Walter Page(1900-1957)
- Actor
Blues musician Walter Page was born in Gallatin, MO, in 1900. When he
was in his 20s he joined Bennie Moten's orchestra. In 1925 he formed
his own band, Walter Page's Blue Devils, which became one of the most
popular and influential blues "swing bands". The band included such
blues legends as Hot Lips Page,
Buster Smith,
Lester Young,
Count Basie and
Jimmy Rushing. The Blue Devils didn't
record much--they only put out two singles--and its top members left to
join Moten's band, which Page himself finally did in 1931. He
eventually joined
Count Basie and His Orchestra,
and in the late 1940s worked in New York City with such blues icons as
Billie Holiday.
Page stayed in the New York blues scene, and died in that city in 1957.
Page stayed in the New York blues scene, and died in that city in 1957.
