Count Basie
William "Count" Basie (1904-1984) grew up in Red Bank, New Jersey, and from an early age, he learned piano from his mother. While still in his teens, he made his way to Harlem to learn from masters of stride piano like James P. Johnson and Fats Waller.
Basie was the first jazz pianist to comp. Comping is when the pianist adds chords between the phrases of the horns. Further, Basie integrated stylistic elements from boogie-woogie into his playing, such as the repeated ostinato A short melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic pattern that is repeated throughout an entire composition or some portion of a composition. in the left hand. Basie and his band codified the Kansas City style, evident in recordings such as "Straight Ahead" and "Lester Leaps In" .
Count Basie
Of all the notables to come to prominence in "KayCee," no one is so universally admired as Basie. Pianist and bandleader Basie developed a more relaxed, swinging style of jazz by paring down the Fletcher Henderson style. Basie's style featured more solos, as well as more short-riff call-and-response between the reeds and brass. More than anyone else, Basie popularized this Kansas City style of swing.
Basie performed in and around New York for several years, and he also toured as a solo pianist and accompanist for blues singers on the vaudeville circuits. That's how Basie found himself stranded in Kansas City in 1927. He found work there playing piano for silent movies and, within a year, was invited to join Walter Page's Blue Devils. The following year he became a member of Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra.
After Moten died suddenly in 1935, Basie organized a group called the Barons of Rhythm, which included many of his bandmates from Moten's orchestra. He landed an engagement at the Reno Club, one of KayCee's most popular nightspots, a gig that soon brought his band to the attention of New York booking and recording agents. Within a year, the Count Basie Orchestra played at the Roseland Ballroom in New York. It began a long and successful recording career that would elevate his orchestra to the top tier of big band orchestras nationwide.
Don't Worry 'Bout Me
Don't worry 'bout me Forget about me
Just be happy my love
A-Tisket A-Tasket
A-tisket a-tasket
A green-and-yellow basket
I bought a basket for my mommie
On the way I dropped it