Customer Reviews

Bennie Moten 1923 1927

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Between 1923-27 Moten recorded some of his hottest and most jazz oreinted stuff. Moten started the "Kansas City" sound of the 20's. His Kansas City Orchestra aside from King Oliver's in the early 20's was among one of the finest. Highlights include a joyous "Elephant's Wobble," "Crawdad Blues," "South," and "18th Street Strut." This is some of the most enjoyable music to ever have come out of the roarin' 20's. Definately recommended to collectors of this genere.

The period from 1920s to the early 1930s is [in my opinion] the best sound in Jazz around. I love everything about the jazz of this era. Bennie Moten is probably best remembered as the leader of the band which would later evolve into Count Basie's band: and eventually the Count Basie Orchestra. And that is a real shame too, because Bennie Moten was one the greatest ragtime pianist's of his time, whose orchestra would set the scene for Kansas City jazz. One of the biggest competitors of Bennie Moten in the 1920s was Walter Page and his "Blue Devils." When Walter Page began to get less and less gigs, it was Bennie Moten that moved into the forefront of Kansas City jazz.

Bennie Moten did this by acquiring many of the talented band members of Walter Page's band. Among them Eddie Durham, Jimmy Rushing, Hot Lips Page, and of course the famous Count Basie. In fact, it was Bennie Moten who was so impressed with Count Basie's playing on the piano, that he would have Basie do the recordings on record, while Moten would do the occassional performance on piano while on tour. The most famous of the recordings that Bennie Moten performed were his last sessions, sometime in late 1932. These are also the most popular with jazz enthusiasts. However, for me, these early recordings are my favorite. [Not that the later ones are bad]. I just happen to like the raw sound of these early Bennie Moten recordings.

Unfortunately, Bennie Moten died in 1935 from a tonsillectomy operation. A BOTCHED ONE AT THAT! The band never took off after his death, and eventually, Basie would begin his own journey to great stardom a couple of years later. [But hey, Basie was talented]. Among some of the great songs on this CD, are: CRAWDAD BLUES, SOUTH [one of my favorite jazz pieces of the era] VINE STREET BLUES, TULSA BLUES, SOUTH STREET BLUES, SISTER HONKY TONK, 18th STREET STRUT [a great jazz tune] KATER STREET RAG, HARMONY BLUES, KANSAS CITY SHUFFLE, WHITE LIGHTNIN' BLUES, and MUSCLE SHOALS BLUES, among others. They are ALL great jazz pieces, and you really need to check out this wonderful sound. Amazon has a listening sample on these songs, I highly recommend that you check them out. They are great. Especially the jazz piece "South." You will notice how different this jazz is to later periods. It's great music!