Comprehensive information and links about Count Basie

Count Basie

Birth

Basie was born in Red Bank, New Jersey to Harvey Lee Basie, and Lillian Ann Childs. (There is now a theatre in Red Bank to honor him, named the Count Basie Theatre.) His father worked as coachman for a wealthy family. After automobiles replaced horses, his father became a groundskeeper and handyman for several area families. His mother "took in laundry". Basie learned how to play piano as a child. William had a brother, LeRoy Basie.

Vaudeville

Basie toured the T.O.B.A. vaudeville circuit starting in 1924 as a soloist and accompanist to blues singers. His touring took him to Kansas City, Missouri where he met many jazz musicians in the area. In 1928 he joined Walter Page's Blue Devils, and the following year became the pianist with the Bennie Moten band based in Kansas City. After Moten died in 1935, Basie became leader and started referring to himself as "Count Basie".

New York City, and later years

At the end of 1936 he moved his band to New York City where the Count Basie Orchestra remained until 1950. 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. Basie remained faithful to the Kansas City jazz and helped keep jazz alive with his distinctive piano playing. Basie’s music was characterized by his trademark "jumping" beat and the contrapuntal accents of his own piano. Basie also showcased some of the best blues singers of the era: Billie Holiday, Jimmy Rushing, Big Joe Turner, and Joe Williams. 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. He was also able to hire great arrangers that knew how to use the band's abilities, like Eddie Durham and Jimmy Mundy.

By the mid 1950s, the Basie Band had become one of the preeminent backing big bands for the finest jazz vocalists of the time. Joe Williams was spectacularly featured on the 1957 album . In 1942 Basie moved to Queens New York with Catherine Morgan after being married for a few years.

Ella Fitzgerald is sometimes referred to as the quintessential swing singer, and her meetings with the Count Basie Orchestra are highly regarded by critics. Fitzgerald's 1963 album is remembered as one of Fitzgerald's greatest recordings. 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. Fitzgerald and a much tamer Basie band also met on the 1979 albums are two of the highest points at the peak of Sinatra's artistry. The young Quincy Jones provided the punchy arrangements for the Basie band on Sinatra's biggest selling album, the live

Death

Count Basie died of pancreatic cancer in Hollywood, Florida on April 26, 1984 at age 79.

composed by Basie band member Frank Foster, was also the longtime theme song of San Francisco and New York radio DJ Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins.

Basie and his band made a cameo appearance in Mel Brooks' 1974 comedy film .

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