This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 19:11. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. This generation experienced much of their youth during the Great Depression and rapid technological innovation such as the radio and the telephone. [12], Nestico married his second wife, Shirley, in 1995, and was married to her until his death. 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. We will continue to update information on Count Basies parents. Jazz Musician. He eventually relocated the Cherry Blossoms to Chicago, then to New York City. Count Basie, byname of William Basie, (born August 21, 1904, Red Bank, New Jersey, U.S.died April 26, 1984, Hollywood, Florida), American jazz musician noted for his spare, economical piano style and for his leadership of influential and widely heralded big bands. Corrections? In 2021, approximately 3,458,697 deaths occurred in the United States. Charles Mingus dedicated an elegy to Young, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", only a few months after his death. Count Bill Basie . This classic session finds the great tenor in particularly expressive form.[19]. Duffy Jackson, a drummer whose swinging exuberance propelled him from child stardom to a prolific career behind Lionel Hampton, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne and many others, died on Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn. 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. Mr. Basie's wife, Catherine, died in April 1983. William James " Count " Basie ( / besi /; August 21, 1904 - April 26, 1984) [1] was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Young is a major character in English writer Geoff Dyer's 1991 fictional book about jazz, But Beautiful. In the early 1990s after Count Basie's death, leader Frank Foster was auditioning a young drummer for the Basie Band. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. The band flopped at a Pittsburgh hotel that had never booked a jazz band before. Jonathan David Samuel Jones (October 7, 1911 September 3, 1985)[1] was an American jazz drummer. His studio recordings are relatively sparse during the 1942 to 1943 period, largely due to the recording ban by the American Federation of Musicians. Updates? In addition, he played trombone, in the big bands of Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, and Charlie Barnet. 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. It continues . William Basie was born at 229 Mechanic Street on August 21, 1904. He was sometimes known as Papa Jo Jones to distinguish him from younger drummer Philly Joe Jones. 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. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. 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. 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. He was represented at the ceremony by his children Lester Young Jr and Yvette Young.[36]. 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. Oops, we were unable to send the email. 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 . Many of the members, like Lester "Prez" Young, drifted into Basie's orbit around the time of Moten's death in 1935. He recorded with trumpeter Lloyd Hunter's Serenaders in 1931, and later joined pianist Count Basie's band in 1934. Wayne Shorter, then of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, composed a tribute, called "Lester Left Town". William James Basie is part of G.I. There was a problem getting your location. Jones died of pneumonia in New York City at the age of 73. Like many famous people and celebrities, Count Basie kept his personal life private. I wanted those three trumpets and two trombones to bite with real guts. These performances were generally well attended by other drummers such as Max Roach and Roy Haynes. Not loud and fast, understand, but smoothly and with a definite punch.''. Young did not fight the charges and was convicted. It had continued success throughout the war years, but, like all big bands, it had declined in popularity by the end of the 1940s. In August 1944, Young appeared alongside drummer Jo Jones, trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison, and fellow tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet in Gjon Mili's short film Jammin' the Blues. The Count Basie Theatre in Redbank, New Jersey. 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. Basie benefited greatly from his association with Granz and made several recordings during the 70s that rank among his best work. [1] Jones had a major influence on later drummers such as Buddy Rich, Kenny Clarke, Roy Haynes, Max Roach, and Louie Bellson. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. 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. He received an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee College of Music. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [emailprotected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. You never got tired of that business at the end.'' On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. (William) Count Basie (1904-1984) was an extremely popular figure in the jazz world for half a century. He began his professional career as an accompanist on the vaudeville circuit. 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. This is a carousel with slides. [28] Sonny Stitt began to incorporate elements from Lester Young's approach when he made the transition to tenor saxophone. He sold newspapers and shined shoes. The funeral service will be at noon on Monday at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, 132 West 138th Street. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. The work was subsequently adapted for the theater, and was staged in November of that year at the Manhattan Theater Club, New York City, with a four-piece jazz combo led by Dwight Andrews.[33]. The strengths of this sign are being creative, passionate, generous, warm-hearted, cheerful, humorous, while weaknesses can be arrogant, stubborn, self-centered, lazy and inflexible. In 1952 increased demand for personal appearances allowed Basie to form a new orchestra that in many ways was as highly praised as his bands of the 1930s and 40s. Count Basie was a Leo and was born in the G.I. He was famous for being a Pianist. Birth and Death Data: Born August 21st, 1904 (Red Bank . From around 1951, Young's level of playing declined more precipitously as his drinking increased. 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. You can't have a Count Basie collection without going back to the beginning. The initials "G.I." He was sometimes known as Papa Jo Jones to distinguish him from younger . 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. He wrote many books, including The Complete Arranger, which was first published in 1993 and has since been revised and published in at least four languages. 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. First commercially issued collection of Young as band leader. 'No,' I said, 'but I'd give my right arm to learn. [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. The band broadcast from the Reno Club on an experimental radio station. He's not limited to anything. Swing-era bandleader noted for his theme songs One OClock Jump from 1937 and April in Paris from 1932. ''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. I mean, he'll concert you all, and then he'll swing you all, too, you understand, when he's ready to. His experience inspired his composition "D.B. Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. Count Basies birth sign is Leo and he had a ruling planet of Sun. Drummer of the Count Basie Orchestra Passed Away, Obituary Teach World 1.12K. Foster asked the drummer to come back for another audition in six months after the young man had listened to every recording he could find of Sonny Payne drumming with Count Basie. Death rate by cause. [5] He grew up in a musical family. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. [4] Lester had two siblings a brother, Leonidas Raymond, known as Lee Young, who became a drummer, and a sister, Irma Cornelia. Basie studied music with his mother and was later influenced by the Harlem pianists James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, receiving . Page, a bassist, Jimmy Rushing, the blues singer, both of whom would be key members of Mr. Basie's band. [21], This list is incomplete. Live recording of Young and Potts in Washington were issued later. One of the band's most popular arrangements, ''April in Paris,'' was written in 1955 by Wild Bill Davis, a jazz organist who had originally developed it for his own small group. Well, that was the last time I was ever introduced as Bill Basie. When we played pop tunes, and naturally we had to, I wanted those pops to kick! Instrument (s) Drums. In fact, the only reason I enlarged the brass was to get a richer harmonic structure. 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. The pianist Count Basie died at the age of 79. Try again later. In 1979, Jones was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame for his contribution to the Birmingham, Alabama musical heritage. Occupation (s) Musician. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? He thought he could never outmatch Greers talent, so he took up piano at 15. Although they were recorded in New York (in 1938, with a reunion in 1944), they are named after the group, the Kansas City Seven, and comprised Buck Clayton, Dicky Wells, Basie, Young, Freddie Green, Rodney Richardson, and Jo Jones.