Wednesday, August 2, 1933

I went out and swung up under the tree. It rained a little today. Bernice came down and Pauline and her and I went to lunch.

Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra

Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra was the most successful jazz band
in the Midwest. The band toured all over the country and had a top-selling
recording in 1927 called "South." In 1929 Count Basie of The Blue Devils
joined the band, and then several other members of the Devils followed him
to the orchestra. Count Basie took over the orchestra in 1935 after Moten's
death from a botched tonsillectomy. Under Basie's leadership the band emerged
as one of the greatest of all jazz bands.