Claim: Count Basie formed a 16 to 18 piece small band.
Evidence: In 1935 , Basie formed his own jazz orchestra , the Count Basie Orchestra , and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording.
The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band , one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era , founded by Count Basie in 1935 and recording regularly from 1936.