![]() ![]() The cornerstone of that sound came from the rhythm section consisting of Basie, drummer Jo Jones, bassist Walter Page, rhythm guitarist Freddie Green. The Basie band, in keeping with other bands of the Kansas City/Southwest tradition, had a style that differentiated it from big bands on the East Coast, which had traditionally relied on more formal arrangements. Moten’s sudden death in 1935 prompted him to form a nine-piece ensemble. Basie made his first important records as a pianist and arranger with Moten in 1929.īasie formed his first band in 1933, featuring Hot Lips Page (t), Herschel Evans (ts), Lester Young (ts), Buster Smith (as), Walter Page (b) and Jo Jones (d), before rejoining Moten’s orchestra two years later. By the late 1920s, Basie was hooking up with groups-Walter Page and His Blue Devils in 1928-1929 and Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra between 19-which ultimately determined the course of his career. A bout of spinal meningitis laid him up in a hospital in Kansas City in 1927, where he remained to become an integral part of the emerging jazz scene. He toured widely as a solo pianist, accompanying and serving as musical director for blues singers, dancers, comedians, and playing in silent-movie theaters. Johnson and Willie “The Lion” Smith, and Fats Waller on organ. He ventured to New York where he polished his skills studying informally with such Harlem stride piano masters as James P. Basie started out playing drums, and learned the basics of piano from his mother as a young man. William James Basie was born Augin Red Bank, New Jersey to Lilly Ann and Harvey Lee Basie. ![]()
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