Description
This group portrait by Life magazine photographer Gjon Mili pictures Count Basie (lower right, in front of the piano) and other members of his band, including celebrated saxophonist Lester Young (center, with black hat). Influenced by the piano styles of Willie "the Lion" Smith and Fats Waller, Basie formed his first group in 1935. For the next forty years, Basie performed and recorded with a frequency unmatched by any other big band. In addition to routinely crisscrossing the United States, he led thirty European tours and traveled eight times across the Pacific Ocean to entertain audiences. In 1961 he gave a memorable performance at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration, solidifying his national reputation. Basie's ability to adapt to changing musical tastes, while maintaining the group's artistic integrity, was a hallmark of this extraordinary jazz orchestra.
Image
Gelatin Silver Print
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Record Contributed By
National Portrait GalleryRecord Harvested From
Smithsonian InstitutionKeywords
- Arranger
- Bandmaster
- Bands (Music)
- Basie, Count
- Buck Clayton
- Cigarette
- Clarinet
- Clayton, Buck
- Composer
- Costume
- Count Basie
- Design
- Dress Accessories
- Dress Accessory
- Drinking Vessel
- Drum
- Drummer
- Drums (Membranophones)
- Earle Warren
- Entertainers
- Equipment
- Eyeglasses
- Glass
- Home Furnishings
- Horn
- Interior
- Interior Decoration
- Jazz
- Jo Jones
- Jones, Jo
- Lester Willis Young
- Male
- Men
- Microphone
- Mili, Gjon
- Music
- Musical Instrument
- Musical Instruments
- Musician
- Musicians
- Performer
- Performing Arts
- Pianist
- Piano
- Pianos
- Portrait
- Portraits
- Presidential Medal Of Freedom
- Saxophone
- Saxophonist
- Singer
- Smoking Implements
- Sound Devices
- Studio
- Trumpet
- Trumpets
- Warren, Earle
- Young, Lester Willis