Count Basie
~ Person
Annotation
Pianist whose blues-based swing band, the Count Basie Orchestra, emerged from Kansas City in the 1930s to become one of the most important jazz bands of all time. Basie also made a few small-group recordings under the name Kansas City Seven.
Wikipedia
William "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. His mother first taught him piano and he started performing in his teens. Dropping out of school, he learned to operate lights for vaudeville and to improvise accompaniment for silent films at a local movie theater in his town of Red Bank, New Jersey. By 16, he increasingly played jazz piano at parties, resorts and other venues. In 1924, he went to Harlem, where his performing career expanded; he toured with groups to the major jazz cities of Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City. In 1929 he joined Bennie Moten's band in Kansas City, and played with them until Moten's death in 1935.
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Discography
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