Award & Honors
GRAMMY AWARDS
1984- Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band- 88 Basie Street
1982- Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band- Warm Breeze
1980- Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band- On The Road
1977- Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band- Prime Time
1976- Best Jazz Performance by a Soloist (Instrumental)- Basie and Zoot
1963- Best Performance by an Orchestra- For Dancing- This Time By Basie! Hits of the 50’s And 60’s
1960- Best Performance by a Band- For Dancing- Dance With Basie
1958- Best Performance by a Dance Band- Basie
1958- Best Jazz Performance, Group- Basie
GRAMMY HALL OF FAME
By 2011, four recordings of Count Basie had been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old, and that have “qualitative or historical significance.”
Lester Leaps In, recorded in 1939 (Inducted in 2005)
Everyday (I have the Blues) , recorded in 1955 (Inducted in 1992)
April in Paris, recorded in 1955 (Inducted in 1985)
1937- One O’Clock Jump, recorded in 1955 (Inducted in 1979)
HONORS
On May 23, 1985, William “Count” Basie was presented, posthumously, with the Presidential Medal of by President Ronald Reagan. The award was received by his son, Aaron Woodward.
On September 11, 1996 the U.S. Post Office issued a Count Basie 32 cents postage stamp. Basie is a part of the Big Band Leaders issue, which, is in turn, part of the Legends of American Music series. In 2009, Basie was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
AWARD HISTORY
2007, Long Island Music Hall of Fame
2005, Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame, Inducted
2002, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Winner
1983, NEA Jazz Masters, Winner
1981, Grammy Trustees Awards, Winner
1981, Kennedy Center Awards, Honoree
Hollywood Walk of Fame, Honoree
1970, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Initiated
1958, Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame, Inducted
NATIONAL RECORDING REGISTRY
In 2005, Count Basie’s song “One O’Clock Jump” (1937) was included by the National Recording Preservation Board in the Library of Congress National Recording Registry. The board selects songs in an annual basis that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”