Count Basie

From the time his Old Testament Band burst out of Kansas City in 1936, William "Count" Basie and the bands he led became a touchstone of the jazz tradition. An exuberant jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer, Basie was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, and received his first piano lessons from his mother. At the head of one of the leading bands of the swing era, he toured extensively at home and abroad, and was identified by theme songs, including One O'Clock Jump and April in Paris.