Jeter-Pillars Orchestra was a jazz troupe led by altoist James Jeter and tenor-saxophonist Hayes Pillars

Hayes Pillars

Hayes Pillars was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and bandleader....

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Jeter and Pillars were previously members of Alphonso Trent's big band. After that outfit split in 1933 they formed the group, which subsequently became the house band at the Club Plantation in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, their homebase for the next decade.

The Jeter-Pillars orchestra served as a training ground for up-and-coming jazz players including trumpeters Harry "Sweets" Edison

Sweets Edison

Harry "Sweets" Edison , born in Columbus, Ohio, was an American jazz trumpeter and member of the Count Basie Orchestra.-Biography:He spent his early childhood in Kentucky, where he was introduced to music by an uncle...

 and Peanuts Holland

Peanuts Holland

Herbert Lee "Peanuts" Holland was an American jazz trumpeter best known for his contributions in swing jazz. He was born in Norfolk, Virginia and died in Stockholm, Sweden....

, bassist Jimmy Blanton

Jimmy Blanton

Jimmie Blanton was an influential American jazz double bassist. Blanton is credited with being the originator of pizzicato and bowed bass solos....

, drummers Jo Jones

Jo Jones

Jo Jones was an American jazz drummer.Known as Papa Jo Jones in his later years, he was sometimes confused with another influential jazz drummer, Philly Joe Jones...

, Sid Catlett

Sid Catlett

Sidney Catlett , was a swinging jazz drummer often referred to as "Big Sid Catlett" because of his large frame.-Biography:...

 and Kenny Clarke

Kenny Clarke

Kenny Clarke , born Kenneth Spearman Clarke, nicknamed "Klook" and later known as Liaqat Ali Salaam, was a jazz drummer and an early innovator of the bebop style of drumming...

, guitarist Floyd Smith

Floyd Smith (musician)

Floyd Smith was an American jazz guitarist.Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Smith studied music theory as a teenager and leared ukelele as a child before taking up guitar...

, tenor-saxophonist Jimmy Forrest

Jimmy Forrest

Jimmy Forrest was an African American jazz musician, who played tenor saxophone throughout his career....

, and alto saxophonist Chris Woods

Chris Woods (musician)

Chris Woods was an American jazz alto saxophonist.Woods played locally in Memphis early in his career before moving to St. Louis to play with the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra and trumpeter George Hudson. He then joined Tommy Dean's combo, recording with them for Town and Country, Miracle, and States...

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In the late 1940s the group toured the Far East for the USO, before breaking up. The Jeter-Pillars Orchestra recorded four sides for Vocalion Records in 1937. The recordings were:

• "Lazy Rhythm" (their theme song)
• "I Like Pie, I Like Cake"
• "Make Believe
  Make Believe (Jerome Kern song)
  "Make Believe" is a show tune from the 1927 Broadway musical Show Boat with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.In the show, it is first sung as a duet by the characters Gaylord Ravenal, a handsome riverboat gambler, and the teenage Magnolia Hawks, an aspiring performer and...
  
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• "I'll Always Be In Love With You"