There was a memorable concert at Town Hall several years ago when a number of musicians, including Mr. Basie, were scheduled to perform in a variety of combinations. At a White House reception, President Reagan said that Mr. Basie was ''among the handful of musicians that helped change the path of American music in the 30's and the 40's'' and that he had ''revolutionized jazz.''. Recordings made during this and subsequent periods suggest Young was beginning to make much greater use of a plastic reed, which tended to give his playing a somewhat heavier, breathier tone (although still quite smooth compared to that of many other players). He thought he could never outmatch Greers talent, so he took up piano at 15. Count Basies birth sign is Leo and he had a ruling planet of Sun. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Search above to list available cemeteries. Finally, Willard Alexander, a booking agent, in an effort to get the band on 52d Street, then the jazz center of New York, made a deal with the Famous Door, a shoebox of a room, 25 feet wide and about 50 feet long, which was having trouble doing business in the summer because it had no air-conditioning. [23] On January 31, 2008, Sady Sullivan conducted an oral history interview with Dr. Lester W. Young Jr.[24] At approximately 1:10:00 he speaks about his father, listening to jazz, learning to play, and how having a famous father did not convey any favours. That year Norman Granz gave him one and urged him to play it (with far different results at that stage in Young's lifesee below). [4][17], Nestico also had a career in music education, teaching at the University of Georgia from 1998 to 1999, where he taught orchestration and conducted the studio orchestra; after which he retired to Carlsbad, California, near San Diego. Lena Horne, Stevie Wonder, Joe Williams, Oscar Peterson and Quincy Jones were among the stars to pay tribute. 'No,' I said, 'but I'd give my right arm to learn. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? From 1935 to his death in 1984, pianist and bandleader Count Basie led one of the most important jazz institutions of the 20th century, in the process forging a distinctive sound that changed the . In 1952 he was featured on Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio, released in 1954 on Norgran. In January 1956, he recorded two Granz-produced sessions including a reunion with pianist Teddy Wilson, trumpet player Roy Eldridge, trombonist Vic Dickenson, bassist Gene Ramey, and drummer Jo Jones which were issued as The Jazz Giants '56 and Pres and Teddy albums. Weve updated the security on the site. In the 1986 film Round Midnight, the fictional main character Dale Turner, played by Dexter Gordon, was partly based on Young incorporating flashback references to his army experiences, and loosely depicting his time in Paris and his return to New York just before his death. Due to changing fortunes and an altered musical landscape, Basie was forced to scale down the size of his orchestra at the start of the 1950s, but he soon made a comeback and returned to his big-band structure in 1952, recording new hits with vocalist Joe Williams and becoming an international figure. Death rate from Alzheimer's. Death rate from cancer. His second great band, from the 1950s onwards, relied more on arrangements, typically from Neil Hefti and Ernie Wilkin's. As a pianist Basie. is military terminology referring to "Government Issue" or "General Issue". Jones's style influenced the modern jazz drummer's tendency to play timekeeping rhythms on a cymbal, that is now known as the ride cymbal. He is rumored to have refused to play with the band on Friday, December 13 of that year for superstitious reasons, spurring his dismissal[11] although Young and drummer Jo Jones would later state that his departure had been in the works for months. He was one of the greatest bandleaders of all-time, epitomizing the jazz of south-western America. In 1937 Basie took his group, Count Basie and His Barons of Rhythm, to New York to record their first album with Decca Records under their new name, The Count Basie Orchestra. Generation also known as The Greatest Generation. From that time on, I was a daily customer, hanging onto every note, sitting behind him all the time. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? Please check back soon for updates. During his last years, he had difficulty walking and rode out on the stage on a motorized wheelchair which he sometimes drove with joyful abandon. Charles Mingus dedicated an elegy to Young, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", only a few months after his death. In 1963, he switched to the Marines and became director and arranger of the United States Marine Band, where he served under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. I mean, he'll concert you all, and then he'll swing you all, too, you understand, when he's ready to. JUMP TO: Count Basies biography, facts, family, personal life, zodiac, videos and related celebs. For a smaller band, the Savoy Sultans had a great swing thing going. He began working as an arranger for Count Basie in 1967, and wrote and arranged all the music for Basie's 1968 LP Basie Straight Ahead. Basie studied music with his mother and was later influenced by the Harlem pianists James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, receiving informal tutelage on the organ from the latter. Lester Young also had a direct influence on the young Charlie Parker, and thus the entire be-bop movement. Not loud and fast, understand, but smoothly and with a definite punch. [1] Jones, Basie, guitarist Freddie Green and bassist Walter Page were sometimes billed as an "All-American Rhythm section," an ideal team. Mr. Basie and his orchestra were scheduled to appear at the Kool Jazz Festival on June 30 in a program that would reunite them with many of the jazz stars who have passed through the Basie band. Arrangers Neal Hefti, Buster Harding, and Ernie Wilkins defined the new bands sound on recordings such as Lil Darlin, The Kid from Red Bank, Cute, and April in Paris and on celebrated albums such as The Atomic Mr. Basie (1957). It was a loose and swinging band, built around distinctively individualistic solos by Lester Young, Herschel Evans, Buddy Tate, Buck Clayton, Harry Edison, Dickie Wells, Vic Dickenson and, primarily, Mr. Basie himself. This browser does not support getting your location. [28] Sonny Stitt began to incorporate elements from Lester Young's approach when he made the transition to tenor saxophone. [4][7], Beginning in 1982, Nestico began releasing solo albums, with Dark Orchid" as his debut album. Another cause for the thickening of his tone around this time was a change in saxophone mouthpiece from a metal Otto Link to an ebonite Brilhart. Ronald McFadden, consummate entertainer, tap dancer and musician, died unexpectedly this week, shortly after a performance in downtown Kansas City. Throughout the 1960s, Basies recordings were often uninspired and marred by poor choice of material, but he remained an exceptional concert performer and made fine records with singers Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Frank Sinatra. Mr. Alexander agreed to lend the club $2,500 to install an air-conditioner if it would book the Basie band. Try again later. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. Red Bank, Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA. He left home permanently in 1932 when he became a member of the Blue Devils led by Walter Page. Causes of deaths for children between 5 and 14. His experience inspired his composition "D.B. From Bill to Count. Blues" (with D.B. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. His father was a student of the mellophone, and his mother was a pianist. The jazz pianist George Shearing said that Mr. Basie's greatest trademark was the three sweet, soft notes that ended many of his great swing-era compositions. [12], Nestico wrote hundreds of arrangements for school band and jazz band programs. Thanks for your help! Along with Duke Ellington, Count Basie is regarded as one of the two most important and influential bandleaders in the history of jazz. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, Young occasionally played as a featured guest with the Count Basie Orchestra. Singer Joe Williams, whose authoritative, blues-influenced vocals can be heard on hit recordings such as Every Day I Have the Blues and Alright, Okay, You Win, was also a major component in the bands success. Count Basie Birth Name: William James Basie Occupation: Pianist Place Of Birth: Red Bank Date Of Birth: August21, 1904 Date Of Death: April 26, 1984 Cause Of Death: N/A Ethnicity: Black Nationality: American Count Basie was born on the 21st of August, 1904. Oops, something didn't work. '', Soloists were less prominent in this second edition of the Basie band although it included some of the major jazz musicians of the post-50's years, such as Thad Jones, Joe Newman, Al Grey, Eddie (Lockjaw) Davis, Frank Wess, Jimmy Forrest and the blues singer Joe Williams. His autobiography (as told to Albert Murray), entitled Rifftide: The Life and Opinions of Papa Jo Jones and based on conversations between Jones and novelist Murray from 1977 to before Jones' death in 1985, was posthumously published in 2011 by the University of Minnesota Press.[2]. He later worked for a few years with a band led by Bennie Moten, who died in 1935. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. One night, while the band was broadcasting on a shortwave radio station in Kansas City, he was dubbed Count Basie by a radio announcer who wanted to indicate his standing in a class with aristocrats of jazz such as Duke Ellington. There was a problem getting your location. He began working as an arranger for Count Basie in 1967, and wrote and arranged all the music for Basie's 1968 LP Basie Straight Ahead. Discover what happened on this day. Though rooted in the riff style of the 1930s swing-era big bands, the Basie orchestra played with the forceful drive and carefree swing of a small combo. One of jazz music's all-time greats, bandleader-pianist Count Basie was a primary shaper of the big-band sound that characterized mid-20th century popular music. GREAT NEWS! These performances were generally well attended by other drummers such as Max Roach and Roy Haynes. Click to reveal Wayne Shorter, then of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, composed a tribute, called "Lester Left Town". After some challenges, the Count Basie Orchestra had a slew of hits that helped to define the big-band sound of the 1930s and '40s. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. I said the minute the brass got out of hand and blared and screeched instead of making every note mean something, there'd be some changes made. ', ''The next day he invited me to sit in the pit and start working the pedals. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced. Mr. Hammond spread the word about the Basie band, went to Kansas City to hear it and support it and brought it to the attention of booking agents. A group that included some Basie sidemen was on stage, playing in a ragged, desultory fashion, when Mr. Basie arrived. But the obvious talents of another young Red Bank drummer, Sonny Greer, who was Duke Ellington's drummer from 1919 to 1951, discouraged young Basie and he switched to piano. Please reset your password. He started out to be a drummer. Allmusic's Scott Yanow, reviewing one of the albums, Pres and Teddy, commented: Although it has been written much too often that Lester Young declined rapidly from the mid-'40s on, the truth is that when he was healthy, Young played at his very best during the '50s, adding an emotional intensity to his sound that had not been present during the more carefree days of the '30s. Basie decided to form a medium-sized band in 1950, juggling combinations of all-star . During this period Young accompanied the singer Billie Holiday in a couple of studio sessions (19371941) and also made a small set of recordings with Nat "King" Cole (their first of several collaborations) in June 1942. The Gonzel White show was stranded in Kansas City, Mo., a fateful location for Mr. Basie. Early "in person" recordings. Fresh out of Kansas City, the Basie band took Manhattan by storm in 1937. Basie is a member of the New Jersey Hall of Fame as well as the Blues Hall of Fame. In addition, he played trombone, in the big bands of Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, and Charlie Barnet. His playing showed reliance on a small number of clichd phrases and reduced creativity and originality, despite his claims that he did not want to be a "repeater pencil" (Young coined this phrase to describe the act of repeating one's own past ideas). At the time of his death, a feature-length documentary film titled Shadow Man: The Sammy Nestico Story was in production. 24 part "Interview with Lester Young", conducted in the 1950s. See the article in its original context from. The pianist Count Basie died at the age of 79. He was a big force in music.''. Stranded in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1927, Basie remained there and eventually (in 1935) assumed the leadership of a nine-piece band composed of former members of the Walter Page and Bennie Moten orchestras. His father was a teacher and band leader. Well, that was the last time I was ever introduced as Bill Basie. People who are born with the Sun as the ruling planet are courageous, self-expressive and bold. While with Basie, Young made small-group recordings for Milt Gabler's Commodore Records, The Kansas City Sessions. After earning his degree, Nestico then returned to the military, where he arranged music for the United States Air Force Band (19501963), as well as leading the Glenn Miller Army Air Corps dance band, which would later become known as the Airmen of Note.