Basie, Count

A twentieth-century African-American jazz pianist and bandleader. His real first name was William. Count Basie was known particularly for the “Big Band” sound that was popular in the 1930s and 1940s.

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He loved the swing music played by big bands, and his heroes included Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Earl Hines.

Musicians such as Charlie Parker, Count Basie, and Lester Young exuded the aura of outsider-as-insider.

You had Sinatra; you had Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holliday; you had Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzie Gillespie, Miles Davis.

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