Count Basie
Bandleader, Musical Artist
1904 – 1984
Who was Count Basie?
William James "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. His mother taught him to play the piano and he started performing in his teens. Dropping out of school, he learned to operate lights for vaudeville and to improvise accompaniment for silent films at a local movie theater in his home 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 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.
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- Born
- Aug 21, 1904
Red Bank - Also known as
- Count Baise
- William Basie
- Willaim Basie
- The Count Basie Bunch
- Count Basie Bunch
- Count Bassie
- William Allen Basie
- The Kid from Red Bank
- Count Basie and His Orchestra
- Count Basie and His Band
- Parents
- Spouses
- Catherine Morgan
(1942/08/21 - 1983/04/11)
- Catherine Morgan
- Ethnicity
- African American
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Lived in
- Red Bank
- Harlem
- Died
- Apr 26, 1984
Hollywood
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Count Basie." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/count_basie>.
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