Though a natural at the piano, Basie preferred drums. He quickly learned to improvise music appropriate to the acts and the silent movies. He finished junior high school but spent much of his time at the Palace Theater in Red Bank, where doing occasional chores gained him free admission to performances. The best student in school, Basie dreamed of a traveling life, inspired by touring carnivals which came to town.

She paid 25 cents a lesson for Count Basie's piano instruction. She took in laundry and baked cakes for sale for a living. His father played the mellophone, and his mother played the piano in fact, she gave Basie his first piano lessons. Both of his parents had some type of musical background. After automobiles replaced horses, his father became a groundskeeper and handyman for several wealthy families in the area. His father worked as a coachman and caretaker for a wealthy judge. William Basie was born to Lillian and Harvey Lee Basie in Red Bank, New Jersey. 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.īiography Early life and education 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. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. William James ' Count' Basie ( / ˈ b eɪ s i/ August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer.

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