Count Basie AKA William Allen Basie Born: 21-Aug - 1904 Birthplace: Red Bank, NJ Died: 26-Apr - 1984 Location of death: Hollywood, FL Cause of death: Cancer - Pancreatic Remains: Buried, Pinelawn Memorial Park, Farmingdale, NY Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: Black Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Pianist, Jazz Musician The broadcast was picked up one night by John Hammond, the jazz enthusiast who had discovered Billie Holiday and helped Benny Goodman start his band. Live. Many of Basies albums of the 70s were Grammy Award winners or nominees. His daughter, Diane Basie, now 71 and living in Florida. In addition, he played trombone, in the big bands of Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, and Charlie Barnet. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. During a radio broadcast of the band's performance, the announcer wanted to give Basie's name some pizazz, keeping in mind the existence of other bandleaders like .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Duke Ellington and Earl Hines. The best-known of these appearances is the July 1957 performance at the Newport Jazz Festival, with a line-up including many of his 1940s colleagues: Jo Jones, Roy Eldridge, Illinois Jacquet and Jimmy Rushing. Death rate from cardiovascular disease. [12], Nestico wrote hundreds of arrangements for school band and jazz band programs. This classic session finds the great tenor in particularly expressive form.[19]. The story of Count Basie is very much the story of the great jazz band that he led for close to 50 years (1935-1984), an orchestra with a distinctive . Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Count Basie (1664)? The greatest overall compatibility with Leo is Aquarius, Gemini. During childhood, Sammy Americanized his name to Samuel Louis Nestico. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. One of jazz music's all-time greats, he won many other Grammys throughout his career and worked with a plethora of artists, including Joe Williams and Ella Fitzgerald. [20] His second was to Mary Dale. This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates. As one Basie band member put it, Count dont do nothin. Family members linked to this person will appear here. Beware, the Count is Here. Try again later. He was represented at the ceremony by his children Lester Young Jr and Yvette Young.[36]. Jones performed regularly in later years at the West End jazz club at 116th and Broadway in New York City. Red Bank, Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA. When is Count Basies birthday? Year should not be greater than current year. It was on one of these broadcasts that Bill Basie became Count Basie. Zodiac Sign: Count Basie was a Leo. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. It was a reunion with Holiday, with whom he had lost contact over the years. Biography - A Short Wiki Swing-era bandleader noted for his theme songs One O'Clock Jump from 1937 and April in Paris from 1932. [12], Nestico married his second wife, Shirley, in 1995, and was married to her until his death. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Nestico is best known for his arrangements for the Count Basie orchestra. Death rate from chronic respiratory diseases. Paul Quinichette modeled his style so closely on Young's that he was sometimes referred to as the "Vice Prez" (sic). [6], In 1933, Young settled in Kansas City, where after playing briefly in several bands, he rose to prominence with Count Basie. [21][22] Both hold a PhD in Education, according to drummer Roy Haynes, who was interviewed as part of an attempt to create a film biography of Young. The band flopped at a Pittsburgh hotel that had never booked a jazz band before. Mr. Basie's wife, Catherine, died in April 1983. As a result, the band got a date at the Grand Terrace in Chicago. This account has been disabled. He directed music programs at Los Angeles Pierce College, Woodland Hills, California, Westinghouse Memorial High School, and Wilmerding, Pennsylvania. 1956 was a relatively good year for Lester Young, including a tour of Europe with Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Quartet and a successful residency at Olivia Davis' Patio Lounge in Washington, DC, with the Bill Potts Trio. 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]. Birth and Death Data: Born August 21st, 1904 (Red Bank . Holiday always insisted their relationship was strictly platonic. ' (Count Basie), I, of course, wanted to play real jazz. [9] One of Young's key influences was Frankie Trumbauer, who came to prominence in the 1920s with Paul Whiteman and played the C-melody saxophone (between the alto and tenor in pitch).[10]. He subsequently led a number of small groups that often included his brother, drummer Lee Young, for the next couple of years; live and broadcast recordings from this period exist. Some of their notable songs included "One O'Clock Jump"the orchestra's signature tune which Basie composed himself and "Jumpin' at the Woodside.". The 1950s band showcased the sound and style Basie was to employ for the remainder of his career, although there were to be occasionaland successfulexperiments such as Afrique (1970), an album of African rhythms and avant-garde compositions that still managed to remain faithful to the overall Basie sound. George Wein, producer of the festival, announced yesterday that this year's festival would be dedicated to Mr. Basie and that the June 30 program would be enlarged as a ''Salute to Count Basie.''. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. When we played pop tunes - and, naturally, we had to - I wanted those pops to kick! He conducted and recorded his arrangements with several leading European Radio Jazz Orchestras, including the BBC Big Band in London, Germany's SWR Big Band and NDR Big Band and the DR Big Band, as well as the Boston Pops Orchestra in America. Among his band's best-known numbers were ''One O'Clock Jump,'' ''Jumpin' at the Woodside,'' ''Li'l Darlin' '' and ''April in Paris.''. [1] Jones had a major influence on later drummers such as Buddy Rich, Kenny Clarke, Roy Haynes, Max Roach, and Louie Bellson. Young is a major character in English writer Geoff Dyer's 1991 fictional book about jazz, But Beautiful. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Count Basie I found on Findagrave.com. Whereas other pianists were noted for technical flash and dazzling dexterity, Basie was known for his use of silence and for reducing his solo passages to the minimum amount of notes required for maximum emotional and rhythmic effect. Please reset your password. when asking how much a gig was going to pay.[31]. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. . During his career, Nestico composed, arranged, or conducted albums for musicians and singers including Quincy Jones, Phil Collins, Barbra Streisand, Michael Buble, Natalie Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Toni Tennille, Frank Sinatra, and Bing Crosby. To help it through the Grand Terrace engagement, Fletcher Henderson, who had provided Benny Goodman with the arrangements that enabled his band to break through a year earlier, lent Mr. Basie some of his arrangements. Early "in person" recordings. 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. For a smaller band, the Savoy Sultans had a great swing thing going. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Ronald McFadden, consummate entertainer, tap dancer and musician, died unexpectedly this week, shortly after a performance in downtown Kansas City. He was also honored by ASMAC and the Big Band Academy of America. ', ''The next day he invited me to sit in the pit and start working the pedals. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. 24 part "Interview with Lester Young", conducted in the 1950s. A group that included some Basie sidemen was on stage, playing in a ragged, desultory fashion, when Mr. Basie arrived. Basie played the vaudevillian circuit for a time until he got stuck in Kansas City, Missouri in the mid-1920s after his performance group disbanded. In 1952 he was featured on Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio, released in 1954 on Norgran. He later worked for a few years with a band led by Bennie Moten, who died in 1935. 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. Then he said, 'Bill, I think I'll call you Count Basie from now on. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. He's not limited to anything. Nestico continued to provide arrangements for Basie until Basie's death in 1984, and four of Nestico's collaborations with Basie earned Grammy . Are you sure that you want to remove this flower? Throughout the 1940s and 50s, Young occasionally played as a featured guest with the Count Basie Orchestra. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. [1] He participated in the Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series.[1]. ''He commented that Bill Basie was a rather ordinary name and that there were a couple of well-known bandleaders named Earl Hines and Duke Ellington. Straub was inspired by Young's appearance on the 1957 CBS-TV show The Sound of Jazz, which he watched repeatedly, wondering how such a genius could have ended up "this present shambles, this human wreckage, hardly able to play at all". The Count Basie Theatre in Redbank, New Jersey. A few of his songs were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as well, including "April in Paris" and "Everyday I Have the Blues.". He originally wanted to be a drummer, but he grew up near Sonny Greer, who would become Duke Ellington s legendary drummer in 1919. (William) Count Basie (1904-1984) was an extremely popular figure in the jazz world for half a century. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. He also received a distinguished alumni award from Duquesne, and in 1994 was inducted into Duquesne's "Century Club". When Bennie Moten died in 1935, the band disintegrated and Mr. Basie organized a small band to play at the Reno Club in Kansas City that became the nucleus of the band with which he gained his initial fame. JUMP TO: Count Basies biography, facts, family, personal life, zodiac, videos and related celebs. Add to your scrapbook. ). Here is all you want to know, and more! He got used to seeing me, as though I were part of the show. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. 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. So he called the pianist "Count," with Basie not realizing just how much the name would catch on as a form of recognition and respect in the music world. The early Basie band was also noted for its legendary soloists and outstanding rhythm section. He was famous for being a Pianist. [11] He soon left Henderson to play in the Andy Kirk band (for six months) before returning to Basie. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced. For a year he played piano accompaniment to silent movies and then joined Walter Page's Blue Devils in Tulsa, Okla., a band that included, in addition to Mr. Basie began his career as a stride pianist, reflecting the influence of Johnson and Waller, but the style most associated with him was characterized by spareness and precision. Basie benefited greatly from his association with Granz and made several recordings during the 70s that rank among his best work. Duffy Jackson, with bassist Jim Furgeson, at Rudy's Jazz Room in Nashville. Lena Horne, Stevie Wonder, Joe Williams, Oscar Peterson and Quincy Jones were among the stars to pay tribute. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Count Basie, the jazz pianist whose spare, economic keyboard style and supple rhythmic drive made his orchestra one of the most influential groups of the Big Band era, died of cancer yesterday. "[27] Holiday died four months later on July 17, 1959 at age 44. Lester married three times. It featured such jazzmen as tenor saxophonists Lester Young (regarded by many as the premier tenor player in jazz history) and Herschel Evans, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry Sweets Edison, and trombonists Benny Morton and Dicky Wells. The pianist Count Basie died at the age of 79. "[4][9], After leaving the military, Nestico became a freelance arranger. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? This stemmed primarily from the presence in the rhythm section, from 1937 to the present, of both Mr. Basie on piano and Freddie Green on guitar. [1], Samuel Luigi Nistico was born on February 6, 1924, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Luigi Nistico, an Italian immigrant, and Frances Mangone. Courtesy of the artist. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. Young did not fight the charges and was convicted. Jazz Musician. This generation experienced much of their youth during the Great Depression and rapid technological innovation such as the radio and the telephone. [1] He worked as a drummer and tap-dancer at carnival shows until joining Walter Page's band, the Blue Devils in Oklahoma City in the late 1920s. While he recuperated his band continued to fulfill engagements, frequently with Nat Pierce taking Mr. Basie's place at the piano and sometimes with guest conductors such as the trumpeter Clark Terry, who was a member of the Basie band in the 1940's. Unlike many white musicians, who were placed in band outfits such as the ones led by Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw, Young was assigned to the regular army where he was not allowed to play his saxophone. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. The Basie band played at President John F. Kennedy's inaugural ball, and in 1965 toured with Frank Sinatra. William James " Count " Basie ( / besi /; August 21, 1904 - April 26, 1984) [1] was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. cemeteries found in East Farmingdale, Suffolk County, New York, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Count Basie was an extremely popular figure in the jazz world for half a century. We have set your language to During the 1940's, many of the great jazz musicians of the decade passed through the band, among them Illinois Jacquet, Don Byas, Wardell Gray, Paul Quinichette, Lucky Thompson, J. J. Johnson, Paul Gonsalves and Clark Terry. Discover what happened on this day. [21], This list is incomplete. He had three sons with his first wife. 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. (Sorry I could . Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? is military terminology referring to "Government Issue" or "General Issue". From Bill to Count. In 1981 OyamO (Charles F. Gordon) published the book The Resurrection of Lady Lester, subtitled "A Poetic Mood Song Based on the Legend of Lester Young", depicting Young's life. [1] The two died only a few days apart. Cholera deaths in Great Britain over the long-term. This three-CD compilation celebrates the band's legendary Decca studio recordings made in New York when it was a hard-driving swing outfit on its way to becoming an American institution. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. Thanks for your help! His alma mater later awarded him with an honorary Doctor of Music degree and the Distinguished Alumni award. The top global causes of death, in order of total number of lives lost, are associated with three broad topics: cardiovascular (ischaemic heart disease, stroke), respiratory (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lower respiratory infections) and neonatal conditions - which include birth asphyxia and birth trauma, neonatal sepsis and infections, and preterm birth complications. Death rate by cause. Page, a bassist, Jimmy Rushing, the blues singer, both of whom would be key members of Mr. Basie's band. In the early 1990s after Count Basie's death, leader Frank Foster was auditioning a young drummer for the Basie Band. I decided that I would be one of the biggest new names; and I actually had some little fancy business cards printed up to announce it, Count Basie. [8] Drummer of the Count Basie Orchestra Passed Away, Obituary Teach World 1.12K. He emerged from this treatment improved. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. By then a series of records by the Basie band had begun appearing (under a contract with Decca Records by which Mr. Basie was paid a total of $750 for 24 sides with no royalties - ''probably the most expensive blunder in Basie's history,'' said Mr. Hammond) that included hit after hit - ''Swingin' the Blues,'' ''Jumpin' at the Woodside,'' ''One O'Clock Jump'' (his theme) and many others now considered jazz classics. Jazz critic and record producer John Hammond heard the broadcasts and promptly launched the band on its career. [7] Young left the family band in 1927 at the age of 18 because he refused to tour in the Southern United States, where Jim Crow laws were in effect and racial segregation was required in public facilities. While he was in his late teens, he gravitated to Harlem, where he encountered Fats Waller. Despite the presence of Lester Young and Herschel Evans in the saxophone section, Buck Clayton in the trumpet section, Jo Jones on drums, with Jimmy Rushing and, briefly, Billie Holiday as vocalists, the Basie band struggled for a year after it left Kansas City. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. standing for detention barracks).[16]. Meanwhile, keep on listening and tapping your feet. (Count Basie), Well, if you find a note tonight that sounds good, play the same damn note every night! (Count Basie), Copyright 2023 /The Celebrity Deaths.com/All Rights Reserved. Jones was the 1985 recipient of an American Jazz Masters fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts. This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 19:11. As orchestrator, he worked on nearly seventy television programs, including Mission: Impossible,[11] Mannix, M*A*S*H,[13] Charlie's Angels,[14] and The Mod Squad. Lester Young also had a direct influence on the young Charlie Parker, and thus the entire be-bop movement. Count Bill Basie . Resend Activation Email. ''And that's when the whole fire started,'' said Mr. Alexander. People of this zodiac sign like to be admired, expensive things, bright colors, and dislike being ignored, facing difficulties, not being treated specially. 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. Recorded on a home recorder. This page is updated often with latest details about Count Basie. He left home permanently in 1932 when he became a member of the Blue Devils led by Walter Page. Young played clarinet as well as tenor in these sessions. [5] He grew up in a musical family. Not loud and fast, understand, but smoothly and with a definite punch.''. 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. 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. He recorded less often with his big band during this era (although when he did, the results were outstanding), concentrating instead on small-group and piano-duet recordings. Oops, something didn't work. To use this feature, use a newer browser. While with Basie, Young made small-group recordings for Milt Gabler's Commodore Records, The Kansas City Sessions. Bookmark this page and come back often for updates. As one critic put it, they ''put wheels on all four bars of the beat,'' creating a smooth rhythmic flow over which Mr. Basie's other instrumentalists rode as though they were on a streamlined cushion. [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. [15] He also worked as an arranger for the 81st Academy Awards, as well as some Grammy Awards. Learn more about managing a memorial . Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. [4][9][10][11][12], Nestico had a long career in the film and television industry. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). Count Basie, the jazz pianist whose spare, economic keyboard style and supple rhythmic drive made his orchestra one of the most influential groups of the Big Band era, died of cancer yesterday morning at Doctors' Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. 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. 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. 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. Young was the subject of an opera, Prez: A Jazz Opera, that was written by Bernard Cash and Alan Plater and broadcast by BBC television in 1985. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. In contrast to many of his hard-driving peers, Young played with a relaxed, cool tone and used sophisticated . He eventually relocated the Cherry Blossoms to Chicago, then to New York City. For many of the other participants, the photo shoot was the last time they saw him alive; he was the first musician in the famous photo to pass away. Failed to report flower. During 1950 and 51, economy forced Basie to front an octet, the only period in his career in which he did not lead a big band. Generation. Fletcher Henderson's band was playing at the Grand Terrace just before the Basie band arrived there. He was sometimes known as Papa Jo Jones to distinguish him from younger . [8] He became a member of the Bostonians, led by Art Bronson, and chose tenor saxophone over alto as his primary instrument. Young's career after World War II was far more prolific and lucrative than in the pre-war years in terms of recordings made, live performances, and annual income. Whos the richest Pianist in the world? 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. 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). 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. 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. Known as Papa Jo Jones in his later years, he is sometimes confused with another influential jazz drummer, Philly Joe Jones. 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.