''The Last of the Blue Devils'', subtitled ''The Kansas City Jazz Story'', is a 1979 film documentary with notable figures from the history of

Kansas City jazz Kansas City jazz is a style of jazz that developed in Kansas City, Missouri during the 1920s and 1930s, which marked the transition from the structured big band style to the much more improvisational style of bebop. The hard-swinging, bluesy tra ...

starring

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

and

Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American singer from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." His greatest fame was due to ...

. The film was produced and directed by

Bruce Ricker Bruce Ricker (October 10, 1942 – May 13, 2011) was a jazz and blues documentarian. He is best known for his collaboration with Clint Eastwood on films about jazz and blues legends. Life and career Ricker was born on Staten Island, Ricker was ...

. The film was made at a two musical gatherings of old Kansas City hands in 1974 at the

Mutual Musicians Foundation Mutual Musicians Foundation is a National Historic Landmark in Kansas City, Missouri. History The building at 1823 Highland Avenue is the former home of the Colored Musicians Local 627. The Mutual Musicians Foundation was incorporated to manage ...

, the Kansas City African-American Musician's Union, and consists largely of impromptu musical performances by Turner, Basie,

Jay McShann James Columbus "Jay" McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that included Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson, Walter Brown, and B ...

Jimmy Forrest James, Jim or Jimmy Forrest may refer to: Sports * James Forrest (rugby union) (born 1907), Scotland international rugby union player * James Forrest (baseball) (1897–1977), American baseball player * James Forrest (basketball) (born 1972), Am ...

, and Ernie Williams in various combinations, as well as film from a concert by the full

Count Basie Orchestra The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie in 1935 and recording regularly from 1936. Despite a brief disbandment at the beginning of the 19 ...

at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

in Lawrence. The ''Blue Devils'' of the title were the

Oklahoma City Blue Devils The Oklahoma City Blue Devils was the premier American Southwest territory jazz band in the 1920s. Originally called Billy King's Road Show, it disbanded in Oklahoma City in 1925 where Walter Page renamed it. The name ''Blue Devils'' came from th ...

a travelling band of the 1930s founded by bassist

Walter Page Walter Sylvester Page (February 9, 1900 – December 20, 1957) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist and bandleader, best known for his groundbreaking work as a double bass player with Walter Page's Blue Devils and the Count Basie Orchestr ...

that included Basie,

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most ...

, Buster Smith and

Oran "Hot Lips" Page Oran Thaddeus "Hot Lips" Page (January 27, 1908 – November 5, 1954) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. He was known as a scorching soloist and powerful vocalist. Page was a member of Walter Page's Blue Devils, Artie Sha ...

. Many of the same musicians ended up in the Bennie Moten Orchestra which ultimately became the Count Basie band. Songs in the film include "

One O'Clock Jump "One O'Clock Jump" is a jazz standard, a 12-bar blues instrumental, written by Count Basie in 1937. Background The melody derived from band members' riffs—Basie rarely wrote down musical ideas, so Eddie Durham and Buster Smith helped him cry ...

", "

Honey Hush "Honey Hush", is a blues song, written by Big Joe Turner (although he assigned the copyright to his wife, Lou Willie Turner), recorded in May 1953 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and released that August by Atlantic Records. It was a number-one song on ...

", "Rose Garden", " Chains of Love", "

Shake, Rattle and Roll "Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone (usually credited as Charles Calhoun, his songwriting name). The original recording by Big Joe Turner is ranked number 127 on the ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of The 500 Grea ...

", and a performance by the Basie Orchestra of " Night Train" featuring a lengthy improvisation on

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

by the song's writer, Jimmy Forrest.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Last of the Blue Devils Documentary films about jazz music and musicians Music of Kansas City, Missouri 1979 films 1979 documentary films