Customer Reviews

One O'clock Jump: The Unforgettable History of the Oklahoma City Blue Devils

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ONE O'CLOCK JUMP: THE UNFORGETTABLE HISTORY OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY BLUE DEVILS offers up a wealth of detail on a legendary jazz band from Oklahoma City. They went through many changes from 1923 to 1933, but their legacy has been under-stated until this book, so any avid fan of jazz may know of them, but only in passing. ONE O'CLOCK JUMP fills the gaps, using interviews with the six surviving Blue Devils and others and supplementing these with newspaper accounts of performances and government records. The result is rich reporting and jazz music history which cannot be ignored.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch

The author's passion for this topic comes shining through and is aptly justified given the Blue Devils' importance in the annals of jazz.

In his book, Mr. Daniels starts out with biographical sketches of pertinent individuals, and then transitions into more of a chronological narrative--and I'm quite impressed by the way all that's done, seamlessly.

That narrative includes the evolution of the Benny Moten bands and their subsequent genesis into groups led by Count Basie, which I consider to be the real meat of this tome.

However, there are a number of glitches and contradictions regarding dates and whatnot, and the book's final chapters are a little too unfocused and loosey-goosey for me; I came away with the impression that this is, for lack of a better explanation, an unfinished work.

Therefore, I would recommend one more round of research & revamping, again with special consideration for the relative significance of this material; I would also suggest that a cue be taken from Frank Buchmann-Moeller, who has done a very meticulous, "no stone left unturned" job on the life of Lester Young, a member of all of the aforementioned bands at one time or another in his illustrious career.