Count Basie

William James "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. Many musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, the guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison, plunger trombonist Al Grey, and singers Jimmy Rushing, Helen Humes, Thelma Carpenter, and Joe Williams.

21 August 1904

Born on the same birth day (21 August): Augustin-Louis Cauchy • Billy Reay • Consuelo Velázquez • Dominick Harrod • Donald Dewar • Giacomo F. Maraldi • Koki Sakamoto • Laura Trevelyan • Loretta Devine • Mohammed VI of Morocco • Radish Tordia • Reuven Feuerstein • Robert Harvey (footballer)

Born in the same month (August 1904): Charles "Buddy" Rogers • Christopher Isherwood • Deng Xiaoping • Dolores del Río • Henry Iba • Jean Dessès • Kenneth V. Thimann • Leho Laurine • Leopold Nowak • Margaret Tafoya • Maurice Wilks • Max Factor Jr. • Minoru Genda • Norah Lofts • Secondo Campini • Wendell Meredith Stanley • William Primrose • Witold Gombrowicz