During the 1960s and '70s, Basie recorded with luminaries like Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Wilson, Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson.
Basie ultimately earned nine Grammy Awards over the course of his career, but he made history when he won his first, in 1958, as the first African-American man to receive a Grammy. A few of his songs were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as well, including "April in Paris" and "Everyday I Have the Blues."

Basie suffered from health issues in his later years, and died from cancer in Hollywood, Florida, on April 26, 1984. He left the world an almost unparalleled legacy of musical greatness, having recorded or been affiliated with dozens upon dozens of albums during his lifetime.

Reproduced below are fragments from two of Basie's classic works-"Jumpin' at the Woodside"- from his early days in the late 1930s, and "Splanky", a representative example of his later style.

Play Jumpin' at the Woodside