Claim: Count Basie formed a 16 to 18 piece small band.

William James `` Count '' Basie -LRB- August 21 , 1904 -- April 26 , 1984 -RRB- was an American jazz pianist , organist , bandleader , and composer . His mother taught him to play the piano and he started performing in his teens . Dropping out of school , he learned to operate lights for vaudeville and to improvise accompaniment for silent films at a local movie theater in his home town of Red Bank , New Jersey . By age 16 , he increasingly played jazz piano at parties , resorts and other venues . In 1924 , he went to Harlem , where his performing career expanded ; he toured with groups to the major jazz cities of Chicago , St. Louis and Kansas City . In 1929 he joined Bennie Moten 's band in Kansas City , and played with them until Moten 's death in 1935 .   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 . He led the group for almost 50 years , creating innovations like the use of two `` split '' tenor saxophones , emphasizing the rhythm section , riffing with a big band , using arrangers to broaden their sound , and others . Many musicians came to prominence under his direction , including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans , the guitarist Freddie Green , trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry `` Sweets '' Edison and singers Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams .