The Count Basie Orchestra will perform in Red Bank, Aug. 21-23.
As part of its own Centennial Celebration, this year, The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank will present a “William ‘Count’ Basie Birthday Weekend,” Aug. 21-23. Basie was born in Red Bank on Aug. 21, 1904, and grew up there.
At 4 p.m. on Aug. 21, The Count Basie Orchestra — which has continued to perform Basie’s music since his death in 1984 — will perform at a free Block Party, outside the theater, with food trucks, a dedication ceremony recognizing the Basie Center as part of New Jersey’s Black Heritage Trail, the presentation of the Count Basie Center Jazz Vanguard Award, and more.
Aug. 22 at 7 p.m., The Count Basie Orchestra — led by trumpeter Scotty Barnhart, who joined it in 1993 and became its director in 2013 — will present a concert at the Basie Center’s Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre.
Also at The Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre, Aug. 23 at 7 p.m., The Count Basie Orchestra will back Tony-winning singer-actresses Sutton Foster and Kelli O’Hara in a concert that will include a tribute to the 1962 television special “Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall” — featuring Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett — and more.
Tickets to the Aug. 22-23 concerts will go on sale May 22 at 10 a.m., with pre-sales beginning May 19 at 10 a.m. Visit ticketmaster.com or thebasie.org.
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