Its Friday - time for Swing History with Duncan Hemstock! Bennie Moten was a bandleader and pianist who lead a blues infused pre-avoidswing band that helped to bring together the early stars of Count Basies band. Along with Basie, Motens group contained Walter Page - who was influential in popularising playing four beats per bar on the bass - Hot Lips Page and Jimmy Rushing. The heavy blues tinge was a mark of the sounds heard in Kansas City, where the group came from. Moten Swing was written on the structure of Youre Driving Me Crazy and if you pay close attention to this version, you can hear a cheeky quote of said tune. It was very common for Jazz musicians to take the structure of pop songs, often taken from the shows that they played in, and write a new melody on top. Ellingtons Cottontail, for example, is written on the structure of I Got Rhythm by Gershwin. youtu.be/hr42hm6GvkQ
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 12:40:34 +0000
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