Under the Weather

Hello. I had intended to present Part 2 of Glenn Miller Live this week but I came down with a severe cold that affected my voice. So rather than subject everyone to my scratchy, cracking voice I pulled out an encore presentation of Big Band Bash to present this week. It is a program of three radio remotes. The bands are from Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Glenn Miller. I hope you enjoy it and I will be back next time with part number 2 of Glenn Miller Live as we remember his birthday. Hopefully my voice will be back to normal. Thank you for listening.

Glenn Miller Live - A Birthday Salute

To celebrate Glenn Miller's birthday I decided to do a two part show with some of his recordings from the Glen Island casino. Last year a did a four part series on Glenn in honor of his birthday which is March 1, 1904.  The recordings are from radio remotes starting in May of 1939.  here is little bit I found on Wikipedia on the Glen Island Casino:

The Glen Island Casino dining hall rose on the foundation of the Grand Cafe, one of the few structures remaining from Starin's park. The building opened into a series of balconies overlooking the Long Island Sound which made it an attractive dining and entertaining location.^[18] At the time, the term "casino" was not associated with legalized gambling but instead described "a public social place for entertainment." However, the nightspot was soon living up to the contemporary definition of its name. By 1930, when prohibition was marking its tenth year in the United States, Glen Island Casino was acquiring the reputation as being a speakeasy, yet at the same time the Casino had also begun to book up-and coming musicians for weekend dances. One of the first was Oswald George Nelson, better known as "Ozzie", who set the pace packing the 60-foot by 124-foot hall with throngs of young dancers. Accompanied by his wife, Harriet Hilliard, the Ozzie Nelson Orchestra gained national attention when it played the Casino's 1932 season.^[19]
The next summer the most influential white band in the United States during the early 1930s, the Casa Loma Orchestra, drew in the crowds and ushered in the Big Band era for the Casino. The performances at the Glen Island Casino were being heard nationwide. Situated on the Sound, the Casino's enormous ballroom was acoustically ideal for the crystal-clear radio transmissions.^[20]
Many artists made their name at the Casino, among them such notables as Glenn Miller,^[21] the Dorsey Brothers,^[22] Benny Goodman, Charlie Barnet, Larry Clinton, Les Brown and Doris Day, Charlie Spivak, Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, Hal Mcintyre and Claude Thornhill.^[23]
After the Big Band Era's end, the Glen Island Casino was eventually converted to a restaurant and catering hall, which operates as part of the present-day county park—open to county residents only—on the site.

Here is a current picture of Glen Island Harbor Club (as it is now known):

I hope you'll tune in as we celebrate the birthday of the Late bandleader Glenn Miller.

Posting Mistake and Chick Webb

Well I'm back for a record breaking two weeks in a row. I had a little mishap with the podcast. Lat week I thought I was uploading the show on Jimmie Lunceford but it turned out to be this week's show on Chick Webb. I discovered it a few days ago and replaced it with the correct show. This week's show is on Chick Webb and is a show I produced a few years ago.

Here is a little biography of Chick Webb I found on Allmusic.com, it was written by Richard S. Ginell.

Chick Webb represented the triumph of the human spirit in jazz and life. Hunchbacked, small in stature, almost a dwarf with a large face and broad shoulders, Webb fought off congenital tuberculosis of the spine in order to become one of the most competitive drummers and bandleaders of the big band era. Perched high upon a platform, he used custom-made pedals, goose-neck cymbal holders, a 28-inch bass drum and a wide variety of other percussion instruments to create thundering solos of a complexity and energy that paved the way for Buddy Rich (who studied Webb intensely) and Louie Bellson. Alas, Webb did not get a fair shake on records; Decca's primitive recording techniques could not adequately capture his spectacular technique and wide dynamic range. He could not read music, but that didn't stop him either, for he memorized each arrangement flawlessly. Although his band did not become as influential and revered in the long run as some of its contemporaries, it nevertheless was feared in its time for its battles of the bands in Harlem's Savoy Ballroom; a famous encounter with the high-flying Benny Goodman outfit at its peak (with Gene Krupa in the drummer's chair) left the latter band drained and defeated.







William Henry Webb bought his first set of drums with his earnings as a newsboy, and he began playing in bands on pleasure boats. After moving to New York in 1925, he led bands in various clubs before settling in for long regular runs at the Savoy beginning in 1931. Although Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges played with the band early on, the Webb band was oddly short on major soloists during its heyday from the mid-'30s onward; the young alto sax player Louis Jordan made the biggest impression after leaving the band. But the band made up for it with a crisp ensemble sound, Webb's disciplined, ferociously driving drum pyrotechnics, trumpeter Taft Jordan's impressions of Louis Armstrong, and most of all, a series of strong compositions and charts by Edgar Sampson ("Blue Lou" and "Stomping at the Savoy" among them). In 1935, Webb hired the teenaged Ella Fitzgerald after she won a talent contest at the Apollo Theater, became her legal guardian, and rebuilt his show around the singer, who provided him with his biggest hit record, "A Tisket-A-Tasket," in 1938. The band's fame continued to grow, fueled by its reputation as a giant-killer in the Savoy battles and a continuous string of Decca 78s that featured such irresistible numbers as "T'aint What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" and the B-side of "Tasket," "Liza." But Webb's precarious health began to give way, and after a major operation in Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, he died (his last words reportedly were, "I'm sorry, I've got to go."). After Webb's death, Fitzgerald fronted the band until it finally broke up in 1942.

I hope you enjoy the music. Thanks for listening and remember you can sign up for the Big Band Bash podcast on ITunes or go here: http://traffic.libsyn.com/bigbandbash/BigBandBash312.mp3 for the direct download link.

I'm Back, Black History Month and Jimmie Lunceford

Hello All. Since I publish my podcast Big Band Bash and in the documentation I say tune in at  bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com I thought it would probably be good if I actually updated the bog and let readers know what is happening with Big Band Bash.

I have been publishing the podcast every weekend and have been getting more and more downloads and emails every week. Thank You all for listening and writing. When I switched over to Libsyn for the frst few months I was getting, maybe, 2,000 downloads a month. But slowly the downloads have been climbing and last month saw a record 6,669 downloads. That is amazing to me since Big Band music is not that popular. I love creating the podcast and listening to the music as I'm putting it together.

Well, today I am going to start Black History Month with a show I did a few years ago on the band of Jimmie Lunceford.  Here is the direct link to the podcast: http://traffic.libsyn.com/bigbandbash/BigBandBash315.mp3 Here is a little history on found on Jimmie at swingmusic.net:


Jimmie Lunceford’s music education included studying under Wilberforce J. Whiteman, the father of Paul Whiteman. His scholastic education included receiving a BA from Fisk University and later attending New York City College. Although Lunceford became proficient on all reed instruments he preferred the alto saxophone.

Jimmie Lunceford recruited the nucleus of his band while an athletic instructor at Manassas High School in Memphis, Tennessee. It was here, in 1927, that he organized a student jazz band called the Chicksaw Syncopators. The personnel of this band included Moses Allen (bass) and Jimmy Crawford (drums). Later, Willie Smith (alto) and Eddie Wilcox (piano) were added. The group turned professional in 1929, waxing its first recordings for RCA in 1930. After playing for several years in Cleveland and Buffalo, in 1934, the band began a high profile engagement at the famed Cotton Club in Harlem. At first the band played flashy, stiff instrumentals in the early Casa Loma orchestra manner such as two

While Wilcox and Smith both contributed early arrangements, it was the addition of ace arranger and trumpet man Sy Oliver that gave the Lunceford band its distinguished two-beat sound. Paul Webster on trumpet, Eddie Durham and later Trummy Young on trombone, and vocalist Dan Grissom were also important mid 1930s additions to the Lunceford band. By 1935 the group, then called Jimmie Lunceford's Orchestra, had achieved a national reputation as one of the top black swing bands.

The Jimmie Lunceford big band during the Swing era was widely known and other bands often imitated its showmanship and appearance. Lunceford  rehearsed his outfit endlessly. The polish of the band is evident on record by its flawless ensemble work. Further adding to the appeal of the band were the vocals by several of Lunceford's men. Jimmie's boys whispered, wheedled, cozened, rather than sang. Oliver and Smith, Joe Thomas and later Trummy Young all sang with the band often in trio unison. Unseen, is the choreography of the group's musicians in performance. Of particular delight to fans who saw the band in person was the spectacle of members of the trumpet section tossing their horns high into the air and catching them on the beat (see Miller photo below). In 1935 a long list of superb Decca two-beat recordings associated with Lunceford's name but written by Sy Oliver began; For Dancers Only, Margie, ‘Posin, Slumming On Park Avenue, My Blue Heaven, Organ Grinders Swing etc. are still great listens today. Unfortunately, based on the merits of his band's recordings, Lunceford may never receive his just due as a leader simply because his group's superb showmanship is lost on record.

Although his orchestra-leading career nowhere near paralleled in longevity that of Basie or Ellington, for a time from 1935 until Sy Oliver left his band to work for Tommy Dorsey in 1939, the Lunceford band was one of the most popular in the land. The distinctive Lunceford style, generally identified with Sy Oliver although many other arrangers contributed to the bands vast book, influenced many bandleaders and arrangers right up to the 1950’s. Glenn Miller was influenced by the Lunceford unit's showmanship (see photo below) and Tommy Dorsey, after Sy Oliver joined his band, borrowed much from the Lunceford tradition. Many albums described as tributes to Lunceford have been recorded including those by Sy Oliver, George Williams, Billy May and others.

When Sy Oliver left the band in 1939, Bill Moore Jr. showed up and left a vital impression on the band's books with his Belgium Stomp, Monotony In Four Flats, and I Got It. In 1941 the addition of trumpet man Snooky Young and some fine arrangements by Gerald Wilson further heightened the band's recorded output.

In 1942 Tadd Dameron arranged for the orchestra but the band began to have internal problems. The issues of the band were mainly monetary, precipitated by Lunceford's refusal to pay his players a wage on par with that of other successful bands. Lunceford himself wanted for nothing and was reputed to have a lavish lifestyle which was readily apparent to all of his sidemen. In May of 1942 Lunceford fired many of his key musicians (see article below) and alto man Willie Smith soon left as well, leaving a huge void in the band.

By the time the recording ban ended a mass exodus from the group had occurred. Nevertheless, Jimmie Lunceford was still a popular bandleader in 1947 when he suddenly collapsed and died while signing autographs after an engagement in Oregon. Rumors soon surfaced (including those printed in DownBeat magazine) that a racist restaurant owner, who had a strong aversion about feeding the Lunceford band, actually poisoned the bandleader.

After Lunceford's death, pianist/arranger Ed Wilcox and Joe Thomas tried to keep the orchestra together but in 1949 the band permanently broke up.

I hope you enjoy the podcast and I will try to update this blog more often.

The Dorsey Brothers - A Four Part Series

For the past two weeks I have been posting a four part series that I produced on the Dorsey Brothers. Together and separately they produced some of the biggest hits of the swing era. Here is a little biography of the Dorsey brothers and a couple of pictures of their early orchestra.

In 1927, the Dorsey brothers began to record under their own label: "The Dorsey Brothers and Their Concert Orchestra." The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra did not make its formal debut, however, until 1934, when it began a long residency at the Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, New York.

The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra combined a big band orchestral sound with the popular appeal of dance music, and quickly emerged as one of the most innovative bands of the developing Swing Era. In 1935, persistent sibling rivalry led the Dorsey brothers to split; Jimmy remained with the band, and Tommy, wanting to strike out on his own, took over the leadership of the Joe Haymes orchestra. Before long, the two Dorsey brothers' orchestras—similar on the surface but each with its own distinct musical style—were two of the most popular bands in America. Tommy's records eventually outsold Jimmy's, especially by the time the swing craze reached its height, in 1938, and Tommy Dorsey was promoted as "That Sentimental Gentleman of Swing." Tommy's popularity only increased when, in 1940, he hired the rising young singer, Frank Sinatra.

Of the two brothers, Jimmy Dorsey was a far more gentle, easygoing bandleader. The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra played for motion picture soundtracks and on radio broadcasts, most notably Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall. With two extremely popular singers, Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell, the band scored such hit singles as 1940's "Contrasts," as well as "Amapola," "Tangerine," "Green Eyes," and "Maria Elena," all recorded in 1941. In 1938, Dorsey was included in Ripley's Believe It or Not after he played "Flight of the Bumblebee" in two breaths—he later played the tune in only one breath on the CBS television program Swing Session.

Career Decline

The demise of the big bands in the 1940s, spurred by the focus on vocal performers, led the careers of both Dorsey brothers to decline. Both men disbanded but later reformed their orchestras, and they worked together briefly on the 1947 film, The Fabulous Dorseys. In 1953, the two musicians were reunited in the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Featuring Jimmy Dorsey. They gained a good deal of notice for their regular appearances on The Jackie Gleason Show, witnessing the beginning of a new musical era when they introduced the young Elvis Presley. From 1955 to 1956, the Dorsey brothers co-hosted their own television program, Stage Show, on CBS.
When Tommy died suddenly and unexpectedly in November 1956, Jimmy took over the band, recording a new version of one of his much earlier songs, "So Rare," that went to the top of the charts and gave Dorsey the biggest hit of his career. He died in New York City on June 12, 1957, less than a year after his brother's death.

I hope you'll check out the podcasts on this and other shows at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com  or sign up at Itunes.

Podcasting Woes

All, I have had some problems pop up last week with the Big band Bash podcast but I think they will be resolved shortly.

Originally, Big Band Bash started as a radio show on KTXK radio in Texarkana. One of our shows had quit production so I was asked if I wanted to produce one. That was in 2007 and I have been creating shows ever since. In 2011 I thought it would be fun to offer it as a podcast on ITunes. It was fun learning about the process and I didn't know that ITunes did not host the shows they just link to them. So I got a hosting account and put my shows over there. I just kept adding the shows until there was about 100 altogether. 

I had been doing this all this time and no one said anything until last Sunday when I received an email stating that my shows were using up too many resources and until I removed some of the shows they were suspending my account. Well I removed about one half of them and signed up for a dedicated podcasting service. My new spot is at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com/ The lastest show is over there. The Itunes store still has my podcast but new shows will point to my libsyn site. I hope to publish all my new shows over there and gradually move them off my hosting site.

Les Brown

January 4, 2001 is the date that Les Brown passed away. So on the program today I'm starting a two part show about Les. I'll be playing lots of Les' big hits as well as playing an interview with Les from 1990.

The Band of Renown began in the late 1930s, initially as the group Les Brown and His Blue Devils, led by Brown while he was a student at Duke University. This is a picture of Les with the Duke Blue Devils.

 He was the first president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.^[1] The band now performs under the direction of his son, Les Brown, Jr.

Les Brown and the Band of Renown performed with Bob Hope on radio, stage and television for almost fifty years. They did 18 USO Tours for American troops around the world, and entertained over three million people. Before the Super Bowls were televised, the Bob Hope Christmas Specials were the highest-rated programs in television history. Tony Bennett was "discovered" by Bob Hope and did his first public performance with Brown and the Band.

The first film that Brown and the band appeared in was Seven Days' Leave starring Victor Mature and Lucille Ball. Rock-A-Billy Baby, a low-budget 1957 film, was the Band of Renown's second and in 1963, they appeared in the Jerry Lewis' comedy The Nutty Professor playing their theme song "Leapfrog".  


Brown and the Band were also the house band for The Steve Allen Show (1959–1961) and the Dean Martin Variety Show (1965–1972). Brown and the band performed with virtually every major performer of their time, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat "King" Cole. The annual Les Brown Big Band Festival, started March 2006 in Les' hometown, features area big bands preserving the songs of the big band era. At the 2012 festival celebrating the 100th birthday anniversary, the town of Reinerton renamed the street near Les' birthplace to Les Brown Lane. In 2013 the his hometown of Reinerton, PA adopted as the town's official slogan: Reinerton: The Town of Renown in honor of Les and his band.