Bennie Moten and Buster Moten, music · Recorded by Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra · Camden, New Jersey, 1932
Moten Swing
Bennie and Buster Moten share credit for this Kansas City instrumental, recorded in Camden, New Jersey, in 1932. Its follow Walter Donaldson's 1930 song You're Driving Me Crazy, a frame for riffing. Hear it from Moten's band, Kenny Burrell, Sonny Stitt with Oscar Peterson, and James Carter.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the 1932 Kansas City band record, with Count Basie on piano. It then follows the tune through guitarists Barney Kessel and Kenny Burrell, Bob Brookmeyer's long 1958 version, Sonny Stitt with Oscar Peterson's trio, an organ group with Gene Ammons, Peterson's own trio and James Carter in 1996.
Sonny Stitt with the Oscar Peterson Trio1959 · Bebop
1960sGene Ammons with Joe Newman and Jack McDuff1961 · Hard bop
The Oscar Peterson Trio1962 · Bebop
1970s
1980s
1990sJames Carter1996 · Post-bop
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Hear the original
Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra · 1932
“Moten's Swing”, Victor 78 rpm single
Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra recorded it for Victor in Camden, New Jersey, on December 13, 1932, in the band's final session. Moten did not play on it, Eddie Durham arranged most of the session's sides, and Count Basie was the pianist.
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Listen for
Count Basie opens as the piano soloist. A big band hit lands in the second , then the music lifts into a new as trumpeter Hot Lips Page solos before a loud closing shout.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 4 of the in a steady four-beat feel: , A♭6, , . Smaller version: play only the roots, A♭, A♭, B♭, E♭.
Barney Kessel recorded it with a seven-piece group at Contemporary's Los Angeles studio on July 26, 1955. Contemporary issued it in 1956 on To Swing or Not to Swing.
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Two guitars, Barney Kessel and Al Hendrickson, play alongside Harry Edison's trumpet and Georgie Auld's tenor saxophone. The track is short, at 3:57.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , 17 to 24: , , C6 Am7, Dm7 G7, C6 Am7, Dm7 G7, C6, . Smaller version: play one per bar: C6, Dm7, C6, Dm7, C6, Dm7, C6, B♭m7.
Bob Brookmeyer led a seven-piece group in New York on October 23, 1958, for Kansas City Revisited. United Artists issued the album in 1959.
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Bob Brookmeyer's valve trombone and two tenor saxophones, Al Cohn and Paul Quinichette, share a track that runs past ten minutes. Nat Pierce plays piano and Jim Hall guitar.
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Play 29 to 32, the end of the last : , , , . Smaller version: play only the roots, B♭, E♭, A♭ F, B♭ E♭.
Gene Ammons with Joe Newman and Jack McDuff · 1961 · Hard bop
Twisting the Jug
Gene Ammons led a sextet with Joe Newman and Jack McDuff at Van Gelder Studio on November 28, 1961. Prestige issued it in 1962 on Twisting the Jug.
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Listen for
Gene Ammons on tenor saxophone and Joe Newman on trumpet play with Jack McDuff's organ and Ray Barretto's conga drum. The track runs 4:56.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight of the with a walking bass line, one note per beat under the . That takes some bass-line practice, so the smaller version is to play only the root of each chord on beat one.
James Carter's quartet and Buddy Tate recorded it at the Power Station in New York on January 30, 1996. Atlantic issued it in June 1996 on Conversin' with the Elders.
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Listen for
James Carter and Buddy Tate both play tenor saxophone, backed by Craig Taborn on piano, Jaribu Shahid on bass and Tani Tabbal on drums. The track runs 7:44.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole , 8 , at a relaxed medium tempo: , A♭6, , , , , A♭6 , B♭7 E♭7. Smaller version: play bars 1 to 4 only.
Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra records it for Victor in Camden, New Jersey, in December 1932, with Count Basie at the piano. Benny Goodman's orchestra plays it on a Kansas City radio broadcast in September 1938.
1940s
Jay McShann's orchestra plays it on a Wichita radio station in December 1940, with Charlie Parker on alto saxophone.
1950s
Barney Kessel's seven-piece group records it in Los Angeles in 1955, and Kenny Burrell's quartet in New York in 1956. Bob Brookmeyer's group stretches it past ten minutes in 1958, and Sonny Stitt plays it with Oscar Peterson's trio in 1959.
1960s
Gene Ammons and Joe Newman play it with Jack McDuff's organ in November 1961. Oscar Peterson's trio records a 2:53 version in December 1962 for Night Train.
1970s
Paul Gonsalves and Earl Hines play it on Paul Gonsalves Meets Earl Hines, an album Apple Music dates to 1972.
1980s
Count Basie's orchestra records it for Pablo in 1983 on the album Me and You.
1990s
James Carter's quartet, joined by Buddy Tate on tenor saxophone, records it in New York in January 1996 for Atlantic.
2010s
Ellery Eskelin's trio with Christian Weber and Michael Griener plays it on Sensations of Tone, released by Intakt in January 2017.
More great versions
3 more, from 1954 to 2017. Tap a cover to play it here.
1950sCal Tjader1954 · Cool jazz
1960s
1970s
1980sCount Basie1983 · Big band
1990s
2000s
2010sEllery Eskelin, Christian Weber and Michael Griener2017
Ellery Eskelin, Christian Weber and Michael Griener
2017
Sensations of Tone
Saxophonist Ellery Eskelin's trio with bassist Christian Weber and drummer Michael Griener plays it on Sensations of Tone, released by Intakt in January 2017.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
A♭ majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
A♭ major → C major → A♭ majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
A♭
C
A♭
The stay in , and the , 17 to 24, moves to . Each A section runs , A♭6, , in bars 1 to 4, then , , A♭6 in bars 5 to 7. Bar 8 is B♭7 E♭7 in the first A and in the last. The B section plays , three times, then C6 and B♭m7 E♭7, which leads back to A♭. The second A in iReal Pro's chart turns toward the B section with A♭6 and Dm7 G7. These follow iReal Pro's chart; other lead sheets may spell some differently.