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Price, Jesse "Country"

May 1, 1909--April 19, 1974
drummer

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Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Jesse Price began playing the drums at the age of fourteen. During the 1920s he toured on the TOBA circuit accompanying blues singers.

Jesse Price
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He moved, in 1934, to Kansas City, where he played with George E. Lee. Price pioneered a smooth, rhythmic style of drumming. Price also possessed the endurance needed to survive Kansas City jam sessions. When challenged by two drummers from out of town, Price "played 111 choruses of 'Nagasaki'" with his solo running for "an hour and fifteen minutes."

Price played with Count Basie at the Reno Club in 1936. After parting ways with Basie, he led his own group which featured Charlie Parker. From 1939 to 1940, Price worked with Harlan Leonard's Kansas City Rockets. He moved to Los Angeles in 1941, working briefly with Ella Fitzgerald and often recording for the Capitol label.

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Sources:
Chilton, John.
Who's Who of Jazz, Storyville to Swing Street. Philadelphia: Chilton Book Company, 1972.
Russell, Ross.
Jazz Style in Kansas City and the Southwest. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971.
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