The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra

Pianist and bandleader William James “Count” Basie was and still is an American institution, personifying the grandeur and excellence of jazz. The band’s latest honor is the critically acclaimed release in 2015 of A Very Swingin’ Basie Christmas! the very first holiday album in the 80-year history of the orchestra.

Some of the greatest soloists, composers, arrangers and vocalists in jazz history, including Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Frank Foster, Thad Jones, Sonny Payne, Freddie Green, Snooky Young, Frank Wess and Joe Williams, became international stars once they began working with the legendary Count Basie Orchestra. This great 18-member orchestra is still continuing the excellent history started by Basie of stomping and shouting the blues, as well as refining those musical particulars that allow for the deepest and most moving of swing.

William “Count” Basie was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, in 1904. He started his early playing days working as a silent movie pianist and organist. Eventually, he began working with the Theater Owners Booking Agency (TOBA) circuit, sometimes referred to as the “chitlin’ circuit”, catering primarily to the African- American communities in the South, East and Mid-West. In 1927, while touring with Gonzelle White and the Big Jazz Jamboree, Basie found himself stranded in Kansas City, MO. It was there he would begin to explore his deep love of the blues and meet his future band mates, including bassist Walter Page.

No-host distilled beer and wine and martini bar.

The Count Basie Orchestra mark appears under license from the William J. Basie Trust