Big Band Bash

The Count Basie Orchestra of the 1950's and 1960's was the orchestra that backed many of the great singers from those decades. On the show today, we'll be listening to several of those vocalists backed up by the Basie band. Some of the singers we'll be hearing include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., Sarah Vaughn and others. I hope you enjoy this potpourri of singers with the great Count Basie Orchestra backing them up.

The first song I ever heard by Bob Crosby and his Orchestra was The South Rampart Street Parade. I was hooked on the joyous sound of their music. I didn't know that one of my earliest jazz clarinet listening masters was influenced by Irving Fazola who was the clarinetist in the Crosby band. I admired Bob because although he was the front man he didn't get in the way of his musicians. I hope you enjoy this look at the great band of Bob Crosby and the Bobcats.

If he had been born ten years earlier, Elliot Lawrence might have been one of the more significant bandleaders of the swing era. As it worked out, he was a bit of a prodigy, leading a strong dance band when he was only 20, but by then (1945), the swing era was ending. Today's show features music from the Hindsight record, The Uncollected Elliot Lawrence 1946. This show is chocked full of songs from the Great American Songbook. I hope you enjoy this look at a great pianist and bandleader, Elliot Lawrence.

This week we continue with part two of The War Sound Track. The War was a 2007 documentary by filmmaker Ken Burns. He used music from the 1930's and 1940's to underscore this film on World War 2. When the film was finished, Sony sent the soundtrack to us at the radio station I work at. It has many of your favorites and I thought I would bring back this show I did shortly after the release of the series in 2007. I hope you enjoy the music from this landmark series.

In 2007 Ken Burns, the noted documentary filmmaker, produced a series on World War 2 called The War. In it he used lots of songs from the big band era. Sony sent the soundtrack of the show to us at the radio station. It came on four cds with lots of music from the show. I have reached back into the Big Band Bash archive to pull out a two part show that I produced featuring the music from the Burn's show. There is a lot of different artists in these two programs and I hope you enjoy the music.

From Hindsight Records comes another selection for this week's program. Today we'll be presenting The Uncollected Stan Kenton 1941. These are some early Kenton broadcasts from Balboa Beach in California. Many of these selections were never recorded commercially by Stan so it is a treat to hear them. Red Dorris and Chico Alveraz are two of the early Kenton band members to stand out. The Big Band Bash puzzler is back this week so I hope you have your thinking caps on. I hope you enjoy this look at the early Stan Kenton Orchestra.

Today's show is a look at another famous venue for the big bands, The Cotton Club. Let's go back to the sounds of The Cotton Club as we hear from some of the bands that used to perform there. We'll be hearing from such bands as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Fletcher Henderson, and Jimmie Lunceford. We'll also take a look at the history of the Cotton Club. I hope you enjoy this look at a very famous club that featured many of the big bands, The Cotton Club.

Today's show is a look at a very famous venue for he big bands, The Savoy Ballroom. We'll learn about the place they called, The Home of Happy Feet. I've picked four bands that were considered the head line bands that played at the Savoy to feature on our show. The bands are, Chick Webb, Erskine Hawkins, Cootie Williams, and Lucky Millander. There is some great music in this program and I hope it causes you to have happy feet.

Today we look at the music and career of the great bandleader, Cab Calloway. He was an American jazz singer, dancer, bandleader and actor. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist of the swing era. His niche of mixing jazz and vaudeville won him acclaim during a career that spanned over 65 years. He led a top notch band and produced some fantastic music. I hope you enjoy this look at the late Cab Calloway.

Johnny Mandel passed away on June 29th 2020. He was 94 years old. As a composer he wrote some endearing songs that are still being played today. He was also a very fine arranger. Staring in 1949, Johnny arranged for several big bands as well as played trombone in them. We are going to take a look at his life and listen to some of his arrangements and compositions on the show today. I hope you enjoy this look at the music of the late Johnny Mandel.

This week has more songs from the records of the series The Uncollected. Today I am featuring The Uncollected Raymond Scott 1944 and The Uncollected Skinnay Ennis 1946-1948. Raymond Scott's music is some of the most heard in the world after he sold his catalog to Warner Bros. and Carl Stalling used it in his cartoons. Skinnay Ennis was a popular vocalist who after launching his career in the Hal Kemp orchestra went on to lead a band of his own. There are some nice arrangements in this set. I hope you enjoy the music from the mid 1940's of Raymond Scott and Skinnay Ennis.

July the 4th is an important day for us here in the United States. We think of July 4, 1776, as a day that represents the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation. I tried to put some patriotic music together to celebrate this date. There is not that much patriotic music before World World 2 but what I could find I tried to include in this show. I hope everyone has a safe and happy July 4th holiday and enjoy the music.

The Uncollected series by Hindsight records has many recordings from the Big Bands. I started playing from this set a few weeks ago but I am going back to the series for the show today. There are three volumes by Les Brown in the series and I have picked a few songs from each disc. The highlight is hearing Doris Day singing live with the band performing their big hit Sentimental Journey. I hope you enjoy today's show as we listen to one of the greatest of the big bands, Les Brown.

This is part two of our 100th birthday salute to Miss Peggy Lee. Last time, I played recordings from her early days in the 1940's. Today I'll be playing some assorted cuts off of her many albums from the 1950's and 1960's. Also I have a couple of clips from NPR. There is a lot of good music in this show. I hope you enjoy the music from one of the great vocalists as we celebrate her 100th birthday, Miss Peggy Lee.

May 26th 1920 was the birthday of Peggy Lee. She got her start singing with Benny Goodman's orchestra and went on to world wide fame. This is part one of a celebration of the music that Peggy recorded. This episode is mainly from the 1940's and next week will be selections from her many albums. We'll learn about her career on the show today as well. I hope you enjoy this look at the music of Peggy Lee as we celebrate her 100th birthday.