Tag: Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra

My first Bennie Moten Okeh!! Wonderfully recorded in the city where I fell in love with jazz!

An upbeat number that features solos by Lammar Wright on cornet, Thamon Hayes on trombone, a wild “wah-wah” clarinet solo by Woody Walder, and an alto sax solo which I think must be Harlan Leonard.

The Moten band played extensively in the Kansas City area during this time, and during the summers played on nighttime cruises up the Missouri River on steamers, as well as the dance pavilion at Liberty Park in Raytown.

This 1925 session for Okeh represented a high point for the early Moten band. Recorded by Ralph S. Peer, director of recording for Okeh, with a portable recording unit brought to Kansas City, the sound quality is quite good.

Peer left Okeh shortly after this session, which was Moten’s last for the label. He didn’t record again until the band auditioned for Victor in Chicago in December of 1926 at a session arranged by Peer – who had joined the Victor label.

For anyone counting, that’s a sixteen month drought of no recording for one of America’s top jazz bands in its prime!! That’s a crime! We’ll just have to imagine the amazing records they might have recorded during that time period.

Recorded in Kansas City, Missouri circa May 14, 1925.
Released as Okeh 8242.

Credits:
Bennie Moten – piano, director
Lammar Wright, Harry Cooper – cornet
Harlan Leonard – clarinet, alto sax
Thamon Hayes – trombone
Woody Walder – clarinet, tenor sax, kazoo effect
LaForest Dent – banjo
Vernon Page – tuba
Willie Hall – drums

Sources:
Jazz and Ragtime Records (1897-1942), 6th Ed., Brian Rust
Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop – A History, by Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix
Jazz Style in Kansas City and the South West, by Ross Russell

Hear the Full Song @JazzCrazy

After recording extensively and exclusively for the Okeh label from 1923-25, Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra switched to Victor in 1926. This popular side is from their first session with Victor in Chicago – recording ten sides over a two day period.

Victor talent scout Ralph Peer (who had initially worked for Okeh) was a big proponent of Moten’s band, writing in early 1927 that these first sides for Victor “the best [they] ever made.” He offered Moten an exclusive contract with Victor and signed the band. Moten and his band were featured in Victor catalogs next to white bands such as Kansas City’s own Coon-Sanders Orchestra.

Side note – after these records were released in early 1927, Moten and trombonist Thamon Hayes went into business together and opened a music store on 18th St. in downtown Kansas City that sold phonographs, sheet music, and records from the Victor, Columbia, Okeh, and Paramount labels. Now there’s a record store I would love to have been able to experience!

Aside from “South” (which continued to be pressed on 78 rpm and 45 rpm until the mid 1950s), this is probably the most plentiful Moten disc that one can find on the market today. Due to its popularity there were a lot of copies of this one pressed.

The tune features an extended banjo solo by Sam Tall accompanied by Moten on piano.

Recorded in Chicago Illinois on December 13, 1926.
Released as Victor 20485.

Credits:
Bennie Moten – piano, director
Lammar Wright – cornet
Thamon Hayes – trombone
Harlan Leonard – clarinet, alto sax
LaForest Dent – alto sax, baritone sax
Woody Walder – clarinet, tenor sax
Sam Tall – banjo
Vernon Page – tuba
Willie McWashington – drums

Some excellent Kansas City jazz from Bennie Moten on Victor.

September 6-7 1928 saw Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra in the Victor studios in Camden, New Jersey for an epic two day session that yielded eleven released sides – including “South” – the last song to be recorded on the 7th and the band’s most popular and enduring hit. “South” stayed in print in the RCA Victor catalog until the late 1950s and was also released on 45pm.

Here, we have the first song recorded on Sept 6th: “Justrite”, with songwriting credits split between Moten and cornetist Ed Lewis.

I’m not sure if my ears are full of stuffing, but a few other versions of this tune out there (like the version on Spotify) sound a tad sharp. This one sounds in tune to my ears when I play along with it – but you’ll have to tell me what you think. If I’m wrong please let me know and I’ll schedule a cerumenectomy post haste. ^_^

The tune starts off with an insistent tension, but soon falls into a driving groove with some nice ensemble playing before Ed Lewis finally hits a solo around the minute mark. He is followed by what sound like a vocal effect similar to Cliff Edwards’ “Effin’”. A baritone sax solo follows, then a banjo solo. A second distant-sounding cornet takes us back to a rousing conclusion.

Recorded in Camden, New Jersey on September 6, 1928.
Released as Victor 21739.

Credits
Bennie Moten – piano, director
Ed Lewis, Booker Washington – cornet
Thamon Hayes – trombone
Harlan Leonard – clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax
Jack Washington – clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax
Woody Walder – clarinet, tenor sax
Leroy Berry – banjo
Vernon Page – tuba
Willie McWashington – drums

While some jazz historians have pooh-poohed the Moten band of 1928 for its lack of flashy soloists, it is important to remember: this is the band (and this is the session) that also yielded “South” – a title so popular that stayed in print until the 1950s and even was released as a 45 rpm 7″ single! There is staying power in this band’s craft, execution, rhythm, and bouncy performances!

Here we hear an excellent blues number filled with disciplined solos and a swingin’ beat that seems to literally bounce with the help of Vernon Page’s pulsing lyrical tuba lines.

Recorded in Camden, New Jersey on September 7, 1928.
Released as Victor V-38012.

Credits:
Bennie Moten – piano, director
Ed Lewis, Booker Washington – cornet
Thamon Hayes- trombone
Harlan Leonard – clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax
Jack Washington – clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax
Woody Walder – clarinet, tenor sax
Leroy Berry – banjo
Vernon Page – tuba
Willie McWashington – drums

Another of the many excellent sides recorded by the Kansas City-based Bennie Moten orchestra on the Victor label.

This is the B-side to “Pass Out Lightly” – which I also enjoyed so much that I had to post both sides.

Side A: “Pass Out Lightly”
https://youtu.be/nVWptpf4Dv0

This piece has some excellent solos, as well as an intriguing and lively hummed vocalization section that appears at the 1:55 mark – accompanied by what sounds like a kazoo or perhaps a paper and comb.

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

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