On April 26th, 1984, jazz legend William "Count" Basie passed away at the age of 79. Count Basie is remembered as one of the greatest jazz bandleaders of all time. Growing up in Red Bank, New Jersey, Basie became a professional musician as a young teen. He joined the Territory bands, playing across the Midwest during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1935, Basie started his own band in Kansas City, and quickly rose to national fame with hits such as "One O'Clock Jump," "Jumpin' at the Woodside," and "April in Paris." Playing with a "lean and relaxed" style, Basie added a sense of swing and an overall smoother swing feel to the jazz genre. Basie's band famously featured "One More Time" and "Shiny Stockings," among dozens of other classic tunes. Throughout Read Band's career that spanned over four decades, he collaborated with some of the most standout musicians and entertainers: vocalists Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, and musicians Duke Ellington and Sarah Vaughn among many others. Along his career, he earned numerous awards, wrote the score of the 1964 film The Naked Kiss, and played at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York. Count Basie will be remembered as one of the most influential jazz bandleaders of all time and a true pioneer of the genre. May he rest in peace.