Walter Page showed a love for music even as a child, perhaps due in part to the influence of his aunt Lillie, a music teacher.
17 Facts About Walter Page
1.
2.
Walter Page gained his first musical experience as a bass drum and bass horn player in the brass bands of his neighborhood.
3.
Walter Page was a chubby little cat, bald, one of the old military men.
4.
Walter Page wore glasses on his nose and came from Cuba around 1912 or 1914.
5.
Walter Page knew all the instruments and couldn't play anything himself, but he could teach.
6.
At college, Walter Page completed a three-year course in music in one year, in addition to taking a three-year course on gas engines.
7.
In 1923, Walter Page left the Moten band and began an engagement with Billy King's Road Show, touring the Theater Owners' Booking Association circuit across the United States.
8.
Walter Page wanted badly to have his band square off against Moten's band, which he states in an interview never happened.
9.
Unable to find suitable replacements, facing booking problems, and dealing with a musicians' union conflict, Walter Page eventually ceded control of the band to James Simpson.
10.
Walter Page then proceeded to join Moten's band himself in 1931, staying on until 1934.
11.
Walter Page returned to the Basie Band in 1946 for three more years.
12.
Walter Page did it on four strings, but other bass players couldn't get that high so they started making a five-string bass.
13.
Walter Page is seen as the "logical extension of [bassist] Pops Foster", an influential bassist known for his dependable timekeeping.
14.
Walter Page is recognized as "one of the first bassists to play four beats to the bar", in contrast to the two-beat style of New Orleans jazz.
15.
Walter Page did contribute to the legitimacy of the double bass as a melodic instrument, "open[ing] the door for virtuosos like [Duke Ellington Orchestra bassist] Jimmy Blanton to garner more respect for the instrument", through improvisation.
16.
Walter Page had a complex understanding of the roles of all the instruments in his bands, due in no small part to the fact that he was a multi-instrumentalist himself.
17.
Walter Page is perhaps best known for his work with the Count Basie Orchestra from 1935 to 1942.