Big Band Bash

This week's program is an encore presentation of a show I did a couple of years ago. The Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands was the Coca-Cola Company’s big band legacy and its contribution to the war effort. An outstanding collection of 25 of America’s most popular big bands broadcasting live from military bases and defense plants from coast-to-coast during World War II. This week we will listen to four of these live radio remotes featuring the bands of Les Brown, Bob Chester, Jan Savitt, and Gene Krupa. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

August 10th is the birthday of one of the most creative bandleaders in big band history, the late Claude Thornhill. He was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. He composed the jazz and pop standards "Snowfall" and "I Wish I Had You", the latter recorded by Billie Holiday. I had never heard of Claude when a fellow Big Band lover asked me if I had ever listened to his music. I obtained a couple of his lp's (lp stood for long playing back then) and really enjoyed what I heard. Claude had an orchestra that was the forerunner of the classic Miles Davis "Birth of the Cool". To celebrate his birthday we'll revisit some of that great music. I hope you enjoy the music from one of the most original big bands of all time. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

This past August 3rd was the 90th birthday of the great vocalist Tony Bennett. This program is a celebration of his life with many of his recordings and a look back at his career. I hope you enjoy the music from one of the greatest vocalist of all time, Mr. Tony Bennett. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

I'm back from vacation and ready with some new episodes. This week I am going to continue with and wind up my salute to Woody Herman. We will start with some of his 1946 recordings and then finish up with some of those great recordings from the band known as the second herd. Even though the second herd didn't make much money, they produced some of best recordings from that era. Since i talked about Woody's career in Part 1, I elected not to do much talking but rather to play more of Woody's recordings. I hope you enjoy the music from one of the greatest bands of the big band era, Woody Herman. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

This week's show is a retrospective of a favorite band of mine, the late Woody Herman. I started listening to Woody's band the summer after high school graduation when I bought a vinyl album of his called "Jazz Hoot" and I was immediately hooked. We are going to look at Woody's career and listen to a lot of those exciting Herman classics. I would also like to dedicate this weeks and Part 2 to my good friend the late John Vargo. John passed away last year at the age of 57. He and I spent many an evening in my basement listening to Woody's band. John liked the Woody Herman rock numbers while I preferred the swing numbers. I think we were the only members of our high school who even knew who Woody was. These are for you John. I hope you'll join me for Part 1 of a look back at the music and career of the great Woody Herman. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

I'm a little late with this episode but I wanted to remember all the men and women who took place in the D-Day Invasion by playing some of the music that would have been in the jukeboxes and on the radio in 1944. June 6, 1944 was the anniversary of the invasion of Normandy so along with the music I found some interesting facts about that historic day. The "D" in D-Day stands for Day as the planners of the invasion weren't exactly sure what day the invasion would take lace because of the weather. I hope you will join me for this special D-Day Remembrance. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

This week we conclude the series Three by Three with a birthday salute to the late Rosemary Clooney. Rosemary was born on May 23 1928 and got her start singing with the band of Tony Pastor. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me", "Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There" and "This Ole House". A favorite singer of mine, she recorded many cds for the Concord record label until her death in 2002. I hope you enjoy this look at the career and music of vocalist Rosemary Clooney. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

This week we continue our birthday celebarations with a salute to the great Kitty kallen. She was born on May 25, 1921 and her career spanned from the 1930's to the 1960's. She performed with some of the most popular bands of the 1940's. She was voted the most popular female singer of 1954 by Bilboard and Variety magazines. I hope you enjoy this look at the career of the fantastic vocalist, Kitty Kallen. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

This week starts a three week birthday celebration of three great Big Band female vocalists Helen O'Connell, Kitty Kallen, and Rosemary Clooney. They all have their birthdays around the same time so I thought it would be interesting to learn about these three great vocalists as well as listen to their fantastic recordings some of which are the best from the big band era. We'll start off this week with a look at the career of Helen O'Connell who spent most of her time with the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

Glen Gray, leader of the Casa Loma Orchestra, was born on June 7th 1906. The Casa Loma Orchestra was a popular American dance band active from 1927 to 1963. When the big bands went into decline after World War II the orchestra disbanded in 1947. Glen Gray started out playing saxophone in the band and then went on to become its leader. In 1956, he went back into the studio to record the first of what became a series of LPs for Capitol Records. I hope you enjoy this encore presentation from last year celebrating Glen with the Casa Loma Orchestra. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

We continue our birthday celebration of Benny Goodman. On part 2 we are going to be listening to some of the original RCA Bluebird recordings. I have the complete set of Goodman RCA Bluebird recordings from years ago when a record store (remember those) I was in was clearing out the complete set. Benny was born on May 30, 1909 which was a week ago so I wanted to play some of the original recordings that started his career. As usual there is a new Big Band puzzler and it is designed to make you think. I hope you enjoy the music. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

Today we celebrate the birthday of Benny Goodman. On this show we are going to be listening to some of the Lets Dance broadcasts from 1935. This is a rebroadcast of a show I put together last year. These are rare recordings, I have only heard one broadcast and the sound quality on it was bad. A few weeks ago I discovered that a new CD has been released featuring cuts from 1935 and they sound much better. Well, as good as 1935 recording technology sounds. Benny was born on May 30, 1909 so I wanted to do something special which I haven't done in the past. As usual there is a new Big Band puzzler. I hope you enjoy the music. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

This week I am continuing with part two of Big Band Remotes from World War 2 with two remotes from the Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands series. At the same time, however, I am having a birthday salute to a favorite bandleader of mine, the late Artie Shaw. Artie was born on May 23, 1910 and he also appeared on the Spotlight band program for five consecutive weeks in 1945. So to honor Artie I would like to play the first two programs in that series. The sound quality is very good and there are some exciting solos from trumpeter Roy Eldridge. I hope you enjoy this look back at some on location performances from the great Artie Shaw as we remember his birthday. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com

On this week's show I would like to honor a request. A listener asked for some big band remotes that took place during World War 2. Most of the remotes I have during that era are from the Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands program. I found four 15 miniute shows so on the program today we will be listening to the bands of Tommy Dorsey, Bob Chester, Benny Goodman, and Les Brown. Three of the shows are from 1943 and one is from 1944. I hope you enjoy this look back at some on location performances from four of America's top bands. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com

April 29, 1899 is the birthday of one of Big Band's greatest composers Duke Ellington. I have been an Ellington fan for over 40 years and continue to discover new music by him that I have never heard. I last paid tribute to Duke during Black History month of 2015. Rather than produce a new program, I elected to run this one again. This show focuses on the years of 1940 and 1941 2 of Duke's most prolific years. I hope you enjoy this encore presentation of Big band bash as we salute Duke Ellington's birthday. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com