Latest Release

- JUN 23, 2023
- Count Basie & His Orchestra Live Buenos Aires 1969 (Restauración 2023)
- 20 Songs
- Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First · 1962
- April In Paris (Expanded Edition) · 1956
- Ella and Basie! · 1963
- April In Paris (Expanded Edition) · 1956
- Count Basie Swings - Joe Williams Sings · 1955
- Our Shining Hour · 1965
- April In Paris (Expanded Edition) · 1956
- Sinatra-Basie: The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings (feat. Count Basie and His Orchestra) · 2011
- April In Paris (Expanded Edition) · 1956
- Arthur Prysock/Count Basie · 1966
Essential Albums
- Sharp arrangements and a killer band enliven this late-career set.
- 2020
Artist Playlists
- Feel the beat of this founding father of swing.
- Joyously hip singles and suave meetings with jazz vocalists.
Singles & EPs
- 1989
- 2023
Appears On
About Count Basie
Born in Red Bank, New Jersey, in 1904, pianist and bandleader William James “Count” Basie was a titan of the big band era. He moved to Harlem in the early 1920s, beginning a musical education that included stints in bands led by Walter Page and Bennie Moten. When the latter died in 1935, Basie took over the group, then billed as the Barons of Rhythm. The following year the group relocated to Chicago, forging a tough sound in which contrapuntal riffs only reinforced their rhythmic ferocity. Under Basie’s guidance the jazz orchestra was transformed into a swing machine fueled by a rhythm section that included drummer Sonny Greer and guitarist Freddie Green and a horn section that over the years boasted Lester Young, Buck Clayton, and Harry “Sweets” Edison. The group reinforced its blues bona fides with singer Jimmy Rushing. They recorded influential sides for Brunswick and Decca between 1937 and 1939, and Columbia between 1936 and 1950. Basie put together an even sleeker, higher-octane version of his orchestra in 1952, who toured the world, making records—including some classics with Frank Sinatra—and carrying on as swing exemplars even after his death in 1984.
- HOMETOWN
- Red Bank, NJ, United States
- BORN
- August 21, 1904