Foster's composition "Shiny Stockings" and Williams' rendition of "Every Day" brought Basie a couple of much-needed hits in the mids. In addition to achieving success with his own singers, he also enjoyed acclaim for records backing such stars as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr. Basie continued to perform and record until his death in Skip to main content.
Date of death: Apr 26, With the group becoming highly distinguished for its soloists, rhythm section and style of swing, Basie himself was noted for his understated yet captivating style of piano playing and precise, impeccable musical leadership. He was also helming one of the biggest, most renowned African American jazz groups of the day. Due to changing fortunes and an altered musical landscape, Basie was forced to scale down the size of his orchestra at the start of the s, but he soon made a comeback and returned to his big-band structure in , recording new hits with vocalist Joe Williams and becoming an international figure.
Another milestone came with the album April in Paris , whose title track contained psyche-you-out endings that became a new band signature. Basie ultimately earned nine Grammy Awards over the course of his career, but he made history when he won his first, in , as the first African American man to receive a Grammy. Basie suffered from health issues in his later years, and died from cancer in Hollywood, Florida, on April 26, He left the world an almost unparalleled legacy of musical greatness, having recorded or been affiliated with dozens upon dozens of albums during his lifetime.
We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! The story of Count Basie is very much the story of the great jazz band that he led for close to 50 years , an orchestra with a distinctive sound, anchored by a subtle but propulsive beat, buoyed by crisp ensemble work, and graced with superb soloists indeed, a catalogue of featured players would read like a Who's Who of jazz.
But perhaps the most startling aspect of the band's achievement was its year survival in a culture that has experienced so many changes in musical fashion, and especially its survival after the mids when jazz lost much of its audience to rock music and disco. His mother was a music teacher, and at a young age he became her pupil. But it was in Harlem, New York City, that he learned the rudiments of ragtime and stride piano, principally from his sometime organ teacher, the great Fats Waller.
Basie made his professional debut as an accompanist for vaudeville acts. While on a tour of the Keith vaudeville circuit he was stranded in Kansas City. Here, in , after a short stint as house organist in a silent movie theater, he joined Walter Page's Blue Devils, and when that band broke up in , he was hired by Bennie Moten's Band and played piano with them, with one interruption, for the next five years. Moten's death in altered Basie's career dramatically.
He took over the remnants of the band they called themselves The Barons of Rhythm and, with some financial and promotional support from impresario John Hammond, expanded the personnel and formed the first Count Basie Orchestra. In , Basie returned to Red Bank, marking his first homecoming performance. In , financial considerations forced Basie to disband the orchestra. In , Basie solidified his iconic status by performing at the inauguration of President John F. He returned to the Carlton in — then known as the Monmouth Arts Center.
In , Basie returned to the Monmouth Street theater, in a benefit for the A. Zion Church on Shrewsbury Avenue.
I just worry about getting work. Musicians, singers, composers and arrangers came and went over many years and over many ensembles, grouping and regrouping like the audience in a club. Some dropped by for just a night.
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