Count Basie

William "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist and bandleader.

Quotes

 * I know this from somewhere—it seems as though every time I turn on the radio this seems to slip in; and I've always liked it. It's cute, real cute; and although it's sort of not in my department and I don't know too much about that type of music, I like it an awful lot. Wonderful piano; vibes sound like what's his name, [Terry] Gibbs, a little bit; and the alto, if it's not the Bird, he loves Bird. All the solos were wonderful. I've got to give it four stars.
 * after 1952, reviewing "Four in One" from Thelonious Monk's  for DownBeat's "Blindfold Test"; reproduced in The Encyclopedia of Jazz (1960) by Leonard Feather, p. 480.


 * Contrary to several conflicting stories, I got the name "Count" right in Kansas City in 1936 while at the Reno Club. I was known as Bill Basie at that time. One night, while we were broadcasting, the announcer called me to the microphone for those usual few words of introduction. He commented that Bill Basie was a rather ordinary name, and further that there were a couple of well-known bandleaders named Earl Hines and Duke Ellington. Then he said, "Bill, I think I'll call you Count Basie from now on. Is that all right with you?" I thought he was kidding, shrugged my shoulders and replied, "OK." Well that was the last time I was ever introduced as Bill Basie. From then on, it was Count Basie, and I never did lose that nickname. It's funny the way those things will stick.
 * As quoted in Nat Shapiro and Nat Hentoff Hear Me Talkin' to Ya : The Story of Jazz as Told by the Men who Made It (1966), p. 301


 * It's the way you play that makes it. What I say is, for Christ's sake, you don't have to kill yourself to sing. Play like you play. Play like you think, and then you got it, if you're going to get it. And whatever you get, that's you, so that's your story.
 * From Count Basie and Albert Murray Good Morning Blues : The Autobiography of Count Basie (1985)