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Count Basie, Master of Swing, Dies.

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William James "Count" Basie
August 21, 1904 - April 26, 1984

By JOHN S. WILSON

Count Basie, the jazz pianist whose spare, economic keyboard style and supple rhythmic drive made his orchestra one of the most influential groups of the Big Band era, died of cancer yesterday morning at Doctors' Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. He was 79 years old and lived in Freeport, the Bahamas.

Mr. Basie was, along with Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, one of the pre-eminent bandleaders of the Big Band era in the 1930's and 40's. Mr. Basie's band, more than any other, was the epitome of swing, of jazz that moved with a built-in flowing intensity.

This stemmed primarily from the presence in the rhythm section, from 1937 to the present, of both Mr. Basie on piano and Freddie Green on guitar.

As one critic put it, they "put wheels on all four bars of the beat," creating a smooth rhythmic flow over which Mr. Basie's other instrumentalists rode as though they were on a streamlined cushion. Among his band's best-known numbers were "One O'Clock Jump," "Jumpin' at the Woodside," "Li'l Darlin'" and "April in Paris."

Mr. Basie, a short, stocky, taciturn but witty man who liked to wear a yachting cap offstage, presided over the band at the piano with apparent utmost casualness. He flicked out tightly economical, single-finger passages, directing his musicians with a glance, a lift of an eyebrow or a note hit gently but positively in passing.

His piano style, which often seemed bare and simple, was an exquisitely realized condensation of the florid "stride" style of Fats Waller and James P. Johnson with whom Mr. Basie started.

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The Count's Life in Music

Aug. 21, 1904. Born in Red Bank, N.J.

Early and mid-1920's. Met Fats Waller in Harlem. Joined Gonzel White Show, touring vaudeville act. 

1928. Joined Walter Page's Blue Devils.

1929. Joined Bennie Moten's orchestra. With Moten, Basie made his first records for Victor.

1935. Formed a small band that played at the Reno Club in Kansas City. Heard by the jazz enthusiast John Hammond.

1936. Band was enlarged from nine pieces to 13, went to Chicago and then to New York.

1937. Basie band made its first records for Decca. Made its New York debut at Roseland Ballroom. Stirred up excitement for the first time during a summer engagementat the Famous Door on 52nd Street in New York.

1938. Appeared as guest at Benny Goodman's Carnegie Hall concert.

1950. Gave up big band and formed an octet.

1951. Organized a new big band.

1954. Band made its first tour of Europe.

1976. After suffering heart attack, went into temporary retirement but returned early the following year.

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