Benjamin Moten (1893 –1935), was born in a family of musicians in Kansas City. He started playing professionally at age 12. In 1921, he becomes leader of his own band. In 1928 Moten‘s recording of Shout becomes a hit which allows him to hire the best musicians from rival bands like the Blue Devils. Luminaries such as Eddie Durham, Walter Page, Hots Lips Page, Jimmy Rushing, Ben Webster and the soon to be ennobled Bill Basie join the band. The result is revolution. Kansas City Jazz is born, the Swing era has begun. Riffs, call-and-responses, the hotness of the horns and the relentless forward motion of the rhythm section all make for a furiously fun sound that soon conquered the ears of jazzmen and dancers worldwide.

After Moten‘s sudden death, Count Basie took over the band, renamed it after himself and it became the best jazz band of the 30’s,

Compare Rumba Negro, a fine tune representative of the band’s early period, with the wild and hard-driving Lafayette. Notice for example the bass in Rumba Negro, played by a tuba, with the swinging and lilting walking stand-up bass of Walter Page in Lafayette.