Territory-Band

Territory bands were called in the era of swing bands of the 1930s, those bands who were not resident in the metropolis of jazz such as New York or Chicago and were also limited in their scope to a particular area, they in Battle of the Bands competitions defended against other bands.

These bands covered the entire territory of the United States, where they significantly to the popularization of swing, ie, modern dance music, contributed. The vast majority of these bands were not given the opportunity to record their music on vinyl records. They came in different stylistic nuances of dance music and they were mainly composed of African Americans. Initially they toured with the railroad and an instrument truck, later with tour buses. The decline of this predominantly instrumental musical culture, which originated prior to 1920, to massive big-band extinction in the late 1940s and early 1950s had various causes, including the Depression in the 1930s, the rigid unions, the radio, the increased singing, amplified instruments and the closure of the dancehalls that could accommodate up to 3,000 dancers and had to be sonicated according acoustically.

As the most important center of this territory jazz applicable in retrospect Kansas City ( a traffic junction, where the band had mostly through travel and where regularly held -band competitions ), the Midwest and the South. This area came from not only the most famous bands of the Kansas City jazz as that of Count Basie, Andy Kirk and Jay McShann, but today less well-known bands such as the George E. Lee, Grant Moore and his New Orleans Black Devils, Bill Brown and His brownies and the Hunter's Serenaders. Many jazz musicians who later became famous as Jimmy Crawford, Budd Johnson, Jimmy Rushing and Walter Page played at the beginning of their careers in Territory bands.

Among the earliest of these bands was that of Alphonse Trent. She looked about a decade to 1934 in the area around Dallas, Texas. Also in Texas, in San Antonio, the orchestra played by Troy Floyd. Oklahoma was the center of the Blue Devils, the band of the later Basie bassist Walter Page. Except Rushing came from his band Basie himself, Lester Young, Buster Smith and Hot Lips Page. From Chicago toured Al Katz and his Kittens as Novelty band.