Count Basie Orchestra

The Count Basie Orchestra was usually a big band of at least sixteen pieces. Sometimes, as in 1950, it shrank to an eight-piece orchestra. The orchestra, founded by  William "Count" Basie, was really a series of bands that had many members come and go over a span of many years, from 1936 to the time of Basie's death in 1984, and even afterwards, when Frank Foster assumed the leadership of the group that still bore Basie's name. Taken as a whole, the Count Basie Orchestra is usually considered one of the most important big bands of the 20th century.
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