Artist: Walter Page
Walter Page (February 9, 1900 – December 20, 1957) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist and bandleader, best known for his groundbreaking work as a double bass player with Walter Page's Blue Devils and the Count Basie Orchestra.
Page was born in Gallatin, Missouri, in 1900. After Page had completed high school, he went on to study to become a music teacher at the University of Kansas at Lawrence. At college, Page completed a three-year course in music in one year, in addition to taking a three-year course on gas engines. Between the years 1918 and 1923, he moonlighted as a tuba, bass saxophone, and string bass player with the Bennie Moten Orchestra.
In 1923, Page left the Moten band and began an engagement with Billy King's Road Show, touring the Theater Owners' Booking Association (TOBA) circuit across the United States. The band included Page's future Basie band mates Jimmy Rushing and Count Basie himself. The band soon fell apart, however, which led to the formation of Walter Page and the Blue Devils in 1925. The Blue Devils were a territory band based out of the Oklahoma City-Wichita, Kansas area. Throughout various times in its six-year lifespan (1925-1931) the band featured such noteworthy figures as Basie, Rushing, Buster Smith, Lester Young, and Hot Lips Page.
Page played with the Count Basie Orchestra from 1935 to 1942, and was an integral part of what came to be called the "All-American Rhythm Section. Together with drummer Jo Jones, guitarist Freddie Green, and pianist Basie, the rhythm section pioneered the "Basie Sound", a style in which Page, as bass player, clearly established the beat, allowing his band mates to provide accompaniment more freely. (Until this point, the rhythm of a jazz band was traditionally felt in the pianist's left hand and the kick of the bass drum on all four beats.)
More than any other jazz bass player in history, Page is credited with developing and popularizing the "walking bass" style of playing on all four beats, a transition from the older, two-beat style. Page himself acknowledged the influence of Wellman Braud, who may have been the first bassist to actually record the "walking bass" technique on Washington Wobble. While it remains unclear who, exactly, was the true 'originator' of the walking bass style, Page is nonetheless accepted as one of, if not the primary, proponent of the style.
Further information about Walter Page is found at here.
This content was excerpted from the Wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Page, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).
Walter Page's Blue Devils — Squabblin’ (1929)
Walter Page: Videos
Walter Page's Blue Devils — Squabblin’ (1929)
Walter Page — Skiffle Jam