7/27/23, 5:46 PM Count Basie - Wikipedia
Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (/ˈbeɪsi/; August 21, 1904 –
Count Basie
April 26, 1984)[1] was an American jazz pianist, organist,
bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie
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
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, plunger trombonist Al Grey, and singers Jimmy
Rushing, Helen Humes, Thelma Carpenter, and Joe Williams.
Basie at the piano in a 1955
Biography photographic portrait by James J.
Kriegsmann
Background information
Early life and education
Birth name William James
William Basie was born to Lillian and Harvey Lee Basie in Red Basie
Bank, New Jersey.[2][3] His father worked as a coachman and Born August 21, 1904
caretaker for a wealthy judge. After automobiles replaced horses, Red Bank, New
his father became a groundskeeper and handyman for several Jersey, U.S.
wealthy families in the area.[4] Both of his parents had some type
Died April 26, 1984
of musical background. His father played the mellophone, and his
mother played the piano; in fact, she gave Basie his first piano (aged 79)
lessons. She took in laundry and baked cakes for sale for a living. Hollywood, Florida,
She paid 25 cents a lesson for Count Basie's piano U.S.
instruction.[5][6] Genres Jazz · swing · big
band · piano blues
The best student in school, Basie dreamed of a traveling life,
inspired by touring carnivals which came to town. He finished Occupation(s) Musician ·
junior high school[7] but spent much of his time at the Palace bandleader ·
Theater in Red Bank, where doing occasional chores gained him composer
free admission to performances. He quickly learned to improvise Instrument(s) Piano · organ
music appropriate to the acts and the silent movies.[8]
Years active 1924–1984
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 switched to piano exclusively at age 15.[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
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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
Around 1920, 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
(featuring singer Katie Crippen) as part of the Hippity Hop show; on the Keith, the Columbia
Burlesque, and the Theater Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.) vaudeville circuits; and as a
soloist and accompanist to blues singer Gonzelle White as well as Crippen.[12][13] His touring took him
to Kansas City, St. Louis, New Orleans, and Chicago. Throughout his tours, Basie met many jazz
musicians, including Louis Armstrong.[14] Before he was 20 years old, he toured extensively on the
Keith and TOBA vaudeville circuits as a solo pianist, accompanist, and music director for blues
singers, dancers, and comedians. This provided an early training that was to prove significant in his
later career.[15]
Back in Harlem in 1925, Basie gained 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".[16] 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 leading musicians, and teaching him some piano technique.[17]
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.[18] 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).[19]
Kansas City years
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 match the level of those led by Duke Ellington
or Fletcher Henderson.[20] Where the Blue Devils were "snappier" and more "bluesy", the Moten band
was more refined and respected, playing in the "Kansas City stomp" style.[21] In addition to playing
piano, Basie was co-arranger with Eddie Durham, who notated the music.[22] Their "Moten Swing",
which Basie claimed credit for,[23] was an invaluable contribution to the development of swing music,
and at one performance at the Pearl Theatre in Philadelphia in December 1932, the theatre opened its
door to allow anybody in who wanted to hear the band perform.[24] During a stay in Chicago, Basie
recorded with the band. He occasionally played four-hand piano and dual pianos with Moten, who
also conducted.[25] The band improved with several personnel changes, including the addition of
tenor saxophonist Ben Webster.
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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.[26] A year later, Basie joined Bennie Moten's band, and played with them until Moten died in
1935 from a failed tonsillectomy. The band tried to stay together but failed. Basie then formed his own
nine-piece band, Barons of Rhythm, with many former Moten members including Walter Page (bass),
Freddie Green (guitar), Jo Jones (drums), Lester Young (tenor saxophone) and Jimmy Rushing
(vocals).
The Barons of Rhythm were regulars at the Reno Club and often performed for a live radio broadcast.
During a broadcast the announcer wanted to give Basie's name some style, so he called him "Count".
It positioned him with Earl Hines, as well as Duke Ellington.
Basie's new band 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".[27] 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.[28]
John Hammond and first recordings
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 Cafe.[29] Right from the start, Basie's band was
known 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 Basie and band, with vocalist Ethel
adapted the split tenor arrangement.[30] Waters, from the film Stage Door
Canteen (1943)
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".[31] Hammond first
heard Basie's band on the radio and went to Kansas City to check them out.[32] He invited them to
record, in performances which were Lester Young's earliest recordings. Those four sides were released
on Vocalion Records under the band name of Jones-Smith Incorporated; the sides were "Shoe Shine
Boy", "Evening", "Boogie Woogie", and "Oh Lady Be Good". After Vocalion became a subsidiary of
Columbia Records in 1938, "Boogie Woogie" was released in 1941 as part of a four-record compilation
album entitled Boogie Woogie (Columbia album C44).[33] When he made the Vocalion recordings,
Basie had already signed with Decca Records, but did not have his first recording session with them
until January 1937.[34]
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).[35] 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".[36]
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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
When Basie took his orchestra to New York in 1937, they made the Woodside Hotel in Harlem their
base (they often rehearsed in its basement).[37] 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".[38] Compared to the reigning band of Fletcher Henderson,
Basie's band lacked polish and presentation.[39]
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.[40] His first official recordings for Decca followed, under contract to agent MCA, including
"Pennies from Heaven" and "Honeysuckle Rose".[41]
Hammond introduced Basie to Billie Holiday, whom he invited to sing with the band. (Holiday did
not record with Basie, as she had her own record contract and preferred working with small
combos).[42] The band's first appearance at the Apollo Theater followed, with the vocalists Holiday
and Jimmy Rushing getting the most attention.[43] 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.[44]
Next, Basie played at the Savoy, which was noted more for lindy-hopping, while the Roseland was a
place for fox-trots and congas.[45] 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.[46]
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.[47]
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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.[48] 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, which Hammond was said to have
bought the club in return for their booking Basie steadily throughout the summer of 1938. Their fame
took a huge leap.[49] 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".[50] 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.[51]
On February 19, 1940, Count Basie and his Orchestra opened a four-week engagement at Southland in
Boston, and they broadcast over the radio on February 20.[52] 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.[53] Other minor movie spots followed, including
Choo Choo Swing, Crazy House, Top Man, Stage Door Canteen, and Hit Parade of 1943.[54] They
also continued to record for OKeh Records and Columbia Records.[55] 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.
Basie occasionally lost some key soloists. However, throughout the 1940s, he maintained a big band
that possessed an infectious rhythmic beat, an enthusiastic team spirit, and a long list of inspired and
talented jazz soloists.[56]
Los Angeles and the Cavalcade of Jazz concerts
Count Basie was the featured artist at the first Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field on
September 23, 1945, which was produced by Leon Hefflin Sr.[57] Al Jarvis was the Emcee and other
artists to appear on stage were Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers, The Peters Sisters, Slim and Bam,
Valaida Snow, and Big Joe Turner.[58] They played to a crowd of 15,000. Count Basie and his
Orchestra played at the tenth Cavalcade of Jazz concert also at Wrigley Field on June 20, 1954. He
played along with The Flairs, Christine Kittrell, Lamp Lighters, Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five,
Ruth Brown, and Perez Prado and his Orchestra.[59]
Post-war and later years
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. This group was eventually called the New
Testament band. Basie credited 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.[60] 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.
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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 musicians 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".[61] Basie also added
flute to some numbers, a novelty at the time that became widely
copied.[62] 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); Marshal Basie in Rhythm and Blues Revue
Royal and Ernie Wilkins (alto sax); and Charlie Fowlkes (baritone (1955)
sax).[63] DownBeat 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."[64] In 1957,
Basie sued the jazz venue Ball and Chain in Miami over outstanding fees, causing the closure of the
venue.[65]
In 1958, 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, including "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.[66]
In 1957, Basie 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.[67] 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.[68] 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/Eckstine Incorporated, an album featuring Billy Eckstine, Quincy Jones (as arranger) and the
Count Basie Orchestra. It was released by Roulette Records, then later reissued by Capitol Records.
Later that year, Basie appeared on a television special with Fred Astaire, featuring a dance solo to
"Sweet Georgia Brown", followed in January 1961 by Basie performing at one of the five John F.
Kennedy Inaugural Balls.[69] 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.[70]
During the balance of the 1960s, the band kept active with tours, recordings, television appearances,
festivals, Las Vegas shows, and travel abroad, including cruises. Some time around 1964, Basie
adopted his trademark yachting cap.[71]
Through steady changes in personnel, Basie led the band into the 1980s. Basie made a few more
movie appearances, such as in the Jerry Lewis film Cinderfella (1960) and the Mel Brooks movie
Blazing Saddles (1974), playing a revised arrangement of "April in Paris".
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Basie was a Prince Hall Freemason as a member of Wisdom Lodge
No. 102 in Chicago as well as a Shriner.[72]
Marriage, family and death
Basie was a member of Omega
Psi Phi fraternity. On July 21,
1930, Basie married Vivian Lee
Winn, in Kansas City, Missouri.
Count Basie (left) in concert
They were divorced sometime
(Cologne 1975)
before 1935. Some time in or
before 1935, the now single
Basie returned to New York City, renting a house at 111 West 138th
Street, Manhattan, as evidenced by the 1940 census. He married
Count Basie home in Addesleigh Catherine Morgan on July 13, 1940, in the King County courthouse
Pk, Adelaide Rd. in Seattle, Washington. In 1942, they moved to Queens. Their only
child, Diane, was born February 6, 1944. She was born with
cerebral palsy and the doctors claimed she would never walk. The
couple kept her and cared deeply for her, and especially through her mother's tutelage, Diane learned
not only to walk but to swim.[73] The Basies bought a home in the new whites-only neighborhood of
Addisleigh Park in 1946 on Adelaide Road and 175th Street, St. Albans, Queens.[74] On April 11, 1983,
Catherine Basie died of heart disease at the couple's home in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. She was
67 years old.[75] Daughter Diane Basie died 15 October 2022 of a heart attack.[76]
Count Basie died of pancreatic cancer in Hollywood, Florida, on April 26, 1984, at the age of 79.[1]
Singers
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 Incorporated, 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 which featured Sinatra with Count Basie and
his orchestra at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. 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".[77]
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Basie also recorded with Tony Bennett in the late 1950s. Their albums together included In Person
and Strike Up the Band. Basie also toured with Bennett, including a date at Carnegie Hall. He also
recorded 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.[78] In 1968,
Basie and his Band recorded an album with Jackie Wilson titled Manufacturers of Soul.[79][80]
Legacy and honors
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.[81] 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."[82]
In Red Bank, New Jersey, the Count Basie Theatre, a property Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank,
on Monmouth Street redeveloped for live performances, and New Jersey
Count Basie Field were named in his honor.
Received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music
in 1974.[83]
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.
In 2010, Basie was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
In October 2013, version 3.7 of WordPress was code-named Count Basie.[84]
In 2019, Basie was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Asteroid 35394 Countbasie, discovered by astronomers at Caussols in 1997, was named after
him.[85] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on November 8,
2019 (M.P.C. 118220).[86]
6508 Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood, California is the location of Count Basie's star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Representation in other media
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.
Since 1963 "The Kid From Red Bank" has been the theme and signature music for the most
popular Norwegian radio show, Reiseradioen, aired at NRK P1 every day during the summer.
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In the 2016 movie The Matchbreaker, Emily Atkins (Christina Grimmie) recounts the story of how
Count Basie met his wife three times without speaking to her, telling her he would marry her some
day in their first conversation, and then marrying her seven years later.
The post-hardcore band Dance Gavin Dance have a song titled "Count Bassy" that is included on
their 2018 album Artificial Selection.
In his novel This Storm, James Ellroy makes Basie a character who is blackmailed by corrupt Los
Angeles police to play a New Year's Eve concert in exchange for ignoring a marijuana charge.
Discography
Count Basie made most of his albums with his big band. See the Count Basie Orchestra Discography.
From 1929 to 1932, Basie was part of Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra:
Count Basie in Kansas City: Bennie Moten's Great Band of 1930-1932 (RCA Victor, 1965)
Basie Beginnings: Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra (1929–1932) (Bluebird/RCA, 1989)
The Swinging Count!, (Clef, 1952)
Count Basie Presents Eddie Davis Trio + Joe Newman (Roulette, 1958)
The Atomic Mr. Basie (Roulette, 1958)
Memories Ad-Lib with Joe Williams (Roulette, 1958)
Basie/Eckstine Incorporated with Billy Eckstine ( Roulette 1959)
String Along with Basie (Roulette, 1960)
Count Basie and the Kansas City 7 (Impulse!, 1962)
Basie Swingin' Voices Singin' with the Alan Copeland Singers (ABC-Paramount, 1966)
Basie Meets Bond (United Artists, 1966)
Basie's Beatle Bag (Verve, 1966)
Basie on the Beatles (Verve, 1969)
Loose Walk with Roy Eldridge (Pablo, 1972)
Basie Jam (Pablo, 1973)
The Bosses with Big Joe Turner (1973)
For the First Time (Pablo, 1974)
Satch and Josh with Oscar Peterson (Pablo, 1974)
Basie & Zoot with Zoot Sims (Pablo, 1975)
Count Basie Jam Session at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1975 (Pablo, 1975)
For the Second Time (Pablo, 1975)
Basie Jam 2 (Pablo, 1976)
Basie Jam 3 (Pablo, 1976)
Kansas City 5 (Pablo, 1977)
The Gifted Ones with Dizzy Gillespie (Pablo, 1977)
Montreux '77 (Pablo, 1977)
Basie Jam: Montreux '77 (Pablo, 1977)
Satch and Josh...Again with Oscar Peterson (Pablo, 1977)
Night Rider with Oscar Peterson (Pablo, 1978)
Count Basie Meets Oscar Peterson – The Timekeepers (Pablo, 1978)
Yessir, That's My Baby with Oscar Peterson (Pablo, 1978)
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Kansas City 8: Get Together (Pablo, 1979)
Kansas City 7 (Pablo, 1980)
On the Road (Pablo, 1980)
Kansas City 6 (Pablo, 1981)
Mostly Blues...and Some Others (Pablo, 1983)
88 Basie Street (Pablo, 1983)
As sideman
With Eddie Lockjaw Davis
Count Basie Presents Eddie Davis Trio + Joe Newman (Roulette, 1957)
With Harry Edison
Edison's Lights (Pablo, 1976)
With Benny Goodman
The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert (Columbia, 1939)
Solo Flight: The Genius of Charlie Christian (Columbia, 1939)
With Jo Jones
Jo Jones Special (Vanguard, 1955)
With Joe Newman
Joe Newman and the Boys in the Band (Storyville, 1954)
With Paul Quinichette
The Vice Pres (Verve, 1952)
With Lester Young
The Complete Savoy Recordings (Savoy, 1944)
Filmography
Policy Man (1938)[87]
Hit Parade of 1943 (1943) – as himself
Top Man (1943) – as himself
Sugar Chile Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet (1950) – as himself
Jamboree (1957)
Cinderfella (1960) – as himself
Sex and the Single Girl (1964) – as himself with his orchestra
Blazing Saddles (1974) – as himself with his orchestra
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Last of the Blue Devils (1979) – interview and concert by the orchestra in documentary on Kansas
City music
Awards
Grammy Awards
In 1958, Basie became the first African-American to win a Grammy Award.[88]
Count Basie Grammy Award history[89]
Year Category Title Genre Results
Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big
1984 88 Basie Street Jazz Winner
Band
Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big
1982 Warm Breeze Jazz Winner
Band
Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big
1980 On The Road Jazz Winner
Band
1977 Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band Prime Time Jazz Winner
Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist
1976 Basie And Zoot Jazz Winner
(Instrumental)
Best Performance by an Orchestra – For This Time By Basie! Hits of the 50 's And
1963 Pop Winner
Dancing 60's
1960 Best Performance by a Band For Dancing Dance With Basie Pop Winner
1958 Best Performance by a Dance Band Basie (The Atomic Mr. Basie) Pop Winner
1958 Best Jazz Performance, Group Basie (The Atomic Mr. Basie) Jazz Winner
Grammy Hall of Fame
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."
Count Basie Grammy Hall of Fame Awards[90]
Year recorded Title genre Label Year inducted
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
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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 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.[91]
In May 2019, Basie was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Memphis, TN,
presented by The Blues Foundation.
Count Basie award history
Year Category Result Notes
2019 Blues Hall of Fame Inducted
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
1982 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
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.[92] The board selects
songs in an annual basis that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Jazz portal
References
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[Link]/books?id=8osZnKqbRwQC&pg=PA127). Da Capo Press. p. 127. ISBN 978-0-306-81107-4.
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g/oclc/884745086). "Toward the end of 1937, Ella moved again, this time to the Woodside Hotel at
2424 Seventh Avenue at 142nd Street, to be close to Jo Jones, the drummer from the Count
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57. Cox, Bette Yarbrough. (1996). Central Avenue--its rise and fall, 1890-c. 1955 : including the
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59. “Basie, Jordan, Prado Top Jazz Cavalcade” Article Los Angeles Sentinel, June 3, 1954.
60. Basie (1985), pp. 289–290.
61. Dance, 1980, p. 5.
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71. Basie (1985), p. 353.
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75. Green, Alfred (August 6, 2015). Rhythm Is My Beat: Jazz Guitar Great Freddie Green and the
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77. Pignon, Charles (2004). The Sinatra Treasures, Virgin Books, ISBN 1-85227-184-1
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80. "Manufacturers of Soul by Jackie Wilson : Reviews and Ratings" ([Link]
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89. "Grammy Award search engine" ([Link]
[Link]/GRAMMY_Awards/Winners/[Link]). Archived from the original ([Link]
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[Link]/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame). [Link]. Archived from the original ([Link]
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of Fame" ([Link]
The Newark Star Ledger. Retrieved April 2, 2016.
92. "2005 National Recording Registry choices" ([Link]
l). [Link]. May 13, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
External links
Count Basie ([Link] at Find a Grave
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The Count Basie Orchestra official website ([Link]
[Link]/)
Count Basie discography ([Link] at [Link]
International Jose Guillermo Carrillo Foundation ([Link]
io/muspopular_count_basie.php)
Basie biography at [Link] ([Link]
BBC Profile of Count Basie ([Link]
Downbeat Magazine ([Link]
sts/[Link]?action=new&aid=138&aname=Count+Basie%2F)
U.S. Postal Service Biography ([Link]
[Link]/10320/[Link])
Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom – May 23, 1985 (ht
tp://[Link]/archives/speeches/1985/[Link])
Basie biography and album list ([Link]
Image of Wayne King, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Bill Elliot at Big Band Festival at
Disneyland, Anaheim, 1964. ([Link]
Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Count Basie recordings ([Link] at the Discography of
American Historical Recordings.
Retrieved from "[Link]
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