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). At 16. [8], Though a natural at the piano, Basie preferred drums. She took in laundry and baked cakes for sale for a living. [22] [42] The band's first appearance at the Apollo Theater followed, with the vocalists Holiday and Jimmy Rushing getting the most attention. The Basie band played at President John F. Kennedy's inaugural ball, and in 1965 toured with Frank Sinatra. From that time on, I was a daily customer, hanging Mr. Hammond spread the word about the Basie band, When his own band folded, he rejoined Moten with a newly re-organized band. Their fame took a huge leap. Basie was married in two occasions, first to Vivian Lee Winn from 1930 to 1935, and later to Catherine Morgan, from 1940 until her death in 1983. In 1950, he headlined the Universal-International short film "Sugar Chile" Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. the Basie band. showcase the band's brilliant soloists. 6 Who was Count Basies adopted son on Long Island? She was 67 years old. William James "Count" Basie (/besi/; August 21, 1904 April 26, 1984)[1] was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Dance hall bookings were down sharply as swing began to fade, the effects of the musicians' strikes of 194244 and 1948 began to be felt, and the public's taste grew for singers. On Moten's death in 1935, Basie and several other core band members formed their own ensemble, the Barons of Rhythm. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Count Basie, the jazz pianist whose spare, economic keyboard style and supple rhythmic drive made his orchestra one of the most influential groups of the Big Band era, died of cancer yesterday morning fast-paced tunes designed to excite the audience. The "book" of this early Basie band was based on blues and riffs developed on a blues structure. After Motens death in 1935, Basie started his band, the Count Basie Orchestra. [34], By then, Basie's sound was characterized by a "jumping" beat and the contrapuntal accents of his own piano. recordings, the 1943 musicians' strike, the strain of When that band broke up in 1929, he Bennie Moten's band Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. They had direct lines to presidents, occasionally exchanging personal telegrams giving well wishes. Page, a bassist--Jimmy Rushing, the blues signer, both of whom would be key members of Mr. Basie's band. A father of bebop, he influenced generations of musicians, and sparked the fire of one of the most important and successful American artistic movements. [60] The jukebox era had begun, and Basie shared the exposure along with early rock'n'roll and rhythm and blues artists. He quickly learned to improvise music appropriate to the acts and the silent movies. Fletcher Henderson's band was playing at the Grand Terrace just before the Basie band arrived there. Basie. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Early after his arrival, he bumped into Sonny Greer, who was by then the drummer for the Washingtonians, Duke Ellington's early band. Released: 1955 . For a year he played piano accompaniment to silent moves and then joined Walter Page's Blue Devils in Tulsa, He has had an unprecedented four recordings inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame One OClock Jump(1979),April in Paris(1985),Everyday I Have the Blues(1992), andLester Leaps In(2005), along with a slew of other awards and honors not only for his music, but for his humanitarianism and philanthropy around the world. [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. This stemmed primarily from the presence in the rhythm section, from 1937 to the present, of both Mr. Basie on piano and Freddie Green on guitar. On May 23, 1985, William "Count" Basie was presented, posthumously, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan. 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". cushion. Despite being born with cerebral palsy, Diane surpassed expectations due to the excellent love and support she received from her parents, family, friends, and caretakers and her indomitable spirit. Throughout his tours, Basie met many jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong. Even more important was the fact that the Famous Door had national and local radio wires. Basie appointed Aaron Woodward, a Long Island Baptist pastor and accountant, to be Dianes guardian. band's achievements was its fifty-year survival in a culture that (Lockjaw) Davis, Frank Wess, Jimmy Forrest and the blues singer Joe Williams. [58] They played to a crowd of 15,000. Bandleader, arranger and pianist Fletcher Henderson is one of the most influential and yet least-known jazz masters. Count Basie, the jazz pianist whose spare, economic keyboard style and supple rhythmic drive made his orchestra one of the most influential groups of the Big Band era, died of cancer yesterday morning at Doctors Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. "Of course, I wanted to play real jazz. Who was Count Basies adopted son on Long Island? But Moten was an expert piano player himself, and Basie fashioned a job for himself as the bands staff arranger. His father, Harvey Lee Basie, was a coachman and a groundskeeper, and his mother, Lillian Childs Basie, was a laundress. 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. Mr. Basie's band, more than any other, was the When did Count Basie start playing the piano? Advertisement When Basie died of pancreatic cancer in 1984 at the age of 79, he left his $1.5 million fortune in a trust to provide for Diane. Next, Basie played at the Savoy, which was noted more for lindy-hopping, while the Roseland was a place for fox-trots and congas. Basie and his Orchestra appeared in five films, all released within a matter of months in 1943:Hit Parade, Reveille with Beverly, Stage Door Canteen, Top Man, andCrazy House. April 27, 1984 7 AM PT. Count Basie, the jazz pianist whose spare, economic keyboard style and supple rhythmic drive made his orchestra one of the most influential groups of the Big Band era, died of cancer yesterday. for the next quarter of a century. [11] Soon, Basie met many of the Harlem musicians who were "making the scene," including Willie "the Lion" Smith and James P. Johnson. How did the bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington differ? While he was in his late teens, he gravitated to Harlem, where he encountered Fats Waller. 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. The band flopped at a Pittsburgh hotel that had never booked a jazz band before. Ella Fitzgerald made some memorable recordings with Basie, including the 1963 album Ella and Basie!. He is survived by a daughter, Diane Basie of Freeport. 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). This page was last edited on 3 February 2023, at 01:33. There was a memorable concert at Town Hall several Around 1924 Basie moved toHarlem, a hotbed for jazz, where his career started to quickly take off. [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. Even in Harlem, it puzzled the aware audiences at the Savoy Ballroom. with trumpeter Thad Jones directing until his own death in 1986. (This became known as the New Testament Band, while the first Orchestra was the Old Testament Band.) They played command performances for kings, queens and presidents, and issued a large number of recordings both under Basies name and as the backing band for various singers, most notably Frank Sinatra. Basie is a part of the Big Band Leaders issue, which, is in turn, part of the Legends of American Music series. 4 What pianist and his orchestra were really popular in the big band era? [30], 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". The Count Basie Orchestra, today directed by Scotty Barnhart, has won every respected jazz poll in the world at least once, won 18 Grammy Awards, performed for Kings, Queens, and other world Royalty, appeared in several movies, television shows, at every major jazz festival and major concert hall in the world. After a decade long courtship, Basie married dancer Catherine Morgan, his second wife, on his birthday in 1942. ', "The next day he invited me to sit in the pit and start working the pedals. Another boost was provided in the late 1950s by the recording of While on one tour he became stranded in Kansas City, Missouri. Basie's band was sharing Birdland with such bebop musicians as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. 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 Bookers Association (T.O.B.A.) To go on the road, Mr. Basie expanded his nine-piece band to 13 pieces. They had one daughter, Diane, in 1944. the Basie band struggled for a year after it left Kansas City. In 1950, when big bands were falling apart, Mr. Basie cut down to an eight-piece group but by 1952 he was leading a big band once again. The songs were often designed to Around 1920, Basie went to Harlem, a hotbed of jazz, where he lived down the block from the Alhambra Theater. When the band voted Moten out, Basie took over for several months, calling the group Count Basie and his Cherry Blossoms. They had one daughter, Diane, in 1944. The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie in 1935 and recording regularly from 1936. Provide Feedback Form. 3 What pianist lead the most successful band in Kansas City? to bite with real guts. It was at this time that he began to be known as "Count" Basie (see Jazz royalty).[19]. parents, Harvey and Lillian (Childs) Basie, were both musicians. Birthday: August 21, 1904. [69] That summer, Basie and Duke Ellington combined forces for the recording First Time! (Basie later played organ at the Eblon Theater in Kansas City). [53] Other minor movie spots followed, including Choo Choo Swing, Crazy House, Top Man, Stage Door Canteen, and Hit Parade of 1943. Red Bank, New Jersey In fact, the only reason I enlarged the brass was to get a richer harmonic As a result, the band got a date at the Grand Terrace in Chicago. the arrangements that enabled his band to break through a year earlier, lent Mr. Basie some of his arrangements. Required fields are marked *. (Holiday did not record with Basie, as she had her own record contract and preferred working with small combos). There will be a viewing at Benta's Funeral Home, 630 St. Nicholas Avenue at 141st Street, on Sunday from 1 to 7 P.M. He started out to be a drummer. On July 21, 1930, Basie married Vivian Lee Winn, in Kansas City, Missouri. onenighters, and the bebop revolution of the mid-1940s all played a role 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). They had one daughter, Diane, in 1944. New York: Random House, 1985. Page, Mr. Basie and Mr. Rushing all joined Bennie Moten's orchestra, the leading big band in the Southwest, which became even stronger with their presence. The band will continue under the guidance of Aaron Woodward, an adopted son of Mr. Basie who has worked closely with the orchestra leader during the last year. He soon started booking the band and shopping them to agents and record companies forging their big break. [76] In 1968, Basie and his Band recorded an album with Jackie Wilson titled Manufacturers of Soul. What Is The Origin Of Springerle Cookies? On September 11, 1996, the U.S. Post Office issued a Count Basie 32 cents postage stamp. [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". Then when he develops his big band, he reunites with Eddie Durham. But it was in Harlem, New York City, that he learned the basics of piano, mainly from his sometime organ teacher, the great Fats Waller (19041943). From 1929 to 1932, Basie was part of Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra: In 1958, Basie became the first African-American to win a Grammy Award. [52] 2022-06-30; wreck on 1942 crosby, tx today . She died in 1983. Diane died peacefully on October 15 after suffering a heart attack a few days before. a few moments before. It is with a heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of Diane Lillian Basie (1944-2022), the beloved only child of the legendary jazz musician, William James "Count" Basie and his wife, Catherine Morgan Basie. And it was a seven-day week. Everything We Know about the Music Legends Love Life, Rich Man Leaves Older Son $2.8 Million, Younger Son Gets Only $1 Story of the Day, Hank Williams Jr Lost 'Drop-Dead Gorgeous' Wife of 31 Years in March Inside Their Marriage, Loretta Lynn Fought for Her Beloved Husband Though He Called Other Women into Their Bed. "flagwavers," Hollywood, Florida, on April 26, 1984. went to Kansas City to hear it and support it and brought it to the attention of booking agents. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Neal Hefti began to provide arrangements, including "Lil Darlin'". [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. What disability did Count Basies daughter have? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. It is with a heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of Diane Lillian Basie (1944-2022), the beloved only child of the legendary jazz musician, William James Count Basie and his wife, Catherine Morgan Basie. The band broadcast from the Reno Club on an experimental radio station. Despite the presence of Lester Young and Herschel Evans in the saxophone section, Buck Clayton in the trumpet section, Jo Jones on drums, with Jimmy Rushing and, briefly, Billie Holiday as vocalists, [4] Both of his parents had some type of musical background. Died: April 26, 1984 Hollywood, Florida African American bandleader and musician Count Basie was an extremely popular figure in the jazz world for half a century. Jazz icon, Count Basie, was born William James Basie August 21, 1904 in Red Bank, New Jersey. Dance, Stanley. [31] Hammond first heard Basie's band on the radio and went to Kansas City to check them out. Encyclopedia of Jazz. [89] The board selects songs in an annual basis that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. He began his professional career as an accompanist on the vaudeville circuit. . Throughout his tours, Basie met many jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong. 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". The band survived Basies death, with trumpeter Thad Jones directing until his own death in 1986. 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. Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. Darlin'"), Ernie Wilkins and Frank Foster ("Shiny Stockings") were among the most notable orchestrators. so rode out on stage in a motorized wheelchair. there were a couple of well-known bandleaders named Earl Hines and Duke Ellington. 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). [74], Count Basie died of pancreatic cancer in Hollywood, Florida, on April 26, 1984, at the age of 79.[1]. Count Basie (1904-1984) The title of one of his bands most famous tunes The Kid from Red Bank is an obvious tip-off, but many jazz historians assume that William J. She was 67 years old. "Can you imagine a man who kind of romps around the piano," Mr. Shearing said, 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]. When Basie died of pancreatic cancer in 1984 at the age of 79, he left his $1.5 million fortune in a trust to provide for Diane. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. Count Basie was a pianist, bandleader, and composer considered as one of the most popular figures in the jazz world. William (Count) Basie, who produced more music with two fingers than most pianists get out of 10, died Thursday in a hospital in Hollywood, Fla., where he had been admitted . Count Basie is considered one of the greatest bandleaders of all times. In 1935, Bennie Moten died and it was left to Basie to take some of the musicians from that orchestra and form his own, The Count Basie Orchestra, which is still alive and well today some 78 years later. What pianist lead the most successful band in Kansas City? [41], Hammond introduced Basie to Billie Holiday, whom he invited to sing with the band. Swing-era bandleader noted for his theme songs One O'Clock Jump from 1937 and April in Paris from 1932. 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. Is the Count Basie Orchestra still alive? [85], 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.". His Family After a decade long courtship, Basie married dancer Catherine Morgan, his second wife, on his birthday in 1942. Count Basie is considered one of the greatest bandleaders of all times. 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 reorganized the Orchestra in 1952 and this new band was in high demand and toured extensively around the world. CATHERINE BASIE. Count Basie, Jr. was a native of Kansas City, Missouri. We've received your submission. She was 67 years old. returned to his first lovethe big bandand it thrived. In 1942, they moved to Queens. rehearsal and then written down later. After a decade long courtship, Basie married dancer Catherine Morgan, his second wife, on his birthday in 1942. He was one of the greatest bandleaders of all-time, epitomizing the jazz of south-western America. Performers of bebop left the traditional musical melody and played a song freely, with the music and rhythm that was felt at the time. fame. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Basie credited Billy Eckstine, a top male vocalist of the time, for prompting his return to Big Band. Basie studied music with his mother and was later influenced by the Harlem pianists James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, receiving informal tutelage on the organ from the latter. Some argue Basie made some of his best work during the 1960s and 70sShiny Stocking, Lil Darlin, Corner Pocket,and even a hit single,Everyday I Have the Blues, with Joe Williams. Then he joined a touring show headed by one Gonzel White, playing piano in a four-piece band. The couple had an only daughter, Diane Basie, whos now a 74-year-old disabled woman. His name was Louis Armstrong. They had one daughter. William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader and composer. He was a fine pianist and leader of one of the greatest jazz bands in history. He also scored a series of Top Ten hits on the pop and R&B charts, includingI Didnt Know About You,Red Bank Blues,Rusty Dusty Blues, Jimmys Blues,andBlue Skies. Basie changed the jazz landscape and shaped mid-20th century popular music, duly earning the title King of Swing because he made the world want to dance. 'No,' I said, 'but I'd He was the arbiter of the big-band swing sound and his unique style of fusing blues and jazz established swing as a predominant music style. Mechanic Street, where he grew up with his family, has the honorary title of Count Basie Way. [55] The war years caused a lot of members turn over, and the band worked many play dates with lower pay. He was the arbiter of the big-band swing sound and his unique style of fusing blues and jazz established swing as a predominant music style. saxophonist Lester Young. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. "One night the announcer called me to the microphone for those usual few words of introduction," Mr. Basie once recalled.
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