Big Band Chronology (July 4 - 10)

July 4

• Trumpeter Louis Armstgrong was born in New Orleans, 1900. And the rest is history...

• Trumpeter and educator, Joe Newman died in NYC, 1992. In 1941, Newman joined Lionel Hampton. He played with Basie from 1943-47 and 1952-61. Newman help found Jazz Interactions, a charitable educational organization promoting Jazz.

July 5

• On the 40th anniversary of his marriage to Betty Grable, trumpeter Harry James, 67, passes away in Las Vegas, 1983.

• Trombonist Vern Friley was born in Marshall, MO, 1924. Played with Ray McKinley (1946), Woody Herman, Sauter-Finegan, and Stan Kenton.

July 6

• Louis Armstrong, 71, dies in 1971.

• Goodman records Sing Sing Sing, 1937. Other charts recorded in that session include Can't We Be Friends and Peckin'.

Personnel:
Trumpets: Gordon Griffin, Harry James, Ziggy Elman
Trombones: Murry McEachern, Red Ballard
Reeds: Benny Goodman (cl), Hymie Schertzer(as), George Koenig (as), Vito Musso (ts), Arthur Rollini (ts)
Rhythm: Jess Stacey (p), Allan Reuss (g), Harry Goodman (b) Gene Krupa (d)
Vocal: Betty Van

• Basie and Ellington Bands record together for the first time in NYC, 1961.
  Take the "A" Train
  Duke Ellington - Count Basie Orchestras
  

July 7

• The Basie Band records One O'Clock Jump, 1937.

• Benny Goodman records Roll'em and When It's Sleepy Time Down South. Personnel same as July 6, 1937.

• Trumpeter and bebop proponent, Fats Navarro, 26, dies in NYC, 1950. Navarro played with Andy Kirk, Billy Eckstine, Benny Goodman, and the Lionel Hampton Big Band.

• Trumpeter and bandleader Doc Severinsen was born in Arlington, OR, 1927. After being discharged from the Army at the end of WWII, Doc landed a gig with Charlie Barnet. When Barnet's band folded, Severinsen played with Tommy Dorsey and then Benny Goodman. In 1962 Skitch Henderson hired him for NBC's Tonight Band. In 1967, he became the music director for the Tonight Show.

July 8

• Singer and alto saxophonist Louis Jordan, often called Father of the Rhythm & Blues, was born in Brinkley Arkansas, 1908. Jordon played with Chick Webb from 1936-1938, before forming his own small band called the The Elks Rendezvous Band. Jordan subsequently changed the name to the "Tympany Five". He had his first million-seller in 1944 with Is You Is Or Is You Ain't Ma Baby?. Jordon had a second million-seller with Caldonia (What Makes Your Big Head So Hard?) followed 1946 by two million-sellers, Beware, Brother, Beware and Choo Choo Ch 'Boogie.

• Singer and bandleader, Billy Eckstine, was born in Pittsburgh, PA, 1944. Eckstine joined Earl Hines' Grand Terrace Orchestra in 1939, as a vocalist and trumpeter. With Hines, he recorded Stormy Monday Blues and his own Jelly Jelly. In 1944, Eckstine formed his own big band hiring musicians who would become prominent on the jazz scene in the late 40's and 50's. Eckstine's band roster included Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro and Sarah Vaughan. Two big hits during this period include A Cottage for Sale" and Prisoner of Love.

• Trumpeter Charlie Shavers, 50, dies in NYC, 1971. In the mid-1930's, he played with Tiny Bradshaw and Lucky Millinder. In 1936 he joined John Kirby's Sextet as trumpet soloist and arranger. In 1944, he began playing sessions in Raymond Scott's CBS staff orchestra. Between 1945 through 1953, he played with Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra.

July 9

• Singer June Richmond was born in Chicago, 1935. She became one of the very first black singers to be featured regularly with a white band when she performed with Jimmy Dorsey's Orchestra in 1938. Among other charts, she recorded Darktown Strutters' Ball with JD. Other bands that she worked with in the late 30's included Les Hite and Cab Calloway. From 1939-1942 she sang with Lucky Millendar.

• Musician Jimmy Dale (Harold C. Fox) was born in 1910. He is credited with coining the phrase "zoot suite (with a reet pleat)", 1942.

July 10

• Pianist and composer, Jelly Roll Morton dies in LA, 1941.

• Pianist and pioneer of the electric organ, Milt Buckner was born in St. Louis, 1915. He joined Lionel Hampton in 1941 and played with Hamp for nine years.

• Trumpeter Booby Hackett joins Glenn Miller 1941.

Norm Gluckman
Cedarville, New Jersey
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Big Band Venues - The Valley Forge Music Fair

The name Shelly Gross didn’t resonate with the public during a week when the entertainment business lost so many talented people, but the Philadelphia impresario’s passing a few days ago was the coda to the story of yet another of the region’s now-gone music venues, the Valley Forge Music Fair.

Mean to Me by Rosemary Clooney

The Music Fair was a fixture of Philadelphia’s western suburbs for over 40 years. It got its start in 1954 when Gross, then a TV announcer, and two other friends, broadcaster Frank Ford and nightclub owner Lee Guber, went to see a musical presented in a tent. They were disappointed and complained among each other that they could do a better job. Their complaining finally got under the skin of Ford’s wife Lynne Abraham who told them to either stop complaining or go out and do it. She’s now Philadelphia’s DA, so I guess they were wise not to argue with her! Soon the three formed a partnership and set up their own tent on some open land just south of what was then Valley Forge State Park. Even though it was technically located in an area called Devon, they named it after the park on the theory that everyone recognized Valley Forge but Devon was only known for its once-a-year horse show. The first tent was a striped affair that looked like a circus tent, so for a while the Fair was also called the Music Circus. It was soon replaced with an equally-colorful but more functional tent that let the Fair stay open for more of the year, although it still had to close during the coldest winter months.

Gross, Ford and Guber did do a better job, because the Fair was immediately popular. For the first few years they concentrated exclusively on plays and musicals but soon branched out into other genres including singers, jazz, and of course Big Bands. By the late 1960s the tent format was no longer adequate for the diverse acts that appeared there. 1971 saw the opening of a new, permanent “theater in the round” structure that held larger audiences, had better facilities, and most importantly, could be used year-round.


The permanent building is the one I remember best. I was just out of college when it opened, and on those occasions when I had enough money to splurge on a concert I saw Benny Goodman and his “new sextet” featuring Peter Appleyard and Warren Vaché, Rosemary Clooney and the Artie Shaw Orchestra (see an earlier blog), Bobby Vinton, and some other lesser-known acts. There were other performances I missed because I was still the proverbial impoverished grad student so among my regrets are never seeing Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, or Perry Como when they came to Valley Forge.


The Music Fair continued to prosper but by the mid-1990s the surrounding area had morphed from farmlands to a mini-city with huge retail and office complexes. The land under the Music Fair was now more valuable than the Fair itself – at least according to the developers who coveted it. The Music Fair soon met the same fate as the Earle, the Erlanger, and so many other local musical destinations. Bulldozers moved in to construct the supermarket that was to generate so much more revenue for the township. The Music Fair had lasted 43 years. Sixteen months later, the “new, modern, money-making” supermarket went bankrupt.

Jeff Karpinski
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
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Big Band Chronology (June 27 - July 3)

June 27

• Trumpeter Lester "Shad" Collins was born in Elizabeth, NJ, 1910. In the 30's he played with Chick Webb, Benny Carter, Don Redman, and Count Basie. In the early 40's, he replaced Dizzy Gillespie in Cab Calloway's band. He is featured in Calloway's rendition of Ghost of A Chance with reedman Chu Barry, 1940.

• Clarinetist and tenor man, Barney Bigard, 74 dies in Culver City, CA, 1980. In the early 20's, Bigard played with King Oliver. He joined Duke Ellington's reed section in 1927, a gig that would last until 1942. He later worked with Kid Ory and Louis Armstrong. Bigard co- composed Mood Indigo.

• Glenn Miller records the following charts, 1939: The Day We Meet Again (v - Eberle), Want a Hat With Cherries (v - Hutton), Sold American and Pagan Love Call. Recording session started 1:30pm and ended at 4:00 pm.

Band Personnel:
Trombones - Glenn Miller, Al Mastran, Paul Tanner
Trumpets - Clyde Hurley, Legh Knowles, Dale McMicle
Reeds - Hal McIntyre (as), Harold Tennyson (as, clt, bar), Wilbur Schwartz (as, clt), Tex Beneke (ts), Al Klink (ts)
Rhythm - Chummy McGregor (p), Richard Fischer (g), Rowland Bundock (b), Maurice Purtill (d)
Vocalists - Marion Hutton, Ray Eberle

June 28

• Tenor saxophonist and arranger, Jimmy Mundy was born in Cincinnati in 1907. In 1932, he joined the Earl Hines' reed section and was soon providing the band with arrangements. . After selling an arrangement to Benny Goodman in 1935, Goodman hired Mundy as a staff arranger. Mundy eventually was providing arrangements to Basie, Krupa, Gillespie, Spivak and James.

• Louis Armstrong records West End Blues (1928):
  
  

• Cornetist, composer and bandleader, Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols died in Las Vegas, in 1965. In the early 1920's, Nichols teamed up with Miff Mole and made many recordings under a variety of band names (Red Nichols and His Five Pennies, Arkansas Travelers, The Red Heads, The Louisana Rhythm Kings, The Charleston Chasers, and Miff Mole and His Little Molers). These sessions include some of the best musicians of the period: Jimmy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Pee Wee Russell Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Gene Krupa, to name a few.

• Lead trumpeter Pete Comdoli was born in Mishawaka, IN, 1923. Condoli play with Sonny Dunham (1940-41), Will Bradley (1941), Ray Mckinley (1942), Benny Goodman (1942), Tommy Dorsey (1943-1944), Teddy Powell (1944), Woody Herman's 1st Herd (1944-1946), Tex Beneke (1947-1949), Jerry Grey (1950-1951), Les Brown (1952), Stan Kenton (1954-1956) and Glenn Gray (1956-1963). Look Magazine named Condoli one of the seven all-time trumpet players. While with Herman's First Herd, Candoli became known for his high-register work and even wore a Superman costume while performing the specialty number Superman With a Horn.

June 29

• Benny Carter records theme Melancholoy Lullaby, 1939.

• Pianist and arranger, Ralph Burns was born in Newton, Ma. He played a significant role in developing the sound of Woody Herman's first herd. Among his early jazz compositions, The Moose and a vocal chart to Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe were recorded by the Herman band in 1945. He also wrote or collaborated on Northwest Passage, Caldonia and Apple Honey, later scoring Bijou as a vehicle for trombonist Bill Harris.

July 1

• Benny Goodman records King Porter Stomp, 1935. Also recorded at that session were Sometimes I'm Happy, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and Jingle Bells.

Band personnel:
Trombone: Joe Harris, Red Ballard
Trumpet: Bunny Berigan, Ralph Mazillo, Nate Kazebier
Reeds: Benny Goodman (cl), Hymie Schertzer (as), Bill De Pew (as), Arthur Rollini (ts), Dick Clark (ts)
Rhythm: Allen Reuss (g), Harry Goodman (b), Gene Krupa (d), Jess Stacy (p)
Vocal: Helen Ward

• Pianist and bandleader Claude Thornhill dies in NYC, 1965.

• Alto saxman Earle Warren was born in Springfield, Ohio, 1914. Warren played with Basie from 1937-1949.
  

July 2

• Gene Krupa records Rockin' Chair Choir with Roy Eldridge, 1941.

• Alto saxophonist and blues singer, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, died in LA, 1988. In the 30's, he played with Milton Larkin's Orchestra. From 1942 through 45, Vinson played for Cootie Williams.

July 3

• Arranger, composer, bandleader, and violinist, Jerry Gray was born Generoso Graziano in East Boston, MA., 1915. In 1936, Artie Shaw hired Gray as a violinist. Within a year, Gray started arranging some of Shaw's greatest hits including including Carioca, Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise, Any Old Time and Begin the Beguine. In 1939, the day after Shaw broke up his band and retired to Mexico, Glenn Miller hired Gray as a staff arranger. Gray is responsible for most of Miller's subsequent hits. He arranged Elmer's Tune, Moonlight Cocktails, and Chattanooga Choo-Choo among others, while his compositions included Sun Valley Jump, The Man in the Moon, Caribbean Clipper, Pennsylvania 6-5000 and A String of Pearls. In 1943, Captain Glenn Miller was able to have Gray posted as chief arranger for Miller's "Band of the Training Command". Gray co-wrote the march version of St. Louis Blues, as well as help Miller incorporate a 21 piece string section. After the war, Gray was passed over by the Miller Estate for leadership of the post war Miller ghost band. In 1949, as a result of his growing fustration with other bands capitalizing during the Miller revival, Gray formed a Miller-style band. His personnel included many Miller alumni including Al Klink, Trigger Alpert, Wilbur Schwartz, Zeke Zarchy, Jimmy Priddy, Ernie Caceres, Bernie Privin, and John Best from the Miller dance bands plus George Ockner, David Sackson, and Harry Katzman from the AAF string section. He continued with the band through the 50's

Norm Gluckman
Cedarville, New Jersey
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Stanley Garlitz - Big Band Pianist

I've been an avid listener of big band music all my life. My father Stanley Garlitz was a Big Band musician, so I had an appreciation from an early age.

My father was born and raised in Mattapan, a neighborhood in Boston. He started playing piano professionally in 1950, at the age of 19. After moving from Boston to Miami in 1957, his career expanded to include performances with many bands including the Bob Crosby Band, Jimmy Dorsey (with Lee Castle), Art Mooney, Sammy Kaye, and Les Elgart. In the 1970s he played with Les Brown as one of a forty-piece orchestra at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.

During this time he received a telephone call offering him a chance to play with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He was asked to play two nights but unfortunately he had already committed himself for one of the two dates and his offer to play the night he was free was turned down.

In addition to bands, my father has also played piano for many singers, including Phyllis Diller, Johnny Mathis, and Billy Daniels. In 1973 he supported Jimmy Durante’s performance at a hotel in Miami Beach; he was Durante’s only accompaniment. He asked my grandmother, who lived near us, to come see the show, and she watched from a seat in the wings.

My father is still active in the South Florida area playing for comedians and singers. He also works with local clubs to produce musicals and original shows.

Here is my father playing on the Queen Mary in 2004:

Ivy Garlitz
Felixstowe, England
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Big Band Chronology (June 20 - 27)

June 20

• Trumpeter Lammar Wright Sr. was born in Texarkana, TX, 1907. He played with Bennie Moten from 1923-1927. Wright move to New York in 1927 and joined the Missourians which morphed into the Cab Calloway Orchestra just prior to the 1932 gig at the Cotton Club. Wright stayed with Calloway until 1940. During the 40's he worked with Don Redman (1943), Claude Hopkins (1944-46), Lucky Millinder (1946) and Sy Oliver (1947). In the 50's he taught trumpet and did some session work. In 1959, Wright played in the George Shearing big band.
  

June 21

• Columbia unveils the LP at a press conference at the Waldorf Astoria, NYC, 1948. Two formats are presented: a 10 inch diameter matching that of the 78 singles, and a 12 inch format. The new formats increased the playing time from 4 minutes to over 20. Columbia initially released 100 records. The first catalogue number for a ten-inch LP, CL 6001, was a reissue of the Frank Sinatra 78 rpm album set The Voice of Frank Sinatra.

• Vocalist June Christy, (born Shirley Luster) ,64, dies in LA, 1990. In the mid 40's, Christy sang with Boyd Raeburn and Benny Strong under the name of Sharon Leslie. She joined Stan Kenton in 1945 and changed ger name to Juen Christy. Among the hits she had with Kenton were Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy, How High the Moon, and Tampico which was Kenton's bniggest selling record.
  
  
  Tampico
  Stan Kenton with June Christy
  
  
  Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'
  Stan Kenton with June Christy
  
  

June 22

• Bassist Milt Hinton, nicknames "The Judge", was born in Vicksburg, MS, 1910. Hinton played with Cab Calloway from 1936-1951.

• Tenor saxman and composer, Eddie Miller was born in New Orleans, 1911. From 1930 - 34 Miller played with Ben Pollack. He was with Bob Crosby from 1934 to 1942. Miller composed Lazy Mood with Johnny Mercer lyrics.
  

• Tenor saxman Sahib Shihab, was born in Savannah, GA, 1925. Played with Fletcher Henderson in the mid 40's.

June 24

• First Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald session on Verve Take the A Train, 1958.

• Bessie Smith records sound-track for her only movie, St. Louis Blues, 1929. Smith sings the title song of this movie with members of the Fletcher Henderson band backing her.
  

June 25

• Songwriter and singer, Johnny Mercer, 67, dies in Hollywood California, 1976. He wrote the lyrics to more than a thousand songs, including compositions for movies and Broadway shows. He received nineteen Academy Award nominations. Mercer was also a co-founder of Capitol Records. Among many of his titles, he wrote Lazy Bones, Too Marvelous for Words, Jeepers Creepers, And The Angels Sing, Blues in the Night, I Remember You, Laura, and Moon River.
  

• Trombonist, composer and arranger Bill Russo was born in Chicago, 1925. He wrote for Stan Kenton in the 1950's. Russo's contribution to Kenton’s book include Hall of Brass (1950) , Portrait of A Count, 23 Degrees North, 82 Degrees West, Frank Speaking and Improvisation. In the 60's he founded the London Jazz Orchestra and the music department of Columbia College (Chicago).
  

• Glenn Miller records the following charts, 1941: Under Blue Canadian Skies (v - Eberle), The Cowboy Serenade (v - Eberle), You and I (v - Eberle) and Adios. Session ran from 1:00pm to 4:45pm.
  

Band Personnel:
Trombones - Glenn Miller, Jimmy Priddy, Warren Smith, Paul Tanner
Trumpets - Billy May, Ray Anthony, Dale McMickle, Johnny Best
Reeds - Hal McIntyre (as), Ernie Caseres (as, clt, bar), Wilbur Schwartz (as, clt), Tex Beneke (ts), Al Klink (ts)
Rhythm - Chummy McGregor (p), Bill Conway (g), Edward Goldberg (b), Maurice Purtill (d)
Vocalists - Marion Hutton, Ray Eberle

June 26

• Harry James plays last gig at the Century Plaza, LA, 1983. He passes away 9 days later.

• Trumpeter Ziggy Elman, 54 dies in LA, 1968. He played with Goodman and Tommy Dorsey.

June 27

• Trumpeter Lester "Shad" Collins was born in Elizabeth, NJ, 1910. In the 30's je played with Chicl Webb, Benny Carter, Don Redman, and Count Basie. In the early 40's, he replaced Dizzy Gillespie in Cab Calloway's band. He is featured in Calloway's rendition of Ghost of A Chance with reedman Chu Barry, 1940.
  

• Clarinetist and tenor man, Barney Bigard, 74 dies in Culver City, CA, 1980. In the early 20's, Bigard played with King Oliver. He joined Duke Ellington's reed section in 1927, a gig that would last until 1942. He later worked with Kid Ory and Louis Armstrong. Bigard co- composed Mood Indigo.
  

• Glenn Miller records the following charts, 1939: The Day We Meet Again (v - Eberle), Want a Hat With Cherries (v - Hutton), Sold American and Pagan Love Call. Recording session started 1:30pm and ended at 4:00 pm.
  

Band Personnel:
Trombones - Glenn Miller, Al Mastran, Paul Tanner
Trumpets - Clyde Hurley, Legh Knowles, Dale McMicle
Reeds - Hal McIntyre (as), Harold Tennyson (as, clt, bar), Wilbur Schwartz (as, clt), Tex Beneke (ts), Al Klink (ts)
Rhythm - Chummy McGregor (p), Richard Fischer (g), Rowland Bundock (b), Maurice Purtill (d)
Vocalists - Marion Hutton, Ray Eberle

Norm Gluckman
Cedarville, New Jersey
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Hi-De-Ho Man!

Several months ago I reviewed Duke Ellington’s “Symphony in Black” (1937) a classical piece of Jazz Americana and recipient of the first Academy Award awarded to a black entertainer. Duke, however, was not the only black musician that was involved with film during this era.

Hi-De-Ho Man
Cab Calloway and His Orchestra


His contemporary and big band leader Cabell "Cab" Calloway III, a master of the energetic style of scat singing that Calloway learned from Louis Armstrong, also had a hand in making some great films.

His band featured solo performers and great sidemen, including trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, New Orleans guitar ace Danny Barker, and bassist Milt Hinton.


Cab was born in a middle-class family in Rochester, New York, on Christmas Day 1907. He lived there until 1918, when his parents moved their family to Baltimore. They recognized their son's musical talent. He began private voice lessons in 1922. Despite his parents' and vocal teachers' disapproval of jazz, Calloway began frequenting and eventually performing in many of Baltimore's jazz clubs, where he was mentored by drummer Chick Webb and pianist Johnny Jones.

By the end of the 1920’s, Cab’s main interest was in singing and entertaining, and he spent most of his nights at the Dreamland Ballroom, the Club Berlin and the Sunset Cafe, performing as a drummer, singer and emcee. It was at the Sunset Cafe that he met and performed with Louis Armstrong who taught him to sing in the "scat" style.


By the 1930's, New York City’s “The Cotton Club”, was the hottest jazz venue in the country. Cab Calloway and his Orchestra were hired as a replacement for the Duke Ellington and His Orchestra while they were touring. Calloway quickly proved so popular that he too was soon touring when not at the Cotton Club. Their popularity was greatly enhanced by the twice-weekly live NBC national radio broadcasts at the Cotton Club.

In 1931, he recorded his most famous song, "Minnie the Moocher". That song, "St. James Infirmary Blues," and "The Old Man Of The Mountain" were performed for the Betty Boop animated shorts. He took advantage of this and timed his concerts in some communities with the release of the films in order to make the most of the attention. Here is that Betty Boop animated short film, “Minnie the Moocher”


As a result of the success of "Minnie the Moocher," Cab became identified with its chorus, gaining the nickname "The Hi De Ho Man". In 1934, Paramount produced the following ten-minute short film called “Hi-De-Ho.”


Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho is a ten-minute Paramount musical short from 1934. The short story involves jive-master jazz performer Cab Calloway as he travels by train on his way to the Cotton Club. Features performances with his full orchestra, including the famous call-and-response song of the title

During the 1930s both Calloway and Ellington were featured on film more than any other jazz orchestra of the era. In 1933, Cab’s classic song about marijuana, "Reefer Man," was featured in another Paramount film.

Calloway helped establish the Cab Calloway Museum at Coppin State College in Baltimore in the 1980's. Bill Cosby helped establish a scholarship in Calloway's name at the New School of Social Research New York City. In 1994, a creative and performing arts school, the Cab Calloway School of the Arts, was dedicated in his name in Wilmington, Delaware.

Cab the consummate entertainer continued to perform right up until May 1994 when he suffered a stroke. He died six months later on November 18, 1994. He was 86.

Hope you enjoyed the Hi-De-Ho Man!

Spencer "Wolf" Smartt
Dallas, Texas
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Resource Sources
Wikipedia

Big Band Chronology (June 13 - 19)

June 13

• Clarinetist and bandleader, Benny Goodman, "the King of Swing", 77, dies in NYC, 1986.

Sing, Sing, Sing
Benny Goodman and the Chicago Jazz Festival Orchestra (September 1979)

• Reedman Clarence Hutchenrider was born in Waco, TX, 1908. Played with the Casa Loma Orchestra from 1931-43.

• Trumpeter Doc Cheatham was born in Nashville, TN, 1905. During the 1930's, Doc played with the McKinney Cotton Pickers (1931-32) and Cab Calloway (1933-39). In the 1940's, Cheatham played with Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, Eddie Heywood, AND Claude Hopkins.

• Glenn Miller records When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano (v Eberle), A Million Dreams Ago (v Eberle), Blueberry Hill (v Eberle), A Cabana in Havana (v Hutton), Be Happy (v Hutton), and Angel Child (v Eberle) 1940. Recording session ran from 1:00pm to 5:25pm. Personnel as follows:
  

Trombones: Glenn Miller, Jimmy Priddy, Paul Tanner, Frank D'Annolfo
Trumpets: Charles Frankhauser, Zeke Zarchy, Dale McMickle, Johnny Best
Reeds: Hale McIntyre (as), Ernie Caceras (as, bar,cl), wilbur Schwartz (as, cl),
Al Klink (ts), Tex Beneke (ts).
Rhythm: Chummy MacGregor (p), Jack Lothrop (g), Rowland Bundack (b), Maurice
Purtill (d).
Vocals: Marion Hutton, Ray Eberle, Modernaires

June 14

• Pianist and composer, Cy Coleman was born in NYC, 1929. Wrote Witchcraft.

• Guitarist Nappy Lamare was born in New Orleans, 1910. Joined Ben Pollacks band in 1934 and was part of the musicians exodus the following year. Played with Bob Crosby from 1935 to 42.

June 15

• Jimmy Lunceford records For Dancers Only, 1937.

June 16

• Bandleader and drummer, Chick Webb, 37, dies in Baltimore, 1937. Webb had long regular gigs at the Savoy starting in 1931. Although the band was short on major soloists (Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges and Louis Jordon briefly played in the reed section), the band developed a tight ensemble sound that was driven by Webb's drum pyrotechnics. In 1935, Webb hired the teenaged Ella Fitzgerald after she won a talent contest at the Apollo Theatre. In 1938, Ella provided him with his biggest hit, A Tisket-A-Tasket. The band's fame continued to grow, fueled by its reputation as a giant-killer in the Savoy battle of the bands (bested Goodman with Krupa flailing away) and hits such as T'aint What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It) and Liza.

June 17

• Maxine Sullivan backed by the John Kirby Band, records Loch Lomond, 1941.

• Reedman Gene "Honey Bear" Sedric was born in St. Louis, MO, 1907. In the 1930's he played with Fats Waller (1934-42), Don Redman (1938-39)and Mezz Mezzrow (1937).

• Glenn Miller opens at the Blue room of the Hotel Roosevelt, New Orleans, 1937. Originally booked for 2 weeks, The band eventually played a record breaking 10 week engagement. During the gig, the band broadcast nightly (except Sunday & Wednesday) at 12:30 AM on WSMB and nightly at 1:30 am over WWL.

• Glenn Miller records That's Sabotage (v Hutton), Conchita Marquita Lolita Pepita Rosita Juanita Lopes (v Hutton, Beneke, Modernaires, Caceres), The Hummingbird (v Hutton, Beneke, the Modernaires) and Yesterday's Gardenias (v Eberle, the Modernaires) 1942. Recording session went from 10:00am to 3:15pm, Personnel as follows:

Trombones: Glenn Miller, Jimmy Priddy, Paul Tanner, Frank D'Annolfo
Trumpets: Billy May,Steve Lipkins, Dale McMickle, Johnny Best
Reeds: Lloyd "Skippy" Marin (as), ernie Caceras (as, bar,cl), wilbur Schwartz (as, cl), Al
Klink (ts), Tex Beneke (ts).
Rhythm: Chummy MacGregor (p), Bobby Hackett (g), Doc Goldberg (b), Maurice Purtill
(d).
Vocals: Marion Hutton, Ray Eberle, Modernaires.

June 18

• Drummer, bandleader, and vocalist Ray McKinley was born in Fort Worth, Tx, 1910. McKinley joined Smith Ballew band in 1932. In 1934, he played with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra and stayed with Jimmy after Tommy left the band. McKinley and Will Bradley organized a band in 1939 which Ray co-led until 1942, when he formed his own band. He enlisted in the USAAF and joined Glenn Miller's service band. He led his own big band from 1946-50. In 1956, at the invitation of the Glenn Miller estate, he formed a new Glenn Miller Orchestra that he lead until 1966.

• Drummer Ray Bauduc was born in New Orleans, 1911. In the early 20's, he played in the Dorsey Brothers' Wild Canaries Band. From 1928 to 1934, he played the drums in the Ben Pollack band when Pollock was singing or conducting. Bauduc was a founding member of the Bob Crosby band and stayed with the outfit until 1942. After the war, he co-led a band with Gil Rodin, and then played briefly with Tommy Dorsey, Bob Crosby, and Jimmy Dorsey.

• Tenor sax man and clarinetist, Irving "Babe" Russin was born in Pittsburgh, 1911. He played with Smith Ballew in the mid-20's. In the early 30's Babe played with Red Nichols, Ben Pollock, and Russ Columbo. From 1934-37, Russin played with the CBS staff and spent a year with Tommy Dorsey. In the early 4o's, he played with Jimmy Dorsey and after the war, with Benny Goodman. Russin appeared in both the Benny Goodman Story and the Glenn Miller Story.

• Bobby Sherwood records Sherwood's Forest, 1946.

June 19

• Tenor sax man, clarinetist, flutist, and arranger Jerry Jerome was born in Brooklyn in 1912. Played with Glenn Miller (1936-37), briefly with Red Norvo and Artie Shaw (1938), Benny Goodman (1938-41), and returned to Artie Shaw in 1941. From 1942-46 he served as musical director for NBC.

• Tenor sax man, clarinetist, and vocalist Joe Thomas was born in Union Town Pa., 1909. In the early thirties he played with with Horace Henderson and Stuff Smith. Thomas joined Jimmy Lunceford in 1933 and stayed with the orchestra till 1948. He co-led the band in 1947 with Ed Wilcox after Lunceford passed away.

• Singer Dave Lambert was born in Boston in 1917. Vocalist with Krupa and member of the Lambert-Hendricks-Ross trio.

Norm Gluckman
Cedarville, New Jersey
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Jazz and Big Band Performances on "Soundies"

I was asked recently about where someone could purchase "Soundies," the short-subject films produced by Hollywood studios featuring big musical acts of the 30's and 40's. A couple of good sources that I have found are The Jazz Store and Movies Unlimited

Sometimes a musical number would have to be cut from the final print of a film and would, instead, be released as a "short-subject." These would be played, along with Movietone News and cartoons before the main feature, or between the films of a double-feature. Often, the "soundie" would be released a few months prior to the main picture and used to promote the upcoming release.

In 2007 PBS produced an excellent documentary called Soundies: A Musical History. Here is a promotional video for that show:

Stephen Dixon
Powder Springs, Georgia
Web Site: The Jazzmonger
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Big Band Chronology (June 6 - June 13)

June 6

• Tenor saxophonist, Stan Getz, "The Sound", 64, dies in Malibu, CA, 1991. In 1943, he played with Jack Teagarden's band, and because of his youth, became Teagarden's ward. After playing for Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman, Getz was a soloist with Woody Herman from 1947 to 1949 in 'The Second Herd'. He first gained wide attention as a member of 'The Four Brothers', the others being Serge Chaloff, Zoot Sims and Herbie Steward. With Herman, one of his noted solos was with Early Autumn.

• Stan Kenton's first band opens at the Rendezvous Ball Room in Balboa, CA, 1941.

• Glenn Miller plays at Lakeside Park, Dayton, OH and draws 3200. Patrons paid $2.50 per head to hear Miller which gives the park its highest gross in its history. Additionally, this was the highest admission price that Miller ever played to. Miller's share of the gate was $4,168.

• Bandleader and alto saxophoniet Jimmie Lunceford was born in Fulton, MO, 1902. In 1927, while teaching high school in Memphis, Tennessee, he organized a student band (Chickasaw Syncopators) which eventually formed the nucleus of his commercial orchestra. After a period of touring, the band accepted a booking at the Cotton Club in 1933. The Cotton Club and won their first widespread fame. Lunceford's orchestra, with their tight musicianship and often outrageous humor in their music and lyrics made an ideal band for the club. Some of the band's hits include Wham (Re-Bop-Boom-Bam), Lunceford Special, For Dancers Only, Uptown Blues, and Stratosphere. Arranger and trumpeter Sy Oliver gave the orchestra its trademark two-beat rhythm. The band's noted saxophone section was led by alto sax player Willie Smith.
  

June 7

• Trumpeter, cornetist, guitarist, and bandleader, Bobby Hackett, 61, dies in 1976. In the early the late 30's, Hacket led a swinging outfit, but it was not a commercial success. He was in considerable debt and difficulties in the early 1940s, following the failure of his big band. To make matters worse, his lip was in bad shape, making it difficult for him to play the trumpet or cornet. Glenn Miller came to Hackett's rescue, offering him a job as a guitarist. Despite his lip problems, Hackett could still play an occasional short solo. He can be heard playing a famous one with the Glenn Miller Orchestra on A String of Pearls and Rhapsody in Blue.
  

• Bandleader, Ben Pollack, 68 dies in Palm Springs, CA, 1971. His eye for talent led him to either discover or employ, at one time or another, musicians who would power the swing era. His personnel included Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Irving Fazola. Glenn Miller, Jimmy McPartland and Harry James. This ability earned him the nickname "Father of Swing". In the early 1930's, he became involved with the singing career of his girl vocalist, Doris Robbins. As he was also involved with her romantically, he began to neglect band matters, much to the consternation of the musicians. It was not long the musicians decided to leave Pollack. A core group re-formed soon after as a co-operative band fronted by Bing Crosby's brother, Bob.

June 8

• Jazz and blues vocalist, Jimmy Rushing, Mr. Five By Five, 69, dies in NYC, 1972.

• Sidney Bechet records Summertime, 1939.

June 9

• Inventor, composer, Guitarist Les Paul was born Lester William Polfuss in Waukesha, Wis., 1918

• Composer Cole Porter was born in Peru, Indiana in 1893. His works included musical comedies such as Kiss Me, Kate, Fifty Million Frenchmen, DuBarry Was a Lady and Anything Goes. From these musicals came songs such as Night and Day, I Get a Kick Out of You, and I've Got You Under My Skin.
  

• Glenn Miller records I Got Rhythm, Sleepy Time Gal, Community Swing, and Time on My Hands in 1937. Personnel includes:

Trombones - Glenn Miller, Jesse Ralph, Harry Rodgers
Trumpets - Charlie Spivak, Manny Klein, Sterling Bose
Reeds - (as) George Siravo, (as & cl) Hal McIntyre, (ts) Jerry Jerome, (ts) Carl Biesecker
Rhythm - (p) Howard Smith, (g) Dick McDonough, (b) Ted Kotsoftis, (d) George Simon

June 10

• Trombonist Dickie Wells was born in Centerville, TN, 1909. Played with Count Basie from 1938 -45 and 47-50.

June 11

• Boogie Woogie singer and pianist Pinetop Smith was born int Troy, AL., 1904. On 29 December 1928, he recorded his influential Pine Top's Boogie Woogie, one of the first "boogie woogie" style recordings to make a hit, and which cemented the name for the style.

• Drummer Shelley (Sheldon) Manne was born in NYC, 1920. His first professional job with a known big band was with the Bobby Byrne Orchestra in 1940. Manne rose to stardom when he became part of Woody Herman's band in the late 1940s and Stan Kenton's in the early 1950s.Dreamsville
  Two versions: Henry Mancini and Shelly Manne,
  who plays on both versions.
  
  
  
  
  Shelly Manne

June 12

• Ella Fitzgerald makes record debut with Chick Webb in 1935 with Love and Kisses.

• Bandleader, clarinetist, alto saxophonist, and trumpeter, Jimmy Dorsey 53, dies in NYC 1957.

Please send any corrections, additions, and comments.

Norm Gluckman
Cedarville, New Jersey
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Art Hellyer Videos Are Now on YouTube

A few months ago, we wrote about our Chicago buddy Art Hellyer's autobiography and companion DVD. The DVD offers an incredible look at Art's life and career. We posted it on Tuxedo Junction and on The Palomar. Art's son, Jeff, recently divided the DVD into eight parts to we could post them on YouTube. We have done so. You'll find the links below.

Art Hellyer has been a broadcast legend in Chicago for more than half a century. He knows the radio and television business inside out. Because he has been outspoken but always honest, Art has often been on the outside looking in. Put another way, Art has been fired from more jobs in Chicago radio and television than anyone else!

Art Hellyer relaxing before he emcees the annual Senior Citizens Picnic in Grant Park, Chicago (1982)

Art's legions of fans have always loved him -- and still do!

A father of five, Art simply had to work. He supplemented his income from broadcasting with sales jobs. He probably has more experience working as a door-to-door salesmen in Chicago than anyone else.

Art's s wife of many decades, "The Lovely Elaine," died a decade ago, but the love and support of his five sons and daughters has sustained him. Art's love for Elaine and his children comes through beautifully in this book and video.

Art's son, Jeff Hellyer, helped him with his autobiography, "The Hellyer Say," and the companion DVD, "Wake Up, Chicago!... The Art Hellyer Story." Both offer a great look at Chicago broadcasting during the last half of the 20th Century, and at Art Hellyer and his family. Jeff divided the DVD into eight sections so we could upload them to YouTube.

We thank Art and Jeff for their support, kindness, cooperation, and permission to upload this and the other videos in this series to YouTube. For your convenience, here are the eight YouTube links:

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XOumv8hERo

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aAdk1_9RSA

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0udQbqx2M-w

Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6og5eWpEZLo

Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KXkR2G42gQ

Part 6 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9nTJZ25pME

Part 7 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXdreCqXA64

Part 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5F3-LEMBdM

Here is a preview for you -- Part 1:


If you like, you can order this video on a DVD, only paying $7.00 U.S. for shipping and processing. Send a check or money order to: Art Hellyer Productions, P.O. Box 6012, Naperville, IL 60567-6012. This video is called Wake Up, Chicago!... The Art Hellyer Story and is only available in the United States.

Although Art's story pertains to Chicago radio and television, anyone who has worked in broadcasting has encountered some of the numbskulls in executive positions that Art talks about in his book and on this video.

Art and I share a love of big band music. You can read more about Art -- and view the entire video -- on this web page of mine:

http://www.tuxjunction.net/arthellyer.htm

Jeff's company is EDIT HOUSE Chicago. They specialize in the editing and creation of high-quality video, television, and DVD productions—including training videos, trade-show videos, documentaries, television programs, music videos, commercials, and feature films. Follow this link to learn more about it:

http://www.edithousechicago.com/

Art's great sense of humor always shines through. Enjoy!

George Spink
Moderator - The Palomar
Los Angeles, California
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