Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
William James "Count" Basie (/ ˈ b eɪ s i /; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) [1] was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording.
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. Despite a brief disbandment at the beginning of the 1950s, the band survived long past the big band era itself and the death of Basie in 1984.
From Count Basie’s autobiography (published in 1985): “Butch came to us from Mel Torme’s outfit. He was a real crowd pleaser, like Buddy Rich and Sonny Payne , and he picked up on things very nicely, and he was also interested in sticking around for a while, which he did, for about four years.”
In 1984 the building was renamed as the Count Basie Theatre, in memorial to William “Count” Basie who had died that year. The Monmouth County Arts Council operated the theater until June 30, 1999, when the not-for-profit corporation Count Basie Theatre, Inc. managed, program, and preserve the theater.
Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist.. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most influential players on his instrument.
Quincy Jones, the man known simply as "Q," was a huge influence on American music in his work with artists ranging from Count Basie to Frank Sinatra and reshaped pop music in his collaborations ...
Jones was a titan of the music industry, with a seven-decade career that saw him win 28 Grammy Awards and work with musicians ranging from Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra to Count Basie and ...
Joe Williams (born Joseph Goreed; December 12, 1918 – March 29, 1999) was an American jazz singer. He sang with big bands, such as the Count Basie Orchestra and the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, and with small combos.