One of the many excellent sides recorded by the Kansas City-based Bennie Moten orchestra on the Victor label.
After leaving the Okeh label at the end of 1926, the Moten band signed a contract with the larger Victor label.
The band held auditions in Kansas City to augment its membership and to replace a few band members. Leroy Berry and Willie McWashington became the new rhythm section on banjo and drums, respectively – and the pair continued with Moten’s orchestra through 1932. You can really appreciate the power of the banjo in jazz listening to this track – which finds Leroy Berry adding a real sense of adventure to the tune with his playing.
They also hired a new arranger, Jesse Stone (who later went on to a long and celebrated career as an arranger, bandleader, and songwriter) who found his job difficult, noting in an interview in 1977 that “These guys all played by ear… I was capable of writing the parts, but no one was capable of reading. So I had to sing the parts… I would sing a riff and then the group would learn that riff.”
I find that the Moten band’s improvised style of this period, free from the stiff confines of precisely written arrangements, is quite fun to listen to – and no doubt was a hit with dancers of the time.
Recorded in Chicago, Illinois on June 12, 1927.
Released as Victor 21199.
Credits
Bennie Moten – piano, director
Ed Lewis, Paul Webster – cornet
Thamon Hayes – trombone
Harlan Leonard – clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax
Jack Washington – clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax
Woody Walder – clarinet, tenor sax
LaForest Dent – alto sax, tenor sax
Leroy Berry – banjo
Vernon Page – tuba
Willie McWashington – drums
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