Prelude to Swing: The 1920s Recordings of the Bennie Moten Orchestra

By Marc Rice


In December 1932, Kansas City's Bennie Moten orchestra recorded ten sides that signaled the advent of a new style of midwestern swing, a sound most closely identified with the Count Basie orchestra. With the recent infusion of some of the best players in the west, including trumpeter oran "Hot Lips" Page, bassist Walter Page, trombonist/arranger/ guitarist eddie Durham, and pianist/arranger Count Basie, these sides are rightly regarded as the moten band's most innovative. but this essay is not a study of a masterwork. rather, it is an analysis of the decade's worth of recordings that led to this breakthrough session. The moten sides of the 1920s reveal a dramatic process of musical maturity and stylistic assimilation, forged in one of the country's most highly competitive musical marketplaces. For what they can teach us about jazz styles, and the maturation process of midwestern musicians, arrangers, and bandleaders in this decade, these recordings, though not always stellar, deserve to be examined in their own right.