Oklahoma City Blue Devils

The Oklahoma Town Blue Devils, also called Walter Page’s Blue Devils, featured an all-star lineup as you of Kansas City’s premier jazz bands in the past due 1920s and early 1930s. The place music group is most beneficial known for breaking inside a gifted youthful pianist called William Basie, who later on gained popularity as Count number Basie. Additional luminaries included vocalist Jimmy Hurrying, alto saxophonist Buster Smith, trumpeteer Oran “Hot Lip area” Web page and, briefly, tenor saxophonist Lester Small. Web page, who performed bass, tuba and baritone sax, got the music group collectively when the Billy Ruler Road Show split up in 1925. The music group slice Blue Devil Blues in 1929, Basie’s 1st recording; he remaining soon after. The music group began at nine users and grew to as much as 15, sometimes including Wayne Simpson on trumpets, Eddie Durham on trombone, Willie Lewis on piano, Reuben Lynch on acoustic guitar; Edward McNeil on drums, Ernie Williams on vocals, Abe Bolar on bass, Lemuel C. Johnson] on clarinet and tenor saxophone, and [$Don Byas on tenor and alto saxophone. The music group trumped just about any opponent it confronted in battle from the rings competitions, aside from the old Bennie Moten music group, which eventually assimilated a lot of the Blue Devils, including Web page. The corps from the music group later continued to try out with Count number Basie.