Count Basie

Count Basie was an American jazz pianist, bandleader and composer who, after learning piano from his mother in Red Bank, New Jersey, formed the Count Basie Orchestra in 1935 and led it for nearly fifty years. The band became known for its driving rhythm section, its riffing and its use of two tenor saxophones, and soloists such as Lester Young, Freddie Green and Joe Williams rose to prominence under his direction. Basie also wrote jazz standards including One O'Clock Jump, Jumpin' at the Woodside and Blue and Sentimental, and in 1958 he became the first African American recipient of a Grammy Award. In 1974 he was given an honorary doctorate by Berklee College of Music, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom was awarded in 1985. He appeared on screen in Cinderfella (1960) and Blazing Saddles (1974), and died in 1984.