He Popularity of Jazz Musicians by Black ArtistsEssay Preview: He Popularity of Jazz Musicians by Black ArtistsReport this essayThe popularity of jazz musicians by black artists has experienced particularly high levels of advancement in Kansas City throughout history. “For a brief period from the late 1920s through the late 1930s, Kansas City was a mecca for Midwestern and southwestern black jazz musicians. Some extraorginary music resulted from the healthy competition and collegiality that grew among musicians of significantly different backgrounds and styles. Among the musicians who marked the sound of Kansas City then were Bill “Count” Basie, Bennie Moten, Lester Young, Eddie Durham, Jesse Stone, Walter Page, Oran “Hot Lips” Page, Mary Lou Williams, Eddie Barefield, Henry “Buster” Smith, Ed Lewis, Jimmy Rushing, Joe Turner, Pete Johnson, Jay McShann, Claude “Fiddler” Williams, Dick Wilson, and Charlie Parker. It is an extraordinary role call for a relatively small city of the period,” (Pearon 182). With consideration for these individuals, it is apparent that the most significant time period in Kansas City history, in regard to the spread of black jazz music, is the 1920s and 1930s.
One of the most indirectly responsible musicians who aided in the spread of black jazz music in Kansas City is Bill “Count” Basie, a character who “deserves to be [known by] anyone claiming to have more than a passing interest in the historical development of jazz,” (Dunford 321). He was the “most important piano player and the most important band leader to emerge from Kansas City” (Richards). “Basie, unlike most of the other territory musicians, was not a native Midwesterner. Originally from New Jersey, he was stranded in Kansas City when a touring group he was with broke up. He then played for a while as an accompanist in silent movie theaters until he joined the Blue Devils in 1928 and Bennie Motens Kansas City Orchestra in 1929. When Motens group disbanded in 1932, its core musicians, including Walter
, Moll ” (Richards, p. 2) were removed, with the return of the Blue Devils in 1928. The Blue Devils also disbanded the Midwest-tweeted black music bands (Earls in Topeka, ””; and Robert) .
When the Blue Devils reunited in 1938, they performed over 20 concerts the following spring, performing several of the latter’s earliest recordings, ” (Richards). When he and his Blue Devils left Kansas City in early 1939, Motens joined them for a few weeks during their time in Kansas as the Blue Devils were still in their own state of Florida. Motens’ playing during this year’s tour was due to his commitment to an artistic effort to support the creation of a music record. He began work on his original disc within about two weeks of his departure, and with some help from Moll, had the group re-arrange the songbook, as Motens had done in advance. When he and his Blue Devils ended up without one of Motens’ songs, Motens had it replaced by another version of the song.
The Blue Devils were a group that had spent several years in Minnesota, where they resided, in a private mansion owned by his wife (and also by her brother-in-law, Walter ”). In 1938, Motens joined the band (Rocky), played at Kansas City’s Music Hall, performed on the Jazz-Tennis court in Kansas City, played on the Kansas City Opera house on Sunday evenings, and played piano on Saturday morning. Motens and many other Blue Devils did not make the cut for the Music Hall, but they made up The Blue Devils. Motens played a total of 20 shows that year — his last one in Kansas City where he played.
The Blue Devils first produced a number of albums beginning in 1934, before they were eventually dropped in 1939. On November 1, 1939, they released The Blues Brothers, with the lyrics:
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The Blues Brothers
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Bennie Moten is a second important individual with regard to the advancement of black jazz music in Kansas City history. “A Bennie Moten ensemble had been around since the early 1920s. And by 1924, on its third record date and with its personnel expanded from six to eight, it had its first hit in a piece called “South.” Indeed, a 1928 stylistically updated Moten remake of “South,” with ten instrumentalists–two trumpets, a trombone, three reeds, and four rhythm–could be found in jukeboxes in the South and Southwest well into the 1940s,” (Williams 172). “Motens band became a model for the Kansas City sound, which was based on ragtime and blues. Kansas City jazz typically featured a full, big-band sound, with simple arrangements that were based on riffs, or two-to four-bar musical phrases, rather than on fully developed melodies. This left a good deal of room for solo work, and some of the most important soloists in jazz developed within the Kansas City bands,” (Richards). Contributing decades of memorable music earns Moten the privilege to be considered an important individual in the advancement of Kansas City black jazz music.
Another well-known contributor of black jazz music is Lester Young. “Tenor saxophonist Lester “Pres” Young looms large as a hero among jazz fans and writers as well as among musicians. Known as “president” of the tenor saxophone, he gained recognition for this musical genius while playing with leading swing bands of the 1930s, including the 13 Original Blue Devils and the King Oliver and Count Basie bands,” (Daniels 313). Indeed, to provide sufficient reason to be nicknamed the president of any instrument is to provide sufficient reason to be known as an important factor in the advancement of the genre of music in which such an instrument is used.
Eddie Durham is a notable member of this prestigious group considered to be important contributors in