September 11, 1996: USPS Stamp Commemorating Count Basie

USPS honored Count Basie in the 1996 Big Band Leaders issue. The four-stamp set was released on September 11, 1996, in New York City.

The date refers only to the stamp’s 1996 first day of issue, five years before the September 11, 2001 attacks. The subject of this article is Count Basie, his music, and the Big Band Leaders stamps.

Count Basie and the stamp

William “Count” Basie was a pianist and bandleader whose economical keyboard style and rhythm section helped shape swing. Recordings such as “One O’Clock Jump” and “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” became closely associated with his orchestra.

The 32-cent portrait was designed by Bill Nelson and printed by Ashton-Potter in panes of 20. Basie appeared alongside Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, and Benny Goodman in four separate designs.

Portrait and issue context

Bill Nelson’s portrait places Basie at the piano, connecting the musician’s understated keyboard presence with the orchestra he led.

Basie’s musical identity was inseparable from ensemble rhythm: his spare piano phrases left space for the guitar, bass, and drums while the brass and reeds carried riffs above them. Showing him at the keyboard therefore gives the stamp a specific biographical cue rather than a generic celebrity portrait.

The four Big Band Leaders designs

The four designs form one 1996 Big Band Leaders issue, and the Dorsey brothers share one design rather than counting as two separate stamps. This structure explains why five named musicians appear across four stamp designs.

Sources

Key facts were checked against the National Postal Museum Big Band Leaders object record; the National Postal Museum Count Basie profile; and the USPS Postal Bulletin archive.