Big Band Bash

This week is part 2 of the Big Bands Live series that I started last week. This week we will be hearing the bands of Artie Shaw, Les Brown, Bob Crosby, and Larry Clinton. Artie's show is from sometime in late 1938 or early 1939. Les Brown's set is from his early band when he was billed as Les Brown and his Duke Blue Devils. I don't have a date for the Crosby and Clinton broadcasts. There are some really nice performances here and I hope you'll tune in. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com

This week I am going to start a two part series called Big Bands Live. This comes from a Reader's Digest Records set that I have. There is anywhere from 5-6 selections from each band and these were all recorded live off the radio. There are some exciting performances and this week we will be hearing the bands of Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey and Woody Herman. Also, the big band puzzler makes it's return. I hope you'll tune in and listen. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com

April 3rd of this year marks the 92nd birthday of vocalist and actress Doris Day. Before she gained fame as an actress, Doris sang with a few big bands notably Les Browns. To celebrate her birthday I have gone back into my collection and pulled out a show I produced three years ago. Most of the songs on this show are ones that Doris recorded with the band of Les Brown. There is some great music in this set and I hope you enjoy it. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com

Welcome to part 2 of my Harry James 100th birthday salute. Harry was born on March 15th, 1916. If he were still alive he would be celebrating his 100th birthday. On the show today, I am presenting two radio remotes by the James band. The first is from 1940 and the second from 1944. This is an exciting show as we get to listen to what the James band sounded like in person. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com

March 15th, 1916 is the birthday of the late trumpeter and bandleader Harry James. If he were still alive he would be celebrating his 100th birthday. On the show today we celebrate this milestone with a two part look at some of the great music that Harry recorded. On part-one we will be listening to some of Harry's big hits and on part-two I be playing a few radio remotes by Harry and his Music makers. I hope you will enjoy this look at one of the greatest trumpeters of the big band era. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com

This past March 1st was the birthday of the late Glenn Miller. We are continuing our birthday celebration by rerunning a 4 part series on Glenn that I put together that originally aired during October of 2014. This series was one I produced to remember the 70th anniversary of his disappearance. This is the last part in the 4-part series, and I'll be playing a live radio remote from Glenn's civilian band on the Sunset Serenade program. This is an hour show featuring all the Miller stars Tex, Marion, Ray and the rest of the band. I hope you enjoy the recordings from one of the top bandleaders from this era, the late Glenn Miller. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com

This past March 1st was the birthday of the late Glenn Miller. We are continuing our birthday celebration by rerunning a 4 part series on Glenn that I put together that originally aired during October of 2014. This series was one I produced to remember the 70th anniversary of his disappearance. On the show today, which is part 3 of the series, I'll be playing some of the songs that I didn't get to play last time. The songs from today are all studio recordings as well as a 15 minute radio broadcast from Glenn's I Sustain The Wings series. I hope you enjoy the recordings from one of the top bandleaders from this era, the late Glenn Miller. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com

This past March 1st was the birthday of the late Glenn Miller. So to honor his birthday, I would like to rerun a 4 part series on Glenn that I put together that originally aired during October of 2014. This series was one I produced to remember the 70th anniversary of his disappearance. The recordings I'm playing today are all studio recordings. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com

This past March 1st was the birthday of the late Glenn Miller. So to honor his birthday, I would like to rerun a 4 part series on Glenn that I put together that originally aired during October of 2014. This series was one I produced to remember the 70th anniversary of his disappearance. The recordings I'm playing today were all recorded live off the radio so we get to hear some exciting performances. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com

As we wind up Black Histoy Month on the program today, we are going highlight four African-American male vocalists who sang with the big bands. The four singers are Jimmy Rushing, Louis Jordan, Billy Eckstein, and The Mills Brothers. There is some great music today and we'll also learn a little bit about their careers. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbash.libsyn.com

On December 31, 2015 the singer Natalie Cole passed away. Natalie was a fine interpreter of the Great American Songbook. The daughter of Nat King Cole, Natalie started out singing Rhythm and Blues and Rock and Roll. In 1991 she recorded an album called "Unforgettable With Love" a tribute to her father Nat. She recorded three more cds of American standard songs. On this show I am going to pay tribute to Natalie and next week I will be looking at the music and career of her father, Nat King Cole. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

This is part 2 of the Time-Life program we started last time. Today we turn more music from the years of 1944-1945. The songs were rerecorded by the bands of Billy May and Glen Gray. I have this set and thought instead of hearing the recreations that it would be interesting to hear the originals. So I'm borrowing the playlist and presenting the original recordings. There are about 30 songs so I'm going to break it up into two parts. I hope you enjoy the music. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

This is another volume in Time Life records ambitious project called "The Swing Era". It was a ten volume set with three records included in each volume. Today we turn to the years of 1944-1945. The songs were rerecorded by the bands of Billy May and Glen Gray. I have this set and thought instead of hearing the recreations that it would be interesting to hear the originals. So I'm borrowing the playlist and presenting the original recordings. There are about 30 songs so I'm going to break it up into two parts. I hope you enjoy the music. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

We continue this week with Part 2 of Artie Shaw Revisted. There are a couple of more interview segments with Artie from the series "The Mystery of Artie Shaw". Most of the music in this show is from 1940 on. The Big Band puzzler is gone this week to make time for the interview segments. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

Artie Shaw has always been one of my favorite clarinetists. Since it has been a while since I did a program on Artie, I thought now is a good time. I have picked out many of Artie's hit records. In addition I'll be playing a few interview exerpts from the series "The Mystery of Artie Shaw" which ran on radio in the early 2000's. This series was produced by Ted Hallock who interviewed Artie in 1998. Artie is as fiesty as ever even telling Ted at one point that one of the questions he asked was dumb. I hope you will hear some of your favorite Artie Shaw recordings and enjoy the interview excerpts. The Big Band puzzler is gone this week to make time for the interview segments. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/