The However, the man ended up betraying Basies trust, and he stole from Diane. Well, that was the last time I was ever introduced as Bill Basie. played drums in his school band and took some piano lessons from his, Basie made his professional debut playing piano with vaudeville acts [25] The band improved with several personnel changes, including the addition of tenor saxophonist Ben Webster. Early after his arrival, he bumped into Sonny Greer, who was by then the drummer for the Washingtonians, Duke Ellington's early band. Credit: GettyImages/Global Images of Ukraine. She was 67 years old. Though stories abound at the genesis of his nickname, Basie later recalled it as a tribute to his penchant for slipping off during arranging sessions with Moten. At a theatre in Newark he was able to hear regular performances by the bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Stan Kenton and others. They had direct lines to presidents, occasionally exchanging personal telegrams giving well wishes. It was here that he was introduced to the big-band sound when he joined Walter Pages Blue Devils in 1928. 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. Basie was a true innovator leading the band for almost 50 years and recording on over 480 albums. desktop goose android. New York: Chelsea House, 1992. onenighters, and the bebop revolution of the mid-1940s all played a role He is survived by a daughter, Diane Basie of Freeport. 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. rehearsal and then written down later. vaudeville circuits; and as a soloist and accompanist to blues singer Gonzelle White as well as Crippen. Required fields are marked *. Page, a bassist--Jimmy Rushing, the blues signer, both of whom would be key members of Mr. Basie's band. 1415. They had one daughter, Diane, in 1944. His mother paid 25 cents per piano lesson for him . Many of the band's arrangements were Mr. Basie, a short, stocky, taciturn but witty man who liked to wear a yachting cap offstage, presided over the band at the piano with apparent utmost casualness. It was on one of these broadcasts that Bill Basie became Count Basie. He developed a new style of jazz called bebop. [47], A few months later, Holiday left for Artie Shaw's band. To go on the road, Mr. Basie expanded his nine-piece band to 13 pieces. onto every note, sitting behind him all the time. 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). Count Basie Birthday and Date of Death. They had one daughter. 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. [73], On April 11, 1983, Catherine Basie died of heart disease at the couple's home in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. Mr. Basie's musicians had been playing "head" arrangements in Kansas City--treatments of the blues or pop tunes that were worked out How did the bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington differ? 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". Count Basie, byname of William Basie, (born August 21, 1904, Red Bank, New Jersey, U.S.died April 26, 1984, Hollywood, Florida), American jazz musician noted for his spare, economical piano style and for his leadership of influential and widely heralded big bands. for the next quarter of a century. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. After working briefly as house organist in a Count was 79 years old at the time of death. They had one daughter. But I wanted that bite to be just as tasty and subtle as if it were the three brass I used to use. 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. 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. Next, Basie played at the Savoy, which was noted more for lindy-hopping, while the Roseland was a place for fox-trots and congas. 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. 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. went to Kansas City to hear it and support it and brought it to the attention of booking agents. With many of the other big bands of the swing African American bandleader and musician. His wife, Catherine, had died in 1983. Age at Death: 79. His touring took him to Kansas City, St. Louis, New Orleans, and Chicago. After a decade long courtship, Basie married dancer Catherine Morgan, his second wife, on his birthday in 1942. 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 . Basie is a part of the Big Band Leaders issue, which, is in turn, part of the Legends of American Music series. The "book" of this early Basie band was based on blues and riffs developed on a blues structure. 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. Count Basie. "I wanted 13 men to think and play the same way. He joined Walter Page's Blue Devils in 1928, and a year later, he started to play with Bennie Moten's band in Kansas City. [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. Encyclopedia of Jazz. In 1950, financial restraints forced Basie to disband the orchestra. [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. Provide Feedback Form. "heads"arrangements worked out without planning in What Is The Origin Of Springerle Cookies? encouraged to direct suggestions, comments, or complaints concerning any accessibility issues I said the minute the brass got out of hand and blared and screeched instead of making every note mean something, there'd be some changes made. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. [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. Catherine Basie, wife of Count Basie, the jazz musician and band leader, died of a heart attack yesterday at the couples home in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, according to Mr. Basies agent. By 1937 Basie's band was, with the possible exception of Duke 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. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. skilled performers (reflecting Basie's sound management) gave the She died in 1983. From the time Count Basie's "Old Testament Band" surged out of Kansas City in 1936 and brought his irrepressible mixture of blues and riff-based head arrangements to New York until his death in 1984, Basie and the bands he led were a touchstone of jazz history. What was the greatest era of the Basie band? Their daughter, Iska, died at the age of 14 after a series . It positioned him with Earl Hines, as well as Duke Ellington. 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. Discography of American Historical Recordings, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Count_Basie&oldid=1137147837, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band, Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist (Instrumental), Best Performance by an Orchestra For Dancing. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. At a White House reception, President Reagan said that Mr. Basie was "among the handful of musicians that helped change the path of American music in the 30's and the 40's" and that he had "revolutionized jazz.". The songs were often designed to Once the musicians found what they liked, they usually were able to repeat it using their "head arrangements" and collective memory.[44]. His mother, a piano player who gave Basie his first piano lessons, took in laundry and baked cakes for sale and paid 25 cents a lesson for piano instruction for him. Provide Feedback Form. The agent, Willard Alexander, said Mrs. Basie died while her husband was appearing at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. At 16. It was released by Roulette Records, then later reissued by Capitol Records. [61] Basie also added flute to some numbers, a novelty at the time that became widely copied. 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. He quickly learned to improvise music appropriate to the acts and the silent movies. silent movie theater, he joined Walter Page's Blue Devils in Two years later, they were the most famous African American band in the country. 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. 1981 interview cited in "The Lester Young Story" (Properbox 16), pp. It was a loose and swinging band, built around distinctively individualistic solos by Lester 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. myers park country club lawsuit; turkey hill frozen yogurt discontinued. [32] He invited them to record, in performances which were Lester Young's earliest recordings. It was during this time that he was given the nickname You never got tired of that business at the end.". His name was Louis Armstrong. era he also shared the less appealing one-nighters (a series of single Jump" (his theme) and many others now considered jazz classics. Who was Count Basies adopted son on Long Island? Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. The award was received by Aaron Woodward. ABC World News Tonight feature on death of Count Basie on April 26, 1984 3,211 views Aug 26, 2016 26 Dislike Share Save pianopappy 7.27K subscribers Peter Jennings (who was a jazz an). Catherine Basie, wife of Count Basie, the jazz musician and band leader, died of a heart attack yesterday at the couple's home in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, according to Mr. Basie's agent. Basie's new band played at the Reno Club and sometimes were broadcast on local radio. In 1937 Basie took his group, Count Basie and His Barons of Rhythm, to New York to record their first album with Decca Records under their new name, The Count Basie Orchestra. When we played pop tunes--and, naturally, we had to--I wanted those pops to kick! William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader and composer. 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 . Finally, Willard Alexander, a booking agent, in an effort to get the band on 52d Street, then the jazz center of New York, made a deal with the Famous Door, a shoebox of a room, 25 feet wide and about As one critic put it, they "put wheels on all four bars of the beat," creating a smooth rhythmic flow over which Mr. Basie's other instrumentalists rode as though they were on a streamlined [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. A year later, Basie joinedBennie_Motens band, and played with them until Motens death in 1935. "Count.". During this period he also recorded with music greats, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Wilson, Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson. He was a fine pianist and leader of one of the greatest jazz bands in history. Young, Hershel Evans, Buddy Tate, Buck Clayton, Harry Edison, Dickie Wells, Vic Dickenson and, primarily, Mr. Basie himself. He was a fine pianist and leader of one of the greatest jazz "He commented that Bill Basie was a rather ordinary name and that with a particular soloist or two in mind. His home for many years was in Freeport, the Bahamas; he died of cancer at Doctors' Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, on April 26, 1984. He reformed his group as a 16-piece orchestra in 1952. in Kansas City, Missouri. His daughter, Diane Basie, now 71 and living in Florida with full-time caregivers, is severely retarded and only marginally communicative, according to court papers. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. 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. We collect and tell stories of people from all around the world. During his last years he had difficulty walking and Basie Basie also toured with Bennett, including a date at Carnegie Hall. Basie died April 26, 1984 in Hollywood, FL but his legacy is still swinging strong. [24] During a stay in Chicago, Basie recorded with the band. They had one daughter, Diane, in 1944. The written by Basie himself in 1937. favorites, "Jumpin' at the Woodside" and 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. In 1976 Basie suffered a heart attack, but he returned to the bandstand [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. While on one tour he became stranded On July 21, 1930, Basie married Vivian Lee Winn, in Kansas City, Missouri. Not loud and fast, understand, but smoothly and with a definite punch.". Count Basie was an extremely popular figure in the jazz world for half a He couldnt write music at the time, but his ear was perfect. I thought he was kidding, shrugged my shoulders and replied, 'O.K.' 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.
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