count basie cause of death

Courtesy of the artist. He was also honored by ASMAC and the Big Band Academy of America. 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. While he was in his late teens, he gravitated to Harlem, where he encountered Fats Waller. With Count Basie Well, that was the last time I was ever introduced as Bill Basie. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. Count Bill Basie . The Blue Devils was the first big band I ever had a chance to get close to and really listen to, and it was the greatest thing I had ever heard. Gradually, member by member, the Count Basie Orchestra was born, and . On December 8, 1957, Young appeared with Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, and Gerry Mulligan in the CBS television special The Sound of Jazz, performing Holiday's tune "Fine and Mellow." Early "in person" recordings. GREAT NEWS! During childhood, Sammy Americanized his name to Samuel Louis Nestico. One of jazz music's all-time greats, he won many other Grammys throughout his career and worked with a plethora of artists, including Joe Williams and Ella Fitzgerald. [12], Nestico married his second wife, Shirley, in 1995, and was married to her until his death. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. ''I had dropped into the old Lincoln Theater in Harlem,'' Mr. Basie once recalled, ''and I heard a young fellow beating it out on an organ. Jazz Stars in the Band. His second great band, from the 1950s onwards, relied more on arrangements, typically from Neil Hefti and Ernie Wilkin's. As a pianist Basie. Not loud and fast, understand, but smoothly and with a definite punch.''. Nestico is best known for his arrangements for the Count Basie orchestra. Billie and Lester met at a Harlem jam session in the early 30s and worked together in the Count Basie band and in nightclubs on New York's 52nd St. At one point Lester moved into the apartment Billie shared with her mother, Sadie Fagan. Please try again later. Among his band's best-known numbers were ''One O'Clock Jump,'' ''Jumpin' at the Woodside,'' ''Li'l Darlin' '' and ''April in Paris.''. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. His playing showed reliance on a small number of clichd phrases and reduced creativity and originality, despite his claims that he did not want to be a "repeater pencil" (Young coined this phrase to describe the act of repeating one's own past ideas). Sorry! ' (Count Basie), I, of course, wanted to play real jazz. He was 67. He became an accompanist to the blues singers Clara Smith and Maggie Jones and he worked in a 14th Street dance hall. But the obvious talents of another young Red Bank drummer, Sonny Greer, who was Duke Ellington's drummer from 1919 to 1951, discouraged young Basie and he switched to piano. Basie studied music with his mother and was later influenced by the Harlem pianists James P. Johnson and Fats Waller, receiving . He recorded with trumpeter Lloyd Hunter's Serenaders in 1931, and later joined pianist Count Basie's band in 1934. His alma mater later awarded him with an honorary Doctor of Music degree and the Distinguished Alumni award. [1] The two died only a few days apart. Mr. Hammond spread the word about the Basie band, went to Kansas City to hear it and support it and brought it to the attention of booking agents. Updates? Fresh out of Kansas City, the Basie band took Manhattan by storm in 1937. Please reset your password. Cholera deaths in Great Britain over the long-term. Although they were recorded in New York (in 1938, with a reunion in 1944), they are named after the group, the Kansas City Seven, and comprised Buck Clayton, Dicky Wells, Basie, Young, Freddie Green, Rodney Richardson, and Jo Jones. Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 - March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist.. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most influential players on his instrument. This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. A group that included some Basie sidemen was on stage, playing in a ragged, desultory fashion, when Mr. Basie arrived. When we played pop tunes, and naturally we had to, I wanted those pops to kick! It was a reunion with Holiday, with whom he had lost contact over the years. He received awards from North Texas State University in 1978, 1979, and 1980. In 1981, Mr. Basie was honored along with Cary Grant, Helen Hayes and other stars as a recipient of Washington's Kennedy Center honors for achievement in the performing arts. He wrote many books, including The Complete Arranger, which was first published in 1993 and has since been revised and published in at least four languages. Played for Kennedy and Reagan. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Corrections? Death rate from Alzheimer's. Death rate from cancer. Young's playing style influenced many other tenor saxophonists, including Stan Getz, as well as Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Warne Marsh, as well as baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and alto saxophonists Lee Konitz, and Paul Desmond. recording ban by the American Federation of Musicians, Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio, The President Plays with the Oscar Peterson Trio, Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia, "Lester 'Pres' Young in Minneapolis: The Formative Years", "Frankie Trumbauer - Biography & History", "Lester Young - Biography, Albums, & Streaming Radio - AllMusic", "Stories of Standards: Lester Leaps In by Lester Young", "Lester Young With the Oscar Peterson Trio - Lester Young | Songs, Reviews, Credits", "Young, Lester, Jr. (2008/01/31) | Oral History", "Lester Young: 'The Prez' Still Rules At 100", "Seven Music Greats Added to ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lester_Young&oldid=1142318678, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox musical artist with associated acts, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Thanks for your help! Another cause for the thickening of his tone around this time was a change in saxophone mouthpiece from a metal Otto Link to an ebonite Brilhart. She gave Lester the nickname "Prez" after President Franklin Roosevelt, the "greatest man around" in Billie's mind. When jazz record producer Norman Granz formed his Pablo label in the 1970s, several established jazz artists, including Basie, signed on in order to record unfettered by commercial demands. In contrast to the prevailing jazz drum style exemplified by Gene Krupa's loud, insistent pounding of the bass drum on each beat, Jones often omitted bass drum playing altogether. [4][7], Beginning in 1982, Nestico began releasing solo albums, with Dark Orchid" as his debut album. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. A brother, James, died when William was a young boy. '', Soloists were less prominent in this second edition of the Basie band although it included some of the major jazz musicians of the post-50's years, such as Thad Jones, Joe Newman, Al Grey, Eddie (Lockjaw) Davis, Frank Wess, Jimmy Forrest and the blues singer Joe Williams. Peter Jennings (who was a jazz an) introduces a short feature on the career of Count Basie who died earlier in the day of pancreatic cancer. "[12] As well as the Kansas City Sessions, his clarinet work from 193839 is documented on recordings with Basie, Billie Holiday, Basie small groups, and the organist Glenn Hardman. You can always change this later in your Account settings. It featured such jazzmen as tenor saxophonists Lester Young (regarded by many as the premier tenor player in jazz history) and Herschel Evans, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry Sweets Edison, and trombonists Benny Morton and Dicky Wells. Then, as far as this guy Ellington is concerned, you can never tell what he's going to do. [35], On 17 March 2003, Young was added to the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame, along with Sidney Bechet, Al Cohn, Nat "King" Cole, Peggy Lee and Teddy Wilson. Mr. Basie was born in Red Bank, N.J., on Aug. 21, 1904, an only child who was christened William. While he recuperated his band continued to fulfill engagements, frequently with Nat Pierce taking Mr. Basie's place at the piano and sometimes with guest conductors such as the trumpeter Clark Terry, who was a member of the Basie band in the 1940's. ''I wanted 13 men to think and play the same way. A young Charlie Parker was attempting to play an improvised solo, but lost track of the chord changes; as a sign of contempt, Jones threw a cymbal from his drum kit onto the floor near Parker's feet to get him to leave the stage. People of this zodiac sign like to be admired, expensive things, bright colors, and dislike being ignored, facing difficulties, not being treated specially. Oops, we were unable to send the email. This effort eventually resulted in the release of 63 albums by Time Life. Count Basie, byname of William Basie, (born August 21, 1904, Red Bank, New Jersey, U.S.died April 26, 1984, Hollywood, Florida), American jazz musician noted for his spare, economical piano style and for his leadership of influential and widely heralded big bands. He had three sons with his first wife. It had continued success throughout the war years, but, like all big bands, it had declined in popularity by the end of the 1940s. [1] Jones took a brief break for two years when he was in the military, but he remained with Basie until 1948. Though rooted in the riff style of the 1930s swing-era big bands, the Basie orchestra played with the forceful drive and carefree swing of a small combo. Instrument (s) Drums. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. 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. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced. Try again later. The legendary Billie Holiday was a vocalist with Basie for a short stint (193738), although she was unable to record with the band because of her contract with another record label; mostly, vocals were handled by Jimmy Rushing, one of the most renowned blues bawlers. The rhythm unit for the bandpianist Basie, guitarist Freddie Green (who joined the Basie band in 1937 and stayed for 50 years), bassist Walter Page, and drummer Jo Joneswas unique in its lightness, precision, and relaxation, becoming the precursor for modern jazz accompanying styles. He was represented at the ceremony by his children Lester Young Jr and Yvette Young.[36]. [1] He participated in the Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series.[1]. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. With vocals by Jimmy Rushing, the band set up shop to perform at Kansas City's Reno Club. In August 1944, Young appeared alongside drummer Jo Jones, trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison, and fellow tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet in Gjon Mili's short film Jammin' the Blues. The Black Music Association honored Mr. Basie in 1982 with a gala at Radio City Music Hall. "[25], Young made his final studio recordings and live performances in Paris in March 1959 with drummer Kenny Clarke at the tail end of an abbreviated European tour during which he ate next to nothing and drank heavily. From around 1951, Young's level of playing declined more precipitously as his drinking increased. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. He also starred in several films, most notably the musical short Jammin' the Blues (1944). Causes of deaths for people who were 70 years and older.