The Count Basie Orchestra is among the most noteworthy jazz performing groups founded by Count Basie. It is a 16 to 18-piece big band of the swinging era. During the late forties, when there was a decline in the popularity of big band, the Count Basie Orchestra kept on producing some notable numbers in the fifties and sixties that had singers like Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. After the death of Count Basie, the group went on performing and recording as a ‘ghost band’. Presently, it is performing under the leadership of Bill Hughes.

The beginning Count Basie was working as a pianist in the band of Bennie Moten in Kansas City, Michigan. After the death of Moten in 1936, Basie left the group made his own band that included many of the members of the Moten band. The band was then called 'The Barons of Rhythm'. The band played to club audiences. The first venue of the band was the Reno club in Kansas City but later moved to the grand Terrace in Chicago.

John Hammond, who was a famous music critic and record producer, after hearing the band on radio broadcast, asks Basie to move to New York and play at venues like Roseland Ballroom. The band had Buck Clayton on trumpet and Jimmy Rushing the blues ‘shouter’ made their first recordings with Decca Label in January 1937. The soloists were playing at the foreground while the riffs having a functional backing role. The band was a fresh big sound for New York compared to the complex jazz writing prevailing then.

In New York, Billie Holiday joined Basie Orchestra as singer in 1937 but was replaced by Helen Humes in 1938. The line up of the band was also reshuffled on Hammond request for making the band more efficient. Guitarist Freddie Green joined the band and completed the rhythm sections in the history of the band. The band now started well known throughout the country and internationally as 'Count Basie Orchestra'. Between 1937 and 1938, the band brought out hits like "One O'clock Jump" and "Jumpin' at the Woodside. These tunes that were known, as 'head-arrangements' were not scored in individual parts. These were made up of riffs that were memorized by the members of the band. These 'head-arrangements' fascinated the audience in New York. Helen Humes sang mostly pop ballads and included "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" and "Blame it on my Last Affair”.

During the forties, the band started becoming dependant on arrangers for providing music. These professional arrangers who came from outside the group brought their own style to the band with each of their new piece. This style differed from players who worked within the band, like Eddie Durham and Buck Clayton. The coming of new arrangements brought a gradual change in the sound of the band. This also distanced the band from its west coast roots. Instead of structuring the music with the soloists, the sound was more focused on ensemble playing; which was near to the East Coast big band sound. During the war, many of the key members left the band. With the crisis of financial impact during the 1942 to 44, the Count Basie Orchestra got a hit. The band was forced to close down temporarily for a short period in 1948. It again came back in the 1950. In the meantime, Basie led a small team of between 6 and 9 people.