I decided that I would be one of the biggest new names; and I actually had some little fancy business cards printed up to announce it, 'Count Basie. Beware, the Count is Here.'
Not everything that counts can be counted. You can count sales. You can count fans and followers. You can count pins and tweets. But you can't count passion. You can't count commitment. You can't count engagement. You can't count relationships.
Do you want to feel insecure? Count the number of Christmas cards you sent out, and then count those you received.
In September 2012, I got the blues pretty bad, so I stopped playing for a little while. I started to renew my playing by the time February of 2013 came around. I would go up and rehearse to different songs, play stuff like Count Basie records, jazz or rap.
I actually started the whole project some years ago with a live debut at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels. The focus was mainly on my favorite period of Billie Holiday, which was the late-50s Verve recordings, with essentially a small version of the Count Basie band.
I can't draw. But I can draw with sound. That's the most useful thing I learned in terms of what my craft is... The arrangements were mine. They were little lines and stuff that I had written myself... And I was locked into this idea that vocals didn't count, melodies didn't count, songwriting craftsmanship didn't count. The only thing that counted was high arching guitar solos...
Count Basie was college, but Duke Ellington was graduate school.
If, my dear, you seek to slumber;
Count of stars an endless number;
If you will continue wakeful;
Count the drops that make a lakeful;
Then if vigilance yet above you
Hover, Count the times I love you;
And if slumber sill repel you
Count the times I do not tell you.
Count Basie practically adopted me at 13. We became closer and closer and I ended up conducting for him and Sinatra.
Thread count is actually a lie. Just because a thread count is 1,500 on a set of sheets doesn't mean that they're well-made sheets. Truly, the quality of the cotton and the quality of the way something is woven is much more important than thread count.
My father was incredible on trumpet and played with the likes of Duke Ellington and Count Basie.
I joined Count Basie's band to make a little money and to see the world. For two years I didn't see anything but the inside of a Blue Goose bus, and I never got to send home a quarter.
When you become part of something, in some way you count. It could be a march; it could be a rally, even a brief one. You're part of something, and you suddenly realize you count. To count is very important.
And, well of course, Count Basie, and I think all of the black bands of the late thirties and early forties, bands with real players. They had an influence on everybody, not just drummers.
More than anybody else I’d like to thank Count Basie for teaching me how to perform.
More than anybody else I'd like to thank Count Basie for teaching me how to perform.
Count your blessings. Every time I am doing bad I count my blessings. And I always lose count. Try that sometime.