Benny Moten

When jazz fans hear the name, Benny Moten, they think of Kansas City. Benny was born there in 1894, and died of a botched tonsillectomy in a Kansas City hospital at the age of forty one. But in between, he became an big and important part of the jazz world. A pianist, he, and his orchestra were recorded on OKed sides from 1923 to 9125. Today those records are highly valued by jazz collectors. (Let us know if you own one.) In 1928, such famous artists as Count Basie, Walter Page, and Oran ‘Hot Lips’ Page played with Moten’s orchestra and made recording under the Victor label. Moten is credited with helping to develop riffing, the repetitive duplication of melodies  in a same song. Made popular in Kansas City, it was soon used by big bands everywhere.