142 Culture, Identity, and Community: From Slavery to the PresentWhite and played regularly for silent fi lms at the Eblon
Th eater. Basie gained further experience when he moved
to Oklahoma to play with the Blue Devils, led by bassist
Walter Page. Th e Blue Devils, with their incomparable style
of blues, left a profound impression on Basie. In 1929, Basie
returned to Kansas City to join one of the most popular
bands in the area, the Bennie Moten Orchestra. Although
Moten was the band’s pianist, he gradually brought Basie
into the band as a substitute and staff arranger. Basie even-
tually became the band’s pianist and worked diligently to
perfect his musical skills.
Aft er the unexpected death of Moten in 1935, Basie
formed his own ensemble that included former members
of the Moten band. He accepted an extended engagement
at the Reno Club in Kansas City, an important decision that
would aff ect his career both musically and professionally. In
addition to performing weekly at the Reno Club, the band
was broadcast to several parts of the nation, including Chi-
cago and New York. It was during the nightly broadcasts
that musicians, promoters, and the public became aware of
this remarkable band out of Kansas City. New York pro-
moter and entrepreneur John Hammond, while in Chicago,
heard Basie’s band and subsequently traveled to Kansas City.
Other music executives visited Basie, and consequently, he
signed with Decca Records and became the headliner at
New York’s Roseland Ballroom.
Count Basie’s rise in jazz continued during the swing
era of the 1930s and 1940s. Jazz became a national phe-
nomenon because of the emergence of big bands, out-
standing soloists, big-band arrangements, improvisation,
and popular icons. Basie’s ensemble epitomized the very
essence of swing with their blend of blues, improvisation,
and sophisticated arrangements. Exceptional musicianship,
especially the musicians’ imaginative improvisational skills,
accounted for the band’s classic and distinct style. Most no-
table among the group were trumpeters Buck Clayton and
Harry “Sweets” Edison and saxophonists Hershel Evans
and Lester Young. Undoubtedly, Basie’s most enduring ac-
complishment was the assemblage of his incomparable
rhythm section, featuring guitarist Freddie Green, bassist
Walter Page, and drummer Jo Jones. As a tightly knit sec-
tion, these musicians established a steady tempo through
the use of walking bass patterns, a seamless fl ow of chord
changes, and recurring ride rhythms. “One O’Clock Jump,”
“9:20 Special,” and “Jumping at the Woodside” are typical
examples of the kinds of complex and sparse arrangementsIn the late 1960s, Bailey turned her attention toward
writing. She published two autobiographical books, Th e
Raw Pearl (1968) and Talking to Myself (1971). She also
wrote Pearl’s Kitchen (1973), Hurry Up America, and Spit
(1989), and Between You and Me (1990). Later in life, Bai-
ley decided to complete the education she had given up in
order to become a performer. She fi nished her high school
degree and enrolled in Georgetown University and, in 1985,
earned a BA degree in theology.
Bailey won a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988
for her contributions to American cultural life. She died less
than two years later on August 17, 1990, in Philadelphia, of
heart disease at the age of 72. Pearl Bailey is buried in Roll-
ing Green Memorial Park in Westchester, Pennsylvania.
See also: Black Folk Culture; Poitier, Sidney
Sara K. EskridgeBibliography
Atkins, Cholly, and Jacqui Malone. Class Act: Th e Jazz Life of Cho-
reographer Cholly Atkins. New York: Columbia University
Press, 2001.
Bailey, Pearl. Pearl’s Kitchen: An Extraordinary Cookbook. New
York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973.
Isaacs, Edith. Th e Negro in the American Th eatre. New York: Th e-
atre Arts, 1947.
Wetterau, Bruce. Th e Presidential Medal of Freedom: Winners and
Th eir Achievements. Charlottesville: University of Virginia,
1996.
Basie, Count
William “Count” Basie (1904–1984) was born in Red Bank,
New Jersey, to Harvey and Lilly Ann Basie. During his for-
mative years, Basie expressed a deep interest in music and
began studying the organ and piano. He was particularly
infl uenced by stride piano, a virtuosic genre that is charac-
terized by intricate melodic embellishments and complex
syncopation. In the mid-1920s, Basie traveled to New York
to take organ lessons from Fat Waller, an important expo-
nent of stride. Waller, who had an engagement at Harlem’s
Lincoln Th eater, occasionally invited his young student to
play the organ.
Kansas City, however, became the pivotal place where
Basie would realize his aspirations of becoming a profes-
sional musician. He became the organist for singer Gonzelle