William James Basie was born in New Jersey in August 1904, his mother a pianist who gave him his first lessons. From an early age he had his sights set on a life in entertainment, hanging out at the local theatre and helping stage the vaudeville shows, and where he learnt to play piano to the silent movies. He played in various local groups until in 1924 he headed for Harlem, where he bumped into his old drummer colleague from NJ, Sonny Greer, whos was with Duke Ellington's Washingtonians, and Basie met all the local faces. He continued to pick up a variety of gigs, and got a steady job at Leroy's where he met Fats Walelr, who taught him the organ, and continued his friendship with Willie 'The Lion' Smith, from whom he also learnt some keyboard tricks. In Tulsa in 1928, he joined Walter Page, and then the following year moved to Bennie Moten's Kansas-based outfit, who established a significant reputation across the Mid-West, and in the process shaped Basie's style - during this period he acquired the name Count. When Moten died suddenly in 1935, Basise formed a band including some Moten alumni, including Lester Young, and immediately scored a hit with an improvised piece named "One O'CLock Jump", which became his signature tune. In 1936 the band moved from Kansas to Chicago for a long-term residency at the Grand Terrace Ballroom, where Basie introduced the twin tenor sax line-up, and where they made some landmark recordings with John Hammond. The music was characterised by the now-famous jumping beat set against Basie's heavily-accented piano, with a strong leaning towards blues, the band featuring some of the greatest singers of the day - Jimmy Rushing, Billie Holiday, Joe Williams, Big Joe Turner and Helen Humes. The band moved on to New York, where he developed a softer style as the swing era took hold, although their 'battle of the bands' encounters with Chick Webb's Orchestra and Ella Fitzgerald were legendarily intense. After WWII, the big band era was on the wane, and Basie disbanded the orchestra and started playing and recording in a variety of combos, scoring hits in the early R&B jukebox scene, introducing bebop touches along the way. Norman Granz persuaded him to re-form the big band for his first European tour in 1954, and appearances on the burgeoning festival circuit. For the next two decades Basie became a high-profile elder statesman of jazz, performing and recording with other big name stars, including Duke Ellington. In 1974, he appeared in the Mel Brooks movie "Blazing Saddles" playing his famous standard "April In Paris". He died of cancer in April 1984 at the age of 79. Acrobat has on catalogue two collections of Basie's work from the 30s, 40s and 50s - for details click here.