She was 67 years old. Count Basie Center for the Arts 99 Monmouth Street Red Bank, NJ 07701. (HL.843157). Basie's band was sharing Birdland with such bebop greats as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. In 1935, Basie formed his own jazz orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. It made its recording debut on Decca Records in January 1937. Count Basie Jazz pianist William "Count" Basie is an American jazz pianist, organist and jazz orchestra conductor. Instrument List; Genre List; Development; ... Count Basie and His Orchestra: 2:50: 20: If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight Count Basie and His Orchestra: 2:57: 21: Taxi War Dance. 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). [75], Basie also recorded with Tony Bennett in the late 1950s. By the end of the 1960s, Basie had returned to more of a jazz format. Next, Basie played at the Savoy, which was noted more for lindy-hopping, while the Roseland was a place for fox-trots and congas. [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. On Saturday, March 21st, the Count Basie Center Academy of the Arts has the perfect gift for parents worn down after a week of teaching: A break. Basie's 14-man band began playing at the Famous Door, a mid-town nightspot with a CBS network feed and air conditioning, which Hammond was said to have bought the club in return for their booking Basie steadily throughout the summer of 1938. [32] He invited them to record, in performances which were Lester Young's earliest recordings. Oscar Peterson & Count Basie (piano)Niels Pedersen (bass)Martin Drew (drums)from bbc television For example, he went overseas for the first time to play in Scandinavia in 1954, and thereafter international touring played a large part in his schedule. As a pianist, he had a distinctive and influential style (the song title "Splanky" is an onomatopoetic reference to the sound of his playing), equally … It went so well; it was so thrilling and exciting". [4] Both of his parents had some type of musical background. Around 1920, Basie went to Harlem, a hotbed of jazz, where he lived down the block from the Alhambra Theater. [41], Hammond introduced Basie to Billie Holiday, whom he invited to sing with the band. His album Standing Ovation earned a 1969 Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance by a Large Group or Soloist with Large Group (Eight or More), and in 1970, with Oliver Nelson as arranger/conductor, he recorded Afrique, an experimental, avant-garde album that earned a 1971 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band. Count Basie repeatedly talks about how the blues did not influence him during the interview. [69] That summer, Basie and Duke Ellington combined forces for the recording First Time! Some time around 1964, Basie adopted his trademark yachting cap.[71]. Count Basie / Sarah Vaughan - Count Basie/Sarah Vaughan music CD album at CD Universe, Live Recording, enjoy top rated service and worldwide shipping. Basie also toured with Bennett, including a date at Carnegie Hall. Basie credited Billy Eckstine, a top male vocalist of the time, for prompting his return to Big Band. [52] 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. [55] The war years caused a lot of members turn over, and the band worked many play dates with lower pay. 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). [31] Hammond had heard Basie's band by radio and went to Kansas City to check them out. Ella Fitzgerald made some memorable recordings with Basie, including the 1963 album Ella and Basie!. A towering figure in big-band jazz, with a lean piano style and a gift for setting tempos and making a rhythm section swing. He stayed in the Midwestern city, at first working in a silent movie house and then joining Walter Page's Blue Devils in July 1928. With the New Testament Basie band in full swing, and arrangements written by a youthful Quincy Jones, this album proved a swinging respite from her Songbook recordings and constant touring she did during this period. By this time, the band performed largely on the jazz festival circuit and on cruise ships. Register for online or onsite arts & music classes in everything from musical theatre, private instrument, vocal and acting instruction, weekend workshops + more! On May 23, 1985, William "Count" Basie was presented, posthumously, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan. In which city did Count Basie first hear the blues? [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". Choose from Count Basie sheet music for such popular songs as The Glory of Love, Until I Met You (Corner Pocket), and Sweet Georgia Brown. William James "Count" Basie (/ˈbeɪsi/; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984)[1] was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie's new band was more of an ensemble group, with fewer solo turns, and relying less on "head" and more on written arrangements. His personnel around 1937 included: Lester Young and Herschel Evans (tenor sax), Freddie Green (guitar), Jo Jones (drums), Walter Page (bass), Earle Warren (alto sax), Buck Clayton and Harry Edison (trumpet), Benny Morton and Dickie Wells (trombone). [68] He was a guest on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, a venue also opened to several other black entertainers. He spent the early '40s touring extensively, but after the U.S. entry into World War II in December 1941 and the onset of the recording ban in August 1942, his travel was restricted. Thereafter, Basie competed in the category of Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Big Band, winning the Grammy in 1980 for On the Road and in 1982 for Warm Breeze, earning a nomination for Farmer's Market Barbecue in 1983, and winning a final time, for his ninth career Grammy, in 1984 for 88 Basie Street. Basie added touches of bebop "so long as it made sense", and he required that "it all had to have feeling". [21] In addition to playing piano, Basie was co-arranger with Eddie Durham, who notated the music. She was born with cerebral palsy and the doctors claimed she would never walk. Many former members of the Moten band joined this nine-piece outfit, among them Walter Page (bass), Freddie Green (guitar), Jo Jones (drums), and Lester Young (tenor saxophone). In the early 1970s, after a series of short-term affiliations, Basie signed to Pablo Records, with which he recorded for the rest of his life. The band's vocalist was Jimmy Rushing. 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". [49] Adding to their play book, Basie received arrangements from Jimmy Mundy (who had also worked with Benny Goodman and Earl Hines), particularly for "Cherokee", "Easy Does It", and "Super Chief". [25] The band improved with several personnel changes, including the addition of tenor saxophonist Ben Webster. Basie made a few more movie appearances, such as in the Jerry Lewis film Cinderfella (1960) and the Mel Brooks movie Blazing Saddles (1974), playing a revised arrangement of "April in Paris". Switching to RCA Victor Records, he topped the charts in February 1947 with "Open the Door, Richard!," followed by three more Top Ten pop hits in 1947: "Free Eats," "One O'Clock Boogie," and "I Ain't Mad at You (You Ain't Mad at Me).". [35] Lester Young, known as "Prez" by the band, came up with nicknames for all the other band members. [38] Compared to the reigning band of Fletcher Henderson, Basie's band lacked polish and presentation. Sheet music is available for Piano, Guitar, C Instrument with 5 scorings and 2 notations in 5 genres. [47], A few months later, Holiday left for Artie Shaw's band. Audiences of young people who had once flocked to hear and dance to his band, were now staying at home at night, to raise their children and watch television. He played the vaudeville, before he formed his big band and contributed to the creation of a swing. [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. She paid 25 cents a lesson for Count Basie's piano instruction. They played at the Reno Club and sometimes were broadcast on local radio. "When his own band folded, he rejoined Moten with a newly re-organized band. Discography of American Historical Recordings, The Greatest!! 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. [76] In 1968 Basie and his Band recorded an album with Jackie Wilson titled Manufacturers of Soul. Education: Attended public schools until … It was followed by This Time by Basie! Both of Basie's parents were musicians; his father, Harvie Basie, played the mellophone, and his mother, Lillian (Childs) Basie, was a pianist who gave her son his earliest lessons. This provided an early training that was to prove significant in his later career. On September 11, 1996 the U.S. Post Office issued a Count Basie 32 cents postage stamp. Basie's health gradually deteriorated during the last eight years of his life. "Stop Beatin' Round the Mulberry Bush," with Rushing on vocals, became a Top Ten hit in the fall of 1938. [29] Right from the start, Basie's band was noted for its rhythm section. The tune became the band's theme song and it was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. During its heyday, The Gong Show (1976–80) used Basie's "Jumpin' at the Woodside" during some episodes, while an NBC stagehand named Eugene Patton would dance on stage; Patton became known as "Gene Gene the Dancing Machine". Read More. FRANCAIS : Version instrumentale sans chanteur, ni choeurs, de "Splanky - Count Basie (INSTRUMENTAL)" par Count Basie au format MIDI. Basie recalled a review, which said something like, "We caught the great Count Basie band which is supposed to be so hot he was going to come in here and set the Roseland on fire. [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." A towering figure in big-band jazz, with a lean piano style and a gift for setting tempos and making a rhythm section swing. Undergoing expansion and personnel changes, it returned to Chicago, then to the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Boston. He led the group for almost 50 years William "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904– April 26, 1984) was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, and bandleader. With the exception of a brief period in the early '50s, he led a big band from 1935 until his death almost 50 years later, and the band continued to perform after he died. [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. Other notable recordings were with Sammy Davis Jr., Bing Crosby, and Sarah Vaughan. 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. Sinatra later said of this concert "I have a funny feeling that those two nights could have been my finest hour, really. Pablo recorded Basie prolifically in a variety of settings, resulting in a series of well-received albums: Basie Jam earned a 1975 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance by a Group; Basie and Zoot was nominated in the same category in 1976 and won the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist; Prime Time won the 1977 Grammy for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band; and The Gifted Ones by Basie and Dizzy Gillespie was nominated for a 1979 Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Group. Basie got his big break when one of his broadcasts was heard by journalist and record producer John Hammond, who touted him to agents and record companies. Count Basie and his Orchestra played at the tenth Cavalcade of Jazz concert also at Wrigley Field on June 20, 1954. “One O’Clock Jump” was composed by Count Basie in 1937, in collaboration with saxophonist Buster Smith and arranger Eddie Durham. He constantly parried Chick's thundering haymakers with tantalizing runs and arpeggios which teased more and more force from his adversary. 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. Another key recording of this period was an instrumental reading of "April in Paris" that made the pop Top 40 and the R&B Top Ten in early 1956; it also was enshrined in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Basie's new band which included many Moten alumni, with the important addition of tenor player Lester Young. Meanwhile, its recording of "One O'Clock Jump" became its first chart entry in September 1937. September 28, 2017. Find an answer to your question count basie is known for playing which instrument tgghk tgghk 11/01/2016 History High School Count basie is known for playing which instrument 2 See answers shelbyherrick shelbyherrick Known for playing mostly the piano likableadvisers likableadvisers Answer: This group was eventually called the New Testament band. [54] They also continued to record for OKeh Records and Columbia Records. None of these albums attracted much commercial attention, however, and in 1962, Basie switched to Frank Sinatra's Reprise Records in a bid to sell more records. William James (August 21, 1904 - April 26, 1984), known as Count Basie, was a jazz pianist, but also an organist and composer. What was Count Basie's theme song? [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. (Basie later played organ at the Eblon Theater in Kansas City). [86], 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.". [24] [79] In his autobiography, he wrote, "I think the band can really swing when it swings easy, when it can just play along like you are cutting butter."[80]. [12][13] His touring took him to Kansas City, St. Louis, New Orleans, and Chicago. Received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in 1974. [48] When Eddie Durham left for Glenn Miller's orchestra, he was replaced by Dicky Wells. From 1929–1932, Basie was part of Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra: In 1958, Basie became the first African-American to win a Grammy Award. One O'Clock Jump. Basie's orchestra was characterized by a light, swinging rhythm section that he led from the piano, lively ensemble work, and generous soloing. When the band voted Moten out, Basie took over for several months, calling the group "Count Basie and his Cherry Blossoms. Image of Wayne King, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Bill Elliot at Big Band Festival at Disneyland, Anaheim, 1964. Sinatra-Basie satisfied that desire, reaching the Top Five in early 1963. The following year, in 1929, Basie became the pianist with the Bennie Moten band based in Kansas City, inspired by Moten's ambition to raise his band to the level of Duke Ellington's or Fletcher Henderson's. [62] Soon, his band was touring and recording again. With Respect: Remembering Aretha Franklin, This Time by Basie! Another Basie innovation was the use of two tenor saxophone players; at the time, most bands had just one. In 2009, Basie was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.[89]. The orchestra was re-established commercially by the 1955 album Count Basie Swings - Joe Williams Sings (released on Clef Records), particularly by the single "Every Day (I Have the Blues)," which reached the Top Five of the R&B charts and was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Basie's orchestra was characterized by a light, swinging rhythm section that he led from the piano, lively ensemble work, and generous soloing. With the exception of a brief period in the early '50s, he led a big band from 1935 until his death almost 50 years later, and the band continued to perform after he died. The Count Basie Center Academy, home to the Monmouth Conservatory and the Academy’s new School Of Music, will present a free, online “Make Your Own Instrument” session […] 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. In May 2019, Basie was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Memphis, TN, presented by The Blues Foundation. These hits made what Albert Murray (co-author of Basie's autobiography, Good Morning Blues) called the "new testament" edition of the Basie band a major success. During a stay in Chicago, Basie recorded with the band. Count Basie made most of his albums with his big band. Members: Buck Clayton, Count Basie, Don Byas, Freddie Green, Jo Jones, Walter Page. He started his professional career as an accompanist in a vaudeville, and pianists from Harlem had great influence on him. 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. Jimmy Rushing sang with Basie in the late 1930s. Basie studied music with his mother and was later influenced by the Harlem pianists James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, receiving informal tutelage on Full name, William James Basie; born August 21, 1904, in Red Bank, N.J. ; died of pancreatic cancer, April 26, 1984, in Hollywood, Fla.; ashes interred at Pine Lawn Cemetery, Farmingdale, N.Y.; son of Harvey (a gardener) and Lillian (a domestic; maiden name, Childs) Basie; married Catherine Morgan (manager of Count Basie Enterprises), July 1942; children and adopted children (some informally): Diane, Aaron, Woodward III, Lamont Gilmore, Rosemarie Matthews, Clifford. Count Basie's Great American Swing Contest is an educational contest bridging the gap between the Swing generation and today's Jazz youth. 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). Later that year, Basie appeared on a television special with Fred Astaire, featuring a dance solo to "Sweet Georgia Brown", followed in January 1961 by Basie performing at one of the five John F. Kennedy Inaugural Balls. Their albums together included In Person and Strike Up the Band. On July 21, 1930, Basie married Vivian Lee Winn, in Kansas City, Missouri. Count Basie was among the most important bandleaders of the swing era. [8], Though a natural at the piano, Basie preferred drums. Count Basie Plays, Joe Williams Sings Standards, A Swingin' Christmas (Featuring The Count Basie Big Band), NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Artist, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Count_Basie&oldid=1000520606, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with Encyclopædia Britannica links, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band, Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist (Instrumental), Best Performance by an Orchestra – For Dancing. The band gained a residency at the Reno Club in Kansas City and began broadcasting on the radio, an announcer dubbing the pianist "Count" Basie. We set the thing up front in D-flat, and then we just went on playing in F." It became his signature tune. [40] His first official recordings for Decca followed, under contract to agent MCA, including "Pennies from Heaven" and "Honeysuckle Rose". C Instruments, Bass Clef Instruments, Bb Instruments, Eb Instruments sheet music book by Count Basie : Hal Leonard at Sheet Music Plus. 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. [11] Soon, Basie met many of the Harlem musicians who were "making the scene," including Willie "the Lion" Smith and James P. Johnson. November 14, 2017. Williams remained with Basie until 1960, and even after his departure, the band continued to prosper. Neal Hefti began to provide arrangements, notably "Lil Darlin'". Many musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, the guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison, plunger trombonist Al Grey, and singers Jimmy Rushing, Helen Humes, Thelma Carpenter, and Joe Williams. They paced themselves to save their hottest numbers for later in the show, to give the audience a chance to warm up. Some time in or before 1935, the now single Basie returned to New York City, renting a house at 111 West 138th Street, Manhattan, as evidenced by the 1940 census. Basie also learned from Harlem stride pianists, particularly Fats Waller. Date of birth: August 21, 1904, Red Bank, New Jersey, USA Date and place of death: April 26, 1984, Hollywood, Florida, USA Instrument: Piano; Organ He called Basie "Holy Man", "Holy Main", and just plain "Holy".[36]. April 08, 2017. An important addition to the band in late 1954 was vocalist Joe Williams. Shop and Buy Count Basie - Volume 17 sheet music. By then, Basie was playing with pick-up groups for dances, resorts, and amateur shows, including Harry Richardson's "Kings of Syncopation". Basie liked the results and named the piece "One O'Clock Jump. William Basie was born to Lillian and Harvey Lee Basie in Red Bank, New Jersey. The retooled Basie band of the 1950s was a precision instrument nicknamed "The Basie Machine" by its admirers--a phrase that caught on with the band's detractors as well. [50] In 1939, Basie and his band made a major cross-country tour, including their first West Coast dates. During the interview Count Basie mentions that one of the modern artists he respects the most is Dave Brubeck. As a result, the band was able to leave Kansas City in the fall of 1936 and take up an engagement at the Grand Terrace in Chicago, followed by a date in Buffalo, NY, before coming into Roseland in New York City in December. Piano. Basie is a part of the Big Band Leaders issue, which, is in turn, part of the Legends of American Music series. [77][78], Count Basie introduced several generations of listeners to the Big Band sound and left an influential catalog. Count Basie, like most of the bandleaders who had lived through the glory days of the swing era, had to confront some harsh realities as the 1950s began. Their only child, Diane, was born February 6, 1944. When Moten died in 1935, Basie took over the band and developed it as his own. He also hired arrangers who knew how to maximize the band's abilities, such as Eddie Durham and Jimmy Mundy. Basie is remembered by many who worked for him as being considerate of musicians and their opinions, modest, relaxed, fun-loving, dryly witty, and always enthusiastic about his music. Dance hall bookings were down sharply as swing began to fade, the effects of the musicians' strikes of 1942–44 and 1948 began to be felt, and the public's taste grew for singers. [26] A year later, Basie joined Bennie Moten's band, and played with them until Moten's death in 1935 from a failed tonsillectomy. Who was Count Basie's main piano influence? (Holiday did not record with Basie, as she had her own record contract and preferred working with small combos). The relation of Count Basie with the Rhythm Section trio lasted estimated from 1934 to 1948. He quickly learned to improvise music appropriate to the acts and the silent movies. With Billy Eckstine on the album Basie/Eckstine Incorporated, in 1959. [53] Other minor movie spots followed, including Choo Choo Swing, Crazy House, Top Man, Stage Door Canteen, and Hit Parade of 1943. [72] The Basies bought a home in the new whites-only neighborhood of Addisleigh Park in 1946 on Adelaide Road and 175th Street, St. Albans, Queens. He reformed his group as a 16-piece orchestra in 1952. Late one night with time to fill, the band started improvising. In 2009, Edgecombe Avenue and 160th Street in, "Blues in Hoss' Flat," composed by Basie band member, Since 1963 "The Kid From the Red Bank" has been the theme and, This page was last edited on 15 January 2021, at 12:53. His lengthy career resulted in a large discography spread across all of the major labels and quite a few minor ones as well. [22] But he was able to reform the big band in 1952, responding to increased opportunities for touring. Count Basie Browse our 5 arrangements of "One O'Clock Jump." [34], By then, Basie's sound was characterized by a "jumping" beat and the contrapuntal accents of his own piano. August 21, 2017. He also reached the charts with an album of show tunes, Broadway Basie's ... Way (1966). Another key recording of this period was an instrumental reading of "April in Paris" that made the pop Top 40 and … [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. His first professional work came accompanying vaudeville performers, and he was part of a troupe that broke up in Kansas City in 1927, leaving him stranded there. As with "Willow Weep for Me" (SCCJ II/13), the "A" section of the AABA form sounds deceptively like a blues (because the harmony moves to IV in the fifth bar).32-bar AABA: His mother taught him to play the piano and he started performing in his teens. On the West Coast, in 1942 the band did a spot in Reveille With Beverly, a musical film starring Ann Miller, and a "Command Performance" for Armed Forces Radio, with Hollywood stars Clark Gable, Bette Davis, Carmen Miranda, Jerry Colonna, and the singer Dinah Shore. For a while, he performed in combos, sometimes stretched to an orchestra. After automobiles replaced horses, his father became a groundskeeper and handyman for several wealthy families in the area. His father played the mellophone, and his mother played the piano; in fact, she gave Basie his first piano lessons. [42] The band's first appearance at the Apollo Theater followed, with the vocalists Holiday and Jimmy Rushing getting the most attention. Mechanic Street, where he grew up with his family, has the honorary title of Count Basie Way. Jazz was especially appreciated in France, The Netherlands, and Germany in the 1950s; these countries were the stomping grounds for many expatriate American jazz stars who were either resurrecting their careers or sitting out the years of racial divide in the United States. (HL.843010). August 21, 2018. On February 19, 1940, Count Basie and his Orchestra opened a four-week engagement at Southland in Boston, and they broadcast over the radio on 20 February. She took in laundry and baked cakes for sale for a living. ", American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, Los Angeles and the Cavalcade of Jazz concerts. Basie returned to New York for an extended engagement at the small club the Famous Door in 1938 that really established the band as a success. Count Basie, American jazz musician noted for his spare, economical piano style and for his leadership of influential and widely heralded big bands. It was released by Roulette Records, then later reissued by Capitol Records. 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