Its time for Swing History with our Australian clarinettist Duncan Hemstock.... Oran “Hot Lips” Page was a formidable trumpet player, singer and entertainer whose style was heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong. His early touring career afforded him the opportunity to work with blues and gospel legends Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and Ida Cox before he joined the territory band of Walter Page (no relation) known as the Blue Devils. Upon leaving the Blue Devils, he joined the Bennie Moten Orchestra alongside Count Basie until Moten’s death in 1935 whereupon he continued to work with Basie as a featured soloist alongside Jimmy Rushing in Basie’s band. In 1936, Armstrong recommended to his promoter Joe Glaser that he represent Page as a soloist and so Page left the Basie band just before the band reached nation wide acclaim. Unfortunately, Page never had the success as a band leader and soloist that he had as a sideman and in 1940 was working in the Bud Freeman Big Band before joining Artie Shaw from 1941 - 1942. The remainder of his career saw him leading his own band and touring as a soloist to Europe in the early 1950s before his untimely death in 1954 due to complications after a heart attack. https://youtube/watch?v=2-xPlrhfY5w
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 12:09:04 +0000
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