Walter Page - Style and Influence

Style and Influence

More than any other jazz bass player in history, Page is credited with developing and popularizing the “walking bass” style of playing on all four beats, a transition from the older, two-beat style. “He started that ‘strolling’ or walking’ bass,” recalls Harry “Sweets” Edison, “going way up and then coming right on down. He did it on four strings, but other bass players couldn’t get that high so they started making a five-string bass.” Page himself acknowledges the influence of Wellman Braud, who may have been the first bassist to actually record the “walking bass” technique on Washington Wobble. While it remains unclear who, exactly, was the true “originator” of the walking bass style, Page is nonetheless accepted as one of, if not the primary, proponent of the style.

Page is seen as the “logical extension of Pops Foster,” a influential bassist known for his dependable timekeeping. Page is also 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. Band mate Eddie Durham recalls how Page helped make the double bass a viable alternative to bass horns, such as the tuba: “Without amplification, a lot of guys weren’t strong enough on bass fiddle. But Walter Page you could hear!” Page’s imposing stature led Durham to state that “he was like a house with a note.” Jazz critic Gunther Schuller notes describes some of Page’s other stylistic contributions: “For the bass functions simultaneously on several levels: as a rhythm instrument; as a pitch instrument delineating the harmonic progression; and, since the days of Walter Page, as a melodic or contrapuntal instrument.” Page was also famous for his restraint, a lesson fellow bassist Gene Ramey recounts:

“There’s a whole lot could do here… but what you must do is play a straight line, because that man out there’s waiting for food from you. You could run chord changes on every chord that’s going on. You’ve got time to do it. But if you do, you’re interfering with that guy . So run a straight line.”

Although he was not well-known as a soloist, Walter Page recorded one of the earliest jazz solos on the double bass on “Pagin’ the Devil” with the Kansas City Six. He did, however contribute to the legitimacy of the double bass as a melodic instrument, "...open the door for virtuosos like Jimmy Blanton to garner more respect for the instrument," through improvisation. "Without Page setting the table," writes DiCaire, "the exploits of Blanton would never have happened." “I’m not just a bass player,” Walter Page once said, “I’m a musician with a foundation.” 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. In fact, on Blue Devil Blues, one of only two recordings of Walter Page’s Blue Devils, Page begins on tuba before switching to string bass and finally baritone saxophone, playing all three “astoundingly well.” Drummer Jo Jones recalled an instance when “somebody was fooling around, Mr. Walter Page left his bass, went down quiet as a cat, got the baritone, played the sax parts, and went back to his place.”

Walter Page is perhaps best known for his work with the Count Basie Orchestra from 1935-1942. Page, drummer Jo Jones, guitarist Freddie Green, and pianist Count Basie became known as the “All-American Rhythm Section” and set the standard for jazz rhythm sections that is still emulated and considered the gold-standard today. Together, the four musicians “…created the bedrock for the band to pile on a superstructure of exciting riffs…” writes Shipton. Page's playing was a great influence on Jo Jones, who "says that it was Page who really taught him to play in Kansas City: ‘An even 4/4’.” Indeed, Berliner notes that “During the swing period, Walter Page’s largely stepwise walking bass accompaniment in Count Basie’s band epitomized the changing emphasis on the four-beat approach to meter described by Foster.” “As part of the pianist’s outstanding rhythm section," says Richard Cook, "Page’s rock-solid time and unflustered swing was a key part of the four-way conversation.” Jo Jones describes the dynamic of the rhythm section as a process and a group endeavor: “We worked at it, to build a rhythm section, every day, every night. We worked alone, not with the band all the time. I didn’t care what happened—one of us would be up to par. If three were down, one would carry the three. Never four were out.” “At its best, the Basie rhythm section was nothing less than a Cadillac with the force of a Mack truck. They more or less gave you a push, or a ride, and they played no favorites, whether you were an E-flat or B-flat soloist.”