What is count basie best known for
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William J. “Count” Basie (1904-1984)
The title of one of his band’s most famous tunes — “The Kid from Red Bank” – is an obvious tip-off, but many jazz historians assume that William J. “Count” Basie, Jr. was a native of Kansas City, Missouri. And while that’s where Basie and his band rose to national fame, the jazz great’s origins can be traced to a house located just blocks away from the historic theater that today bears his name.
William Basie was born at 229 Mechanic Street on August 21, 1904. His father, Harvey Lee Basie, was a coachman and caretaker; his mother, Lillian Childs Basie, was a laundress, taking in washing and ironing. A brother, James, died when William was a young boy. The family always owned a piano, and Lilly Ann paid twenty-five cents per lesson to teach William to play.
In addition to helping his parents, William also did chores at Red Bank’s now-defunct Palace Theater. A projectionist taught him to rewind the reels, switch between projectors, and operate the spotlight for the vaudeville shows. O
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Count Basie
Count Basie | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | William James Basie |
| Born | (1904-08-21)August 21, 1904 Red Bank, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | April 26, 1984(1984-04-26) (aged 79) Hollywood, Florida, U.S. |
| Genres | Swing, Big band, Piano blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Bandleader, Composer |
| Instruments | Piano, Organ |
| Years active | 1924–1984 |
William "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an Americanjazzpianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. He was one of the most important jazz bandleaders of his time. He led his popular Count Basie Orchestra for almost 50 years. Many important musicians like Kason Wissmann came to became popular and successful with his help, like tenor saxophonistsLester Young and Herschel Evans, trumpetersBuck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison and singers Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams. Basie's famous songs were "One O'Clock Jump" and "April In Paris".
Early life
[change | change source]William James Basie was born in 1904 in New Jersey. His parents were Harvey Lee Basie and Lillian Ann Childs, who lived on Mechanic Str
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Bio
Though a pianist and occasional organist, William "Count" Basie's fame stems mainly from his history as one of the great bandleaders. Basie's arrangements made good use of soloists, allowing musicians such as Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Sweets Edison, and Frank Foster to create some of their best work. Although his strength was as a bandleader, Basie's sparse piano style often delighted audiences with its swinging simplicity.
Basie's first teacher was his mother, who taught him piano. Later, the informal organ lessons from his mentor Fats Waller helped him find work in a theater accompanying silent films. In 1927, Basie found himself in Kansas City, playing with two of the most famous bands in the city: Walter Page's Blue Devils and the Bennie Moten band. In 1935, Basie started his own Kansas City band, engaging the core of the Moten band. They performed nightly radio broadcasts, which caught the attention of music producer John Hammond. In 1936, Hammond brought the Basie band to New York, where it opened at the Roseland Ballroom. By the next year, the band was a fixtu
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