accompanist to silent films while still in high school. He studied organ informally with Fats Waller, whom he replaced in a New York vaudeville act called Katie Crippin and Her Kids. During 19247 he toured on the Keith Circuit with the Gonzelle White vaudeville show until it became stranded in Kansas City, then a bustling centre of jazz and blues activity. He played piano at a silent film theatre there, then spent a year with Walter Page's Blue Devils (19289). When this band broke up, he began a five-year association with Benny Moten's orchestra, whose sidemen included blues singer Jimmy Rushing, trumpeter Hot Lips Page, and Lester Young, the highly innovative tenor saxophonist.
After Moten's death (1935), these musicians formed the nucleus of Basie's first band. Under his leadership they broadcast from the Reno Club in Kansas City, where a radio announcer dubbed him Count, and through these broadcasts he attracted the attention of the well-connected talent scout John Hammond, who set up his first tour. The band played a residency at the Grand Terrace in Chicago, then opened at the Roseland in New York (Dec 1936). Basie began a prolific series of recordings the following year, and in 1938 played a long residency at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, where his reputation as leader of one of the premier swing bands was firmly established. He led his band on a continual series of US tours throughout the 1940s, but in 1950 economic conditions compelled him to disband and front a sextet for two years.
He formed a new 16-piece band in 1952 and began a long association with producer Norman Granz of Verve Records. This outfit established a new and enduring prototype for big bands and radio and television studio orchestras, and in 1954 they undertook the first of many European tours. During the 1960s the Basie orchestra accompanied various singers, including Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett, and Sammy Davis Jr, on recordings and concert tours. He made numerous appearances with all-star groups in the 1970s, but maintained a regular touring schedule with his band until his death. His autobiography, Good Morning Blues (written with Albert Murray), was published posthumously in 1985.
| Count Basie | ||
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from the film Stage Door Canteen (1943) |
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| Background information | ||
| Born | August 21, 1904 | |
| Origin | Red Bank, New Jersey | |
| Died | April 26, 1984 | |
| Genre(s) | Jazz | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Bandleader | |
| Instrument(s) | Piano | |
| Years active | 1924 – 1984 | |
William "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, &
Early life
Basie was born in Red Bank, New Jersey to Harvey Lee Basie, and Lillian Ann Childs and lived on Mechanic Street.
Basie toured the Theater Owners Bookers Association (T.O.B.A.) vaudeville circuit, starting in 1924, as a soloist and accompanist to blues singers. More importantly, Count Basie was a highly successful band-leader who was able to hold onto some of the greatest jazz musicians of the 1930s and early 1940s: Buck Clayton, Herschel Evans, Lester Young, and the band's brilliant rhythm section, Walter Page, Freddie Green, and Jo Jones.
The big band era appeared to be at an end, but Basie reformed his as a 16-piece orchestra in 1952 and led it until his death.
By the mid 1950s, the Basie Band had become one of the preeminent backing big bands for the finest jazz vocalists of the time.
Ella Fitzgerald is sometimes referred to as the quintessential swing singer, and her meetings with the Count Basie Orchestra are highly regarded by critics. With the 'New Testament' Basie band in full swing, and arrangements written by a youthful Quincy Jones, this album proved a swinging respite from the 'Songbook' recordings and constant touring that Fitzgerald was engaged in during this period. She toured with the Basie Orchestra in the mid-1970s and Fitzgerald and a much tamer Basie band also met on the 1979 albums Digital III at Montreux, A Classy Pair, and A Perfect Match.
Frank Sinatra had an equally fruitful relationship with Basie, 1963's Sinatra-Basie and 1964's It Might As Well Be Swing (the latter arranged by Quincy Jones) are two of the highest points at the peak of Sinatra's artistry.
Count Basie died of pancreatic cancer in Hollywood, Florida on April 26, 1984 at the age of seventy-nine.
Legacy
One O'Clock Jump and Jumpin' at the Woodside were among Count Basie's more popular numbers. Basie was also known for his band's version's of April In Paris and Lil' Darlin.
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 Errand Boy, in which Lewis pantomimed the movements of a corporate executive holding a board meeting.
Basie and his band made a cameo appearance in Mel Brooks' 1974 comedy film Blazing Saddles.
Basie is one of the producers of the "world's greatest music" that Brenda Fricker's "Pigeon Lady" character claims to have heard in Carnegie Hall in 1992's Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
Count Basie will be inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2007.
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