Dear Big Band Fans:

In keeping with the current trend, our newsletter has morphed into a blog. This gives me the flexibility to add items as they occur rather than waiting for the calendar page to reach a new month. 

As new entries are added, I'll retain older entries to accommodate those who don't regularly visit our website.

David Miller 

April 24, 2008

Big Bands Alive and Kickin'

What a privilege today to sit in on a master class!  From now on, when someone asks me whether the big bands will ever come back, I'll just tell them to rest assured. Nothing to worry about. The 19-piece Little Rock Central High Jazz Ensemble is a marvelous group of youngsters. Today they worked under the direction of a visiting professor, Dr. Ronald C. McCurdy, who is chairman of the Jazz Studies Department and Professor of Music in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. He's also a first-class jazz trumpeter.

Master Class at Little Rock Central High School

Dr. McCurdy --- can I call him Ron? --- worked with the kids in the jazz ensemble for an hour and a half. He started off with a thought-provoking summary of jazz history, tracing its roots back to the nineteenth century.  Then he demonstrated by example the fine art of improvisation. Soon every member of the band took his turn trying out some original hot licks.

This evening the jazz ensemble played a concert at a local church. The sanctuary was filled to the brim with school personnel, friends and family of band personnel --- and one lone big band blogger. The band blew me away with their interpretation of Sammy Nestico's arrangement of Fly Me to the Moon, two Ellington pieces and assorted other very ambitious charts. Ron McCurdy dazzled the audience with his proficiency on several trumpet solos. All in all it was a delightful day of jazz.

Yes, big bands have a brilliant future. They're not going to disappear so long as their are talented youngsters taking up music training and inspiring teachers like Ron McCurdy to lead them.

Ronald C. McCurdy, Ph.D.

Pullin' Out All the Stops

We've heard the expression a thousand times. "We're going all out. We're pullin' out all the stops." Never has that metaphor taken on more meaning than when we visited the chapel at the United States Naval Academy. Our guide told us that the chapel organ is the second largest in the country, with 2,700 pipes! We had the good fortune to hear a concert on the organ by Monty Maxwell, the Naval Academy's Director of Instrumental Activities. As the photo below shows, the organ has dozens of stops, those white circular knobs on either side of the multiple keyboards. Somehow Professor Maxwell managed to work the foot pedals, range his fingers over the five keyboards and still find time to pull out as many stops as each musical selection called for. An amazing demonstration of musical virtuosity!

Mr. Monty Maxwell at the Naval Academy chapel organ

"If the chapel organ is the second largest, which is the biggest?" one of my companions asked. Our guide, a retired Navy man, said with a wry smile, "West Point!"

April 23, 2008

Eubie Blake

I've just returned from an extended weekend in Baltimore, which I found to be a great tourist destination. The Inner Harbor was teeming with revelers of all ages, their numbers swelled by spring break celebrants plus the fact that the New York Yankees were in town.

My group held a reception at the Maryland Historical Society which, I learned, is the repository for Eubie Blake's collected papers. Blake was a most influential composer of the 1920's. He wrote the music for the 1921 revue "Shuffle Along," which produced I'm Just Wild About Harry. A couple of years later he wrote Memories of You, with lyrics supplied by Andy Razaf.

Blake lived to be 100. I saw him in performance on one occasion. Bill Cosby was doing a one-man show in Houston. He delighted the audience by calling on Blake to come on stage to play Memories of You. Blake was in his 90's at that time.

The Historical Society has a display devoted to Blake. It includes a bronze bust, one of his batons, a pair of glasses and a handwritten score for "Shuffle Along." More information about the exhibit and collection is found on the society's website.

April 2, 2008

Gala Evening Coming Up

It's official! We're going to have a blast! For several years I've been lecturing at LifeQuest, a Little Rock non-profit dedicated to bringing enrichment courses to the 55+ set. As a special fundraiser, I'll host a program of music and dance from the Big Band Era. I've worked with my partners before, and I'm confident they'll please all in attendance. The Bob Boyd Sounds, a quintet led by a marvelous pianist, have literally hundreds of songs in their playbook. While they play we'll have the pleasure of watching the Louis Bianco Dance Group. "Latin Louis" has actually traveled to Buenos Aires to take lessons in the authentic Argentina tango. He and his troupe are skilled in all kinds of dances from the waltz to the Lindy Hop. As for me, I'll keep things on a light note with some of my most challenging big band trivia questions.

If you're anywhere near Little Rock on Thursday, May 15, it will be well worth your while to make reservations for the evening of dining, dancing and great music. You'll be contributing to a good cause as well!

The telephone number is listed on the poster. For folks outside Central Arkansas, it's (501) 225-6073. Hope to see you there!

March 31, 2008

Treasure Trove

Serendipity, that's what it was. A friend invited me to her CD debut party on Friday night. She composes, sings and plays Irish melodies, which explains why her party was held at an Irish pub. The only people we knew when we arrived were the artist, Peg Roach Loyd, and her husband --- that is, until we spotted a couple sitting alone at a booth for four. They were friends we hadn't seen in ten years. When we joined them, I found that David had been given his best friend's LP collection by his widow. He invited me to come to his home to see what was in the collection.

Frankly I expected the usual Reader's Digest compendiums of big band favorites plus maybe single LPs from Glenn Miller and Sammy Kaye. I was in for a pleasant shock.

By the time I'd gone through the 150 or so LP's, I had identified about 75 that I wanted to borrow --- material that I had never collected because I concentrate on the music from the 30's and 40's. Here are just some of the artists represented in the collection:

Gerry Mulligan Quartet
Charlie Barnet Quartet
Miles Davis
Mel Torme
Sarah Vaughan
Laurindo Almeida
Roberta Flack
The Hi-Lo's
Jazz Messengers
Australian Jazz Quartet

Right then and there I decided to devote one and possibly two broadcasts to excerpts from this treasure trove. The first one will be broadcast on June 10, which David tells me is the birthday of his deceased friend.

March 24, 2008

Joplin, Missouri

Yes, there is a city named Joplin in Missouri, but there also was an immensely talented composer by that name. The King of Ragtime, Scott Joplin, wasn't a Missourian. He was born in Texarkana, Texas. He did, however, spend time in Sedalia, Missouri, where he played piano at a house of questionable repute and wrote a song in its honor, Maple Leaf Rag. He also spent at least a couple of years in St. Louis, including in 1904, the year when people throughout the Midwest called out "Meet me in St. Louis. Meet me at the fair," or words to that effect. One of Joplin's rags, The Cascades, was a tone poem honoring the Cascade Gardens at the fair.

The house occupied by Joplin during his St. Louis days has been turned into a Missouri state historic site. Tish and I visited it with our St. Louis hosts on Good Friday. We had the place to ourselves, except for the very knowledgeable and pleasant curator. She gave us a tour of both floors of the house as well as a building next door that is reminiscent of the types of clubs frequented by music/beverage lovers of the early 20th century. I was even permitted to sit down at the player piano and reproduce one of my favorite Joplin compositions, Solace. The piece, which Joplin subtitled "A Mexican Serenade," was featured in "The Sting" along with several more of his compositions.

The adjoining building has been christened the New Rosebud Café. It's available for parties and is also the venue for a once-a-month free musical event, from 2:00 to 5:00 pm the third Sunday of each month. There's a large open space behind the two buildings. That's where the 16th annual Ragtime Rally will be held on Memorial Day (Monday, May 26). On the following weekend (June 4-8), the annual Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival will take place in Sedalia.

I became so enthused about my visit that I bought a CD, "Ragtime at the Rosebud." I'll devote a whole episode of "Swingin' Down the Lane" to ragtime in the near future.

"Ella" at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis

I entered the theatre with eager anticipation but with some reservations, too. The first thing you have to do, I told myself, is suspend judgment. Ella Fitzgerald is in a class by herself --- sui generis, as my more learned acquaintances would say. The show may be entitled "Ella," but don't expect anyone else to sound like Ella. Repeat after me, I said  --- Relax and enjoy. Again: Relax and enjoy.

By the time Tina Fabrique was halfway through her second song, my mantra had taken effect. No, she didn't sound just like Ella, but who cares? Tina has a great voice. By no means did she dishonor the First Lady of Jazz. To the contrary, she imbued each Ella favorite with her own brand of musical genius. She did so with such panache that I was among the first to spring to my feet as she concluded the show with Ella's How High the Moon --- the long version that wowed Ella's Berlin audience back in the 1960's.

The show's action takes place on a day in 1966, when Ella was about to make an appearance at the Nice Jazz Festival. The festival producer, Norman Granz, decided it just wouldn't do for Ella to run from one tune to another. He insisted that she should intersperse songs with reminiscences about her career. For our audience it worked well as a theatrical device. She recalled her shaky first appearance on the stage of the Apollo Theater, her days with the Chick Webb band and her role as leader of that band when Chick died. We also heard about her ill-advised first marriage, which lasted just six months. She married Benny Kornegay in December, 1941 (in St. Louis, by the way). Moe Gale, her producer, was appalled that Kornegay had persuaded her to marry him. With her reluctant acquiescence he explored ways to end the marriage and soon managed to get the marriage annulled on the basis that Kornegay had concealed his criminal record from her.

Considerably more attention was devoted to Ella's marriage to Ray Brown, the renowned bassist. The couple adopted the youngest child of Ella's half-sister Frances. He became known as Ray Brown, Jr. On the particular date dramatized on-stage, Frances had just died. Ella had flown home to attend her funeral and, still grief-stricken, returned to the jazz festival. She was estranged from both Ray Brown and Ray Brown, Jr. --- her husband because their respective careers sent them off in different directions for weeks on end, her son because he rebelled at what he considered to be Ella's neglect of her maternal duties. In the dramatization, Ray Brown, Jr. shows up at her Nice concert, helping to bring her out of the funk caused by Frances' death.

Pretty heavy stuff. But Ms. Fabrique handled the mood shifts with grace. When things got too grim, she could always fall back on one of Ella's trademark tunes. We heard at least 20 tunes, some just snippets of melody, others extended versions.

On occasion, as in ballads like I'll Never Be the Same and The Man I Love, I heard that sweet sound so closely associated with Ella. It was a joy to hear.

"Ella" comes very close to being a one-gal show. Harold Dixon, the actor portraying Norman Granz, is on-stage perhaps five minutes altogether. The four-piece band was on-stage throughout. Various quartet members had lines to read along with their rhythmic stylings. Trumpeter Thad Wilson had a more extended role, joining Tina Fabrique on Let's Call the Whole Thing Off, complete with Louis Armstrong mannerisms and scat vocal.

Ken and Garie, our St. Louis hosts, had alerted us to this show when the 2007-2008 season was first announced, and we were thrilled to attend "Ella" as their guests. Today I sent them two CD's containing past "Swingin' Down the Lane" episodes. One included an interview with Paul Smith, who was Ella's accompanist at two different phases of her career. The other featured a phone conversation with Van Alexander, who collaborated with Ella on her first big hit, A-Tisket A-Tasket, recorded with the Chick Webb orchestra.

Obscure No Longer (See March 17 post)

Three cheers for German friends, the Internet and eBay! One week after I started the search for Jolly Fellows Waltz, it's on its way to my friend Frank. It took some sleuthing, which led my friend to call me The Ferret. It happened this way: I Googled the composer, Robert Vollstedt, and determined that he was a German. I dashed off an e-mail to Gerhard Klussmeier. He responded to my e-mail with word that he didn't have the song in his collection, but he referred me to two websites that might help me locate it. I hit paydirt on the second one I clicked on. I learned that Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops had recorded it on LP. A couple of clicks on eBay --- and there it was, as part of a ten-LP boxed set offered for sale by a gentleman in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I was high bidder.

That gives me a real sense of satisfaction. Someday, out of curiosity, I may listen to the waltz myself.

March 17, 2008

German Drinking Song

When I was in Hamburg last year, my host, Gerhard Klussmeier, told me about a legendary German bandleader, Paul Kuhn. He said Herr Kuhn was renowned for his recording of Es gibt kein bier auf Hawai There is no beer in Hawaii). To his surprise I said I'd never heard of that song. "Never heard it?" he said. "But it was very famous." When I included an interview with Gerhard on one of my "Swingin' Down the Lane" episodes, I gave a copy to a friend of mine who was born and raised in Germany. He pointed me in the direction of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfKQoDBdim0. Sure enough, there was the song, as performed by the estimable Paul Kuhn. Really fun to listen to.

Wanted: Obscure Song

I received a phone call yesterday from Frank, a friend I hadn't seen in years. He had a request that intrigued me. He fondly remembers an LP that included a song entitled Jolly Fellows Waltz. He couldn't remember who the artist was, only that the song ended with the crowing of a cock, suggesting that the jolly fellows had an all-night spree.

I told Frank that my archives included Jolly Fellows Polka by Frankie Yankovich, but he said he was positive he was looking for a waltz, not a polka. Surfing the net, including visits to both Amazon and eBay, I found that there is, indeed, such a song. It dates back to 1914 and was written by Robert Vollstedt. Apparently it was recorded by both Arthur Pryor and John Philip Sousa, suggesting that it was a semi-classical piece. I could buy it on eBay, but that wouldn't do much good, since I don't have an Edison cylinder player. Surely someone will be able to tell me how I can answer Frank's request.

March 11, 2008

I Goofed

Is my face red! I tuned into "Swingin' Down the Lane" this evening to find out what program was scheduled. I'll do that now and then because I record episodes several weeks in advance. The program was #1334 In Memoriam 2007, honoring performers who died in 2007.

One of the featured artists was Myoshi Umeki, who was in the Broadway show "Flower Drum Song." I played A Hundred Million Miracles and followed up with I Enjoy Being a Girl. I announced that both songs were sung by Miss Umeki.

I was half right. The first song was sung by her. The second, though, was sung by the headline performer of that show, Pat Suzuki. There's no excuse for that mistake. My first clue should have been their accents. Pat was born in California, Miyoshi in Japan. While Myoshi was fluent in English, she retained an accent from her native country. By contrast, when Pat sang she sounded like a California girl through and through.

It'll be interesting to see how many listeners send e-mails to chide me for my gaffe. Of course I could always claim that I did it on purpose to see if audience members were really listening. Ah, but no one would believe me.

March 7, 2008

Big Phat Band Mesmerizes

"Neither rain nor snow nor ..." That may have applied to the postal service years ago but last night it more appropriately described Central Arkansas big band fans. They filled the Reynolds Performance Hall in Conway to revel in the magic of the Big Phat Band. Despite weather alerts suggesting up to ten inches of snow, the appreciative audience threw caution to the winds. We were rewarded with an outstanding evening of swingin' music.

I had met Gordon Goodwin last year, when I interviewed him in his California home studio. I had all three of his CD's but had never heard his band in person. For me, then, as for probably everyone else in the auditorium, this was the first time to experience the joy of a live performance --- outstanding acoustics, superb musicianship and remarks by the leader that endeared him to every soul in attendance.

It was a knowledgeable audience. They must have had all three CD's in their possession, too, because a roar of approval burst out when Gordon announced each number. We reveled in the theme music he wrote for the cult movie, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. The hall rocked with Play That Funky Music. The last composition on the program was  Swingin' For the Fences.  Well, not quite the last number. Egged on by a standing ovation, cheers and shouts, the band remained on stage for a rousing encore before sending us on our way out in the cold evening.

Gordon Goodwin was a genial spokesperson for the band. He connected with his audience by clever witticisms accompanied by a winning smile. he seemed to be have a royal good time, and the mood was infectious. Despite the rigors of a long bus ride, musicians were in a jaunty mood as well, showing that they possess a good sense of humor along with exceptional musical ability.

Reluctantly we headed out into a sleety evening, headed for our respective homes while the band members prepared for a bus trip to Spring, Texas. For them, another town, another evening of first-class entertainment. For their Conway audience, fond memories of a unique musical interlude.

David Miller congratulates Gordon Goodwin

March 5, 2008

Nostalgia? Or Historical Significance?

I finished the big band course today. As always I was pleased by the number of people who approached me later to express their appreciation of the material I had covered. I've done this for several years and note that, somehow, the students get younger and younger! Time was, I could talk about Gene Krupa and find a half-dozen people who saw him in person, at a movie theater or a ballroom. These days I'm lucky if more than half my students know what instrument Krupa played.

The obvious way to keep in tune with my students would be to talk about the musical stars of the 1950's and '60's. I've resisted that temptation for two reasons. First, I don't know much about the lives of Frankie Avalon, Diana Ross, Elvis and the like. Second, I'd much rather talk about the music that I personally enjoy the most. So I guess I'll have to get used to the idea of gradually dwindling audiences.

But maybe we're just in an awkward period, as I said to my next-seat companion at lunch. Imagine a history professor at an American college in the year 1815. He's talking about the American Revolution. As he describes a key battle, a student remarks, "Oh, yeah --- Yorktown. What a battle we had there.  I remember it well." Students who were around at the time of the Revolution are filled with nostalgia as the professor unravels the tale.

Now move ahead 50 years. It's 1865. No one in the class was even alive at the time of the Revolution. The Battle of Yorktown elicits no nostalgia. But students listen to a description of the battle with interest because they recognize it as a significant event in the country's history.

One generation's nostalgia --- they were there --- eventually is replaced by  curiosity about a bygone era. That's what I think is happening with respect to the Big Band Era. That's what will keep me coming back year after year to share my enthusiasm with audiences comprised of fewer and fewer people who actually remember this marvelous period of American popular music.

Song From the Past

After each eight-week cycle of classes, instructors are invited to join students for a farewell luncheon. Today we were entertained by a vocal trio who call themselves The Belles. These ladies --- Dolores Benton, Gwen Miller and Lee Etta Kehn ---started singing together when they attended Camden (AR) High School. After graduation they went to college, married, had children and then, at their high school reunion, found that they hadn't lost their love for three-part harmony. Since then they've made themselves available for a variety of special events, including visits to nursing homes.

One of the songs they sang was The Breeze (That's Bringing My Honey Back to Me). They said they had sung it for a long time but couldn't find anyone who knew anything about it. That was a challenge I couldn't resist. I told them the tune was familiar and felt confident it was in my collection. Immediately upon my return to my studio I searched the database and found three versions. The song was written in 1934 by Al Lewis, Tony Sacco and Richard B. Smith. Gene Kardos and Anson Weeks, two dance band leaders of that day, recorded it. A couple of decades later, Pee Wee Hunt and Joe "Fingers" Carr collaborated on an instrumental version.

I sent The Belles a CD today containing all three tracks. The next time they perform that song, they'll have a little bit more background to pass on to their audience.

February 21, 2008

Take-Home Tunes

Sitting around in a doctor's waiting room isn't my favorite leisure time activity. That's why I chose to take a book with me yesterday. My choice of reading was "Broadway babies Say Goodnight," by Mark Steyn (www.steynonline.com). Steyn, a Canadian author/humorist, has written a thoughtful analysis of the history of American stage musicals. At one point he lists his candidates for songs that penetrate theatre-goers' consciousness so deeply that they take them out of the theater with them. His list includes Everything's Coming Up Roses, I Believe in You, The Party's Over --- ten in all. I'm going to devote an upcoming episode of "Swingin' Down the Lane" to his list. There'll be time for four or five more songs, and I'm thinking about them now. Two that quickly come to my mind are Seventy-Six Trombones ("The Music Man") and One ("Chorus Line"). That'll be Program #1342 on May 6.

February 3, 2008

Birthday Sharing

I'm halfway through an eight-week course I teach at a local adult learning center. We've had a lot of fun each week, and I've tried to come up with something especially fun for the last session. Yesterday I asked class members to call out their birth dates (month and day, never mind the year). I told them I'd finish the course by telling them what famous performers shared their birthdays. Before the bell rang to end the class I had gathered 17 birthdays. Today I consulted a database that Henry Busse, Jr. gave me a few years ago, supplemented by websites that provide this sort of information.

I was so pleased with the line-up of performers that I've decided to base a forthcoming program on these 17 performers. They run the range in terms of decade of birth as well as musical style. Here they are: Karen Carpenter, Ray Charles, Dolly Dawn, Connie Haines, Mary Ford, Joe Venuti, Wilbur De Paris, Butch Stone, Nancy Sinatra, Natalie Cole, Jerry Colonna (remember, he played trombone), Yul Brynner (Shall We Dance?),Vincent Lopez, Marvin Hamlisch, Bunk Johnson and Vaughn Monroe. That makes 16. The 17th date was August 4. I'm going to go with Louis Armstrong, though with some trepidation. He always claimed he was born on the Fourth of July, 1900, but my sources suggest that he was born on August 4, some years earlier. Of course, if I wanted to play it safe, I could substitute Herb Ellis, Abe Lyman or Jess Stacy.

Episode #1341, Shared Birthdays, will be broadcast on April 29.

The Swingin' Swiss

Pepe Lienhard and the Swiss Army Big Band

That's right, big bands are alive and well --- in Europe as well as the US. I just received an e-mail from my friend Max Wirz in Switzerland. He brought news that gladdened my heart and will be of interest to big band fans all over the world. Dietikon, a suburb of Zurich, will hold its first annual Big Band Festival on Saturday and Sunday, September 13-14. I love their optimism. It's the first of its kind and yet they already refer to it as an annual event.

The Swiss Army Big Band, under the direction of Pepe Lienhard (the fellow with all the buttons in the above photo), will give a concert at the Festival. I know they'll thrill the audience, since I've listened to their CD's and marvel at their sparkling arrangements of big band favorites.

There will also be a spirited competition among youth big bands. The winning group will be invited to record a CD at the studios of Swiss National Radio. That should be a hot item on the market. I hope to preview it on "Swingin' Down the Lane."

According to Max Wirz, there are hundreds --- yes, hundreds of marching bands in Switzerland. He assures me that they know the Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman charts well and do a fantastic job of keeping American swing songs in the consciousness of their fellow Swiss citizens.

January 28, 2008

Are You Famous?

I've been filling in my collection of 1920's-era recordings lately. It's great fun to listen to the dance orchestras of that period. The tuba was still in style. The constant oom-pah oom-pah emanating from that instrument seemed to turn every song, including pretty ballads, into music suitable for halftime marches at football games. The lone exception was waltzes, which must have been played while the tuba player was grabbing forty winks.

Yesterday I added Lucky Lindy to the library. It was performed by an orchestra and quintet of male vocalists, under the direction of Nat Shilkret, one of the most prolific of that era's bandleaders. The recording date was May 26, 1927. I looked it up, and that was a mere five days after Charles Lindbergh landed the Spirit of St. Louis at Paris's Le Bourget airport. Some songwriter was really on the ball!

That got me to thinking about other songs honoring famous personages. The first one to pop into my mind was Joltin' Joe DiMaggio, the Les Brown hit that commemorated Joe's consecutive hitting streak during the summer of 1941. As Les's vocalist Betty Bonney sang, "One night in Cleveland, oh-oh-oh, that night they stopped our Joe." To be more specific it was Indians pitcher Jim Bagby  who prevented DiMaggio from adding to his 56-game streak.

Another baseball player was honored with a song several years later. In 1949 the Count Basie band released a rollicking tune entitled Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball? That was warmly welcomed by this Dodger fan. I had suffered too many times when DiMaggio's Yankees humbled Brooklyn in the World Series. Actually, while Robinson was a strong batter and peerless fielder, it was his running prowess that captivated me. When Jackie reached third base there was a strong possibility that he'd attempt to steal home --- and the odds favored him.

But I digress. Back to famous folks honored in song. During World War II, two songs mentioned participants by name. Gene Krupa's recording of Fightin' Doug MacArthur (with a vocal by Anita O'Day) heaped praise on an American hero, while Spike Jones poked fun at Adolf Hitler with Der Fuehrer's Face.

Historical figures came in for more than their share of prominence. There was Christopher Columbus, a melody that was later integrated into the Goodman recording of Sing, Sing, Sing. Chris's benefactor, Queen Isabella, was saluted in song by Cab Calloway. Then there was Bonaparte's Retreat, Cleopatra's Asp (recorded by Skitch Henderson) and Ponce de Leon (Charlie Barnet). And let's not forget the Artie Shaw Gramercy Five classic, Dr. Livingstone, I Presume.

Sounds like the basis for another episode of "Swingin' Down the Lane." We'll air it, Episode #1340, on April 20.

January 24, 2008

Big Phat Band Coming to Town

They announced on the radio today that the Big Phat Band will be in concert at the Reynolds Performance Hall in Conway, Arkansas on March 6. My wife heard the news as she was driving to an appointment, and she phoned me immediately. Galvanized into action, I grabbed two tickets for the event.

The band is the brainchild of Gordon Goodwin, who is the leader, arranger and composer of many of the band's selections. I remember fondly my meeting with him back in April of last year, when he was gracious enough to invite me to his home for an interview. I went away with a firm conviction that Gordon, though born after the heyday of the Big Band Era, is doing a marvelous job of keeping that wonderful music genre alive and sparkling.

In Memoriam 2007

I just finished production on a future episode of "Swingin' Down the Lane" that pays homage to musicians and vocalists who died during the last half of 2006. Truth to tell, most of the bandleaders have already died. There are just a few left, people like Orrin Tucker, who is well into his 90's. There are more surviving vocalists from that era, largely because they tended to start their careers singing with bands when they were very young.

People  whom I salute on the program are:

Merv Griffin -- He was hired as back-up pianist and vocalist by Freddy Martin and made that classic (if silly) recording where he affected a fake English accent --- I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts. He soon left the band singer business behind and sought his fortune as emcee and producer of quiz shows, host of a talk show and eventually as real estate baron.

Max Roach -- Drummer extraordinaire, he was part of the bop movement in the 40's, working alongside Dizzy and Charlie as well as Thelonious Monk. Always the innovator, Max considered the drums as a valid solo instrument. He performed a concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He jammed with members of a Beijing jazz group Anything was possible with Max.

Myoshi Umeki -- She never sang with the big bands, though her voice was well suited to that medium. Instead she made her mark on Broadway as the star of "Flower Drum Song." She had two great Rodgers and Hammerstein songs in that show, A Hundred Million Miracles and I Enjoy Being a Girl. She reprised the role in the movie version.

Robert Goulet -- What a rich baritone voice he had! And great stage presence as well. When he was in his mid-20's, Lerner and Loewe picked him to play the role of Sir Lancelot in their forthcoming production of "Camelot." If Ever I Would Leave You was a high spot of that show. Later he was cast in two television productions, "Brigadoon" and "Kiss Me Kate."

Teresa Brewer -- This little lady started her performing career at the age of two! Her break-out recording was made when she was 18. It was the B side of Copenhagen. Nobody remembers that rendition, but the flip side, Music, Music, Music, became her theme song. Later she sang jazz, recording with both Duke Ellington and Earl Hines.

Oscar Peterson -- Duke Ellington referred to him as the maharajah of the keyboard. During his long career he swept up all sorts of awards, including eight Grammys for LPs he made with his trio. Oscar suffered a stroke in the 1990's but recovered well enough to resume playing the piano.

January 9, 2008

Louis Jordan Centennial

Just talked with Stephen Koch. He's agreed to be interviewed for Program #1351 Louis Jordan Centennial. Stephen is the go-to guy on matters relating to Jordan. For several years he has hosted a festival in honor of this distinguished native of Brinkley , Arkansas. In recognition of Louis' centennial on July 8, Stephen is working as a consultant to filmmakers who will produce a documentary on Jordan's life and music. The project is just now getting underway. They've established a website that will enable us to follow their progress over the next few months.

I plan to offer a program that will intersperse the Stephen Koch interview with Louis's notable recordings. I have over 100 of his offerings but will be guided by Stephen's judgment. He may very well surprise me with some little-known gems.

January 2, 2008

Goodman in the Movies

Danny Kaye? Virginia Mayo? Sounds like a great way to pass idle time over the New Year's long weekend. So I set up to record "A Song is Born," starring these two stars of yesteryear. I got around to watching it this evening and had the surprise of my life. When the opening credits rolled, the first name to appear after Kaye and Mayo was none other than Benny Goodman! And right behind him was Tommy Dorsey. This looked like a must-see movie, especially after the credits continued to roll and the names of Louis Armstrong, Mel Powell, Charlie Barnet, Lionel Hampton and the Page Cavanaugh Trio appeared on my TV screen.

For a moment I failed to pick out Benny. He had pitch-black hair and a moustache that made him look for all the world like Groucho Marx's long-lost brother. He played the role of one of a half-dozen classical music experts (they called them longhairs in those days) who were in the process of writing an encyclopedia of music. When Benny put a clarinet to his lips, his identity was well established. I waited eagerly for him to utter some dialogue, since he looked exceedingly uncomfortable there on the set with REAL actors. Soon my wishes were granted. He uttered his lines in that familiar monotone that I have come to recognize from recordings of old Camel Caravan broadcasts.

I have to say that this was no Academy Award part for Benny. After sitting through two hours of a very weak plot I have to conclude that Benny was right to keep his day job. And Hollywood was right to bypass Benny in favor of Steve Allen when they filmed "The Benny Goodman Story."

As for the other musical stars, they played themselves, and much too briefly. Charlie Barnet wailed a few phrases from Redskin Rhumba. Tommy played his theme song. Mel Powell tickled the ivories for a few bars. Louis and Lionel played together for a chorus or two. The Page Cavanaugh Trio were in evidence primarily to provide a background for Virginia Mayo's singing (dubbed by Jerri Sullivan).

Oh well, I was looking for some escapist fare to help bring in the new year. This movie, though by no means an Oscar nominee, filled the bill.