* En anglais uniquement
One of the finest bassists of the swing era,
Walter Page rarely soloed but his four-to-the-bar walking behind soloists set the standard for bassists in the 1930s before the rise of
Jimmy Blanton. A longtime resident of Kansas City,
Page was with
Bennie Moten in the early days (1918-1923) and then during 1925-1931 led the Blue Devils,
Moten's main competition. Unfortunately
Page's group only made two recordings and by 1931
Moten had achieved his goal of stealing most of the band's top players, including
Page himself. After
Moten's death in 1935,
Walter Page achieved fame as part of
Count Basie's unbeatable rhythm section (along with the pianist/leader, rhythm guitarist
Freddie Green and drummer
Jo Jones) during 1935-1942 and 1946-1949. He spent his remaining years playing with
Eddie Condon's Dixieland bands and with his friends from the swing world, including
Hot Lips Page,
Jimmy Rushing, and various
Basie alumni.
Page collapsed on the way to filming The Sound of Jazz and died shortly after at the age of 57. ~ Scott Yanow