"BIG BAND NEWS": FEBRUARY 2005

reported by Christopher Popa

      Paul Whiteman may most often be associated with the 1920s, but this month two

  things happened which brought back his name, each in a wonderful way.  First, his music

  was heard in a live concert setting.  Special guests Bob Wilber (clarinet/soprano sax),

  Vince Giordano (tuba and other instruments), James Chirillo (guitar), and Daryl Sherman

  (vocals) joined The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra to present Whiteman's music Feb.

  17th-19th, as part of the "Bank of America Jazz Festival" in Frederick P. Rose Hall at

  Lincoln Center.  The program included groundbreaking works originally played by

  Whiteman's orchestra, that helped give rise to the term "symphonic jazz."  Second, a new

  2-CD set from eight different "experiments in modern American music" between 1924 and

  1938 has come out.  Released as Nostalgia Arts 3025, it's titled "Carnegie Hall Concert,

  December 25, 1938," and includes The Farmer Leaves The Hay, Blue Belle Of Harlem,

  Cowbell Serenade, Quonk, The Seventh Da, The Bell Fugue, St. Louis Blues, Cuban

  Overture, Bumpy Weather Over Newark, Suicide Cliff, Mexican Jumping Bean, Trylon and

  Perisphere, Shadrack, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen, Rhapsody In Blue, and others.

  Performers with the Whiteman band include Louis Armstrong, Bunny Berigan, the Dorsey

  Brothers, Red Norvo, and Joe Venuti.

      Other new CD releases:

  Ray Anthony, "Sentimental Journey," Sounds of Yesteryear 658

  Billy Butterfield, "'What Is There to Say?'," Jasmine 2606

  Dizzy Gillespie, "The Real Thing," Breathless 52004   [ 1970 ]

  Benny Goodman, "All the Cats Join In," Sounds of Yesteryear 659

  Woody Herman, "Sings Ballads & Blues," Collectables 7650   [ incl. two

    previously-unissued recordings, My Flame Went Out Last Night and Let's Fall in Love ]

  Woody Herman, "Herman's Heat & Puente's Beat," Everest 450662

  Dick Johnson (director of the Artie Shaw Orchestra), "Artie's Choice! and The Naturals,"

    available via cdbaby.com   [ 2-CD set, incl. a full band arrangement of Grabtown

    Grapple, recorded by The Artie Shaw Orchestra -- with Shaw conducting -- in 1985;

    rest of selections by Johnson with a contingent of New England all-stars]

  Gene Krupa, "Linger Awhile," Sounds of Yesteryear 660

  Eddie Miller and Lou Stein, "Lazy Mood for Two," Jazzology 188   [ incl. two

    previously-unissued recordings ]

  Don Redman, "Doin' the New Lowdown," Hep 1004

  Rex Stewart, "Baden 1966 & Montreux 1971," Sackville Records 2061

  Mary Lou Williams, "Mary Lou's Mass: Music for Peace," Smithsonian Folkways

  Teddy Wilson, "The Quintessence: New York - Chicago 1933-50," Fremeaux 240

    [ 2 CDs ]

  various artists, "Best of the Big Bands: Glenn Miller/Artie Shaw," Collectables 8073

    [ previously issued in 1997 with different artwork as Sony Music Special Products

    A 28433 ]

  --- "Steve Allen's All-Star Jazz Concert," Jasmine 410   [ 2 CD-set, recorded at the

    Manhattan Center, New York City, May 8th, 1954, featuring The Lawson-Haggart Jazz

    Band, The Billy Butterfield Jazz Band, and four guest vocals by Ray McKinley ]

       Congratulations to Loren Schoenberg for winning a Grammy Award for "Best Album

  Notes," for his liner notes to the Woody Herman Columbia boxed set on Mosaic!

  Winners were announced Feb. 13th on a CBS-TV special.  The collection, "The Complete

  Columbia Recordings of Woody Herman and His Orchestra & Woodchoppers (1945-1947),"

  had also been nominated in the "Best Historical Album" category.

       In the February 12th issue of Billboard, a review of singer Kevin Mahogany's new CD,

  "Big Band" (Zebra 54675), is very positive.  "'Big Band' is a wildly successul meeting of

  the minds, and it has an implicit message for jazz fans: Reports of the death of the big

  band have been greatly exaggerated," the review states. 

       New DVD releases:

  Lena Horne, "An Evening with Lena Horne," Blue Note   [ filmed in Sept. 1994

    with musical backing incl. The Count Basie Orchestra ]

       New in-print - select list:

  Abern, Amy.  "Grandson keeps music of Cab Calloway alive," newscoast.com

    [ Sarasota Herald-Tribune ], Feb. 9, 2005.

  Belton, Brian.  Article, "Memories of 'Texas Tex' [ Tex Beneke ]," In Tune, Feb. 2005.

  Best, Liz.  "Big band musician promotes upcoming museum," palmbeachpost.com,

    Feb. 16, 2005

  Cohen, Aaron.  Article, "The Beat: Faddis Takes Reins of Chicago Jazz Ensemble,"

    DownBeat, Feb. 2005, p.16.

  Cohen, Harvey G.  Article, "In His Own Words: Ellington's Ode to Black History,"

    Washington Post, Feb. 19, 2005, p.B05.

  Deffaa, Chip.  Cover article, "Artie Shaw: A Remembrance," Mississippi Rag,

    Feb. 2005, p.1+.

  Fessier, Bruce.  "First Lady of Vegas [ Keely Smith ] relives her heyday on stage,"

    Desert Sun [ Palm Springs, CA ], Feb. 9, 2005.

  ---.  "Review: Keely Smith's 'Vegas 1958 - Today'," Desert Sun [ Palm Springs, CA ],

    Feb. 17, 2005.

  Kilian, Michael.  Article, "Old, young performers carry on jazz's legacy," fortwayne.com,

    Feb. 4, 2005.

  Lang, Ronnie.  "Letters to the Editor: In memorian Artie Shaw," Overture, Feb. 2005, p.6.

   Odell, Jennifer.  Article, "The Beat: Dancers Swing Basie Centennial," DownBeat,

    Feb. 2005, p.13.

  Penhollow, Steve.  "Glenn Miller swings for a new generation," fortwayne.com,

    Feb. 20, 2005.

  Varty, Alexander.  Article, "LCJO Updates the Big Band," straight.com, Feb. 3, 2005.

  Williams, Benita Y.  Article, "Big-ticket items beyond reach of jazz museum,"

    The Kansas City Star / kansascity.com, Feb. 22, 2005.

  Uncredited.  "Lionel Hampton's vibraphone nets $50,000 in jazz auction," usatoday.com,

    Feb. 20, 2005.

       Congratulations to Big Bands International for the first color cover on their

  magazine, issue No.110.  Inside this month, the spotlight is on the Syd Lawrence

  Orchestra, one of Britain's great bands, under the direction of trombonist Chris

  Dean since Lawrence's death in 1998.

       The annual "Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival" was held Feb. 23rd-26th at the University of

  Idaho in Moscow, ID.  Among the performers were The Lionel Hampton New York Big

  Band led by alto saxophonist Cleave Guyton; clarinetist Ken Peplowski; trombonist Bill

  Watrous; guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and his singer-guitarist son, John; bassist John

  Clayton; and drummer Jeff Hamilton.

       The University's International Jazz Collections provided archival materials for several

  exhibits and displays of interest, including "The Glad-Hamp Historic Recordings" and "A

  Collector's View: The Neil McCaffrey Collection."

      Lectures offered included "The Marvelous Mary Lou Williams," presented by Annie

  Kuebler, Archivist for the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University; "Dinah

  Washington and Lionel Hampton," by Nadine Cohodas, author of the biography

  Queen: The Life and Music of Dinah Washington; and "The Great 'All-Women' Big Bands,"

  by Sherrie Tucker, Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Kansas

  and the author of Swing Shift: 'All-Girl' Bands of the 1940s.

      This month's itinerary - select list:

  Les Brown's Band of Renown directed by Les Brown, Jr.: Feb. 3, National

    Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, FL; Feb. 5, Lyric Theatre, Stuart, FL; Feb. 6,

    Cypress Gardens, Winter Haven, FL; Feb. 7, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall,

    Sarasota, FL; Feb. 8, Bentley Village West Clubhouse, Naples, FL; Feb. 10-13,

    Busch Gardens, Tampa Bay, FL

  Cab Calloway Orchestra directed by C. Calloway Brooks: Feb. 6, Super Bowl

    XXXIX owners' party, Jacksonville, FL

  Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra directed by Bill Tole: Feb. 5, Sun City, AZ; Feb. 11,

    Brownsville, TX; Feb. 13, Cypress Gardens, FL; Feb. 17, Yuma, AZ; Feb. 19,

    Laughlin, NV

  Tommy Dorsey Orchestra directed by Buddy Morrow: Feb. 24-27, Busch

    Gardens, Tampa Bay, FL

  Larry Elgart: Feb. 4, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa, FL; Feb. 5,

    Mahaffey Theatre, St. Petersburg, FL

  Les Elgart Orchestra directed by Russ Dorsey: Feb. 18, black tie fundraiser for

    tsunami relief, Juan Seguin High School, Arlington, TX

  Maynard Ferguson and Big Bop Nouveau: Feb. 3, fundraiser for Jordan High

    School Band, C. E. Jordan High School, Durham NC

  Jan Garber Orchestra directed by Howard Schneider: Feb. 28-Mar. 6, American

    Queen riverboat cruise, New Orleans, LA to Baton Rouge, LA

  Horace Heidt's Musical Knights directed by Horace Heidt Jr.: Feb. 14, private

    "Vintage Valentine's Dance," Indian Wells, CA

  Harry James Orchestra directed by Art Depew: Feb. 9, John Ascuaga's Nugget,

    Sparks, NV

  Gene Krupa Orchestra directed by Michael Berkowitz: Feb. 17, Howard Center

    for the Performing Arts, Ruston, LA; Feb. 18, Leesville High School Auditorium,

    Leesville, LA

  Russ Morgan Orchestra directed by Jack Morgan: Feb 1-2, The Club, Birmingham,

    AL; Feb. 5, Pickwick Park Inn, Pickwick Dam, TN; Feb. 12, Coliseum Ballroom, St.

    Petersburg, FL; Feb. 13, Flagler Auditorium, Bunnell, FL; Feb. 19, The Italian Club of

    Tampa, Tampa, FL

  Artie Shaw Orchestra directed by Dick Johnson: Feb. 10, Cary, NC; Feb. 12,

    Tuscaloosa, AL; Feb. 14, Savannah, GA; Feb. 17-20, Busch Gardens, Tampa Bay, FL;

    Feb. 22, Lake City, FL; Feb. 24, Englewood, FL; Feb. 26, Fort Lauderdale, FL;

    Feb. 27, Philharmonic Center for the Arts, Naples, FL

        Necrology:

  Warren Vache, Sr., author - bassist, 90, Feb. 4, complications following pneumonia

  Carleton McBeath, trumpeter, 80, Feb. 5

  Bill Potts, arranger (Rich, '67) - pianist (Herman, '57, '59), 76, Feb. 16, cardiac arrest

  Floralu "Flo" Ferguson, wife of Maynard Ferguson, Feb. 27, complications from

     Alzheimer's disease

   

  send feedback about "Big Band News": February 2005 via e-mail

  return to Big Band News directory

  go to Big Band Library homepage

      Some big names of the big bands were represented, when over 400

  pieces of jazz memorabilia were sold at auction Feb. 20th in New York

  City.  Among music instruments in the sale were an engraved "King

  George" vibraphone used by Lionel Hampton in the 1930s (it went for

  $50,000); a Martin trumpet custom-made for Dizzy Gillespie ($26,000);

  and a Selmer Bb clarinet manufactured in 1974 and used by Benny

  Goodman ($25,000).  Additional items offered included a second

  trumpet played by Gillespie; a plaque from Metronome naming Goodman

  as winner of their 1937 swing band competition; Goodman's sheet music

  for a 1963 version of Rachel's Dream ($2,750); some tuxedos worn by

  Goodman; his brown felt-brimmed hat and custom-made suede shoes

  ($950); a Slingerland drum set played by Buddy Rich during the early

  1970s; the Martin Magna tenor saxophone which Georgie Auld had in

  the '70s and '80s; a number of trumpet / vocal lead sheets and scores

  from the Louis Armstrong "Louis and the Good Book" album, recorded

  for Decca in 1958; and various printed materials related to Armstrong,

  such as a 31-page, profanity-laced letter to his manager, Joe Glaser (that

  sold for $29,500).

     The auction was held at the new home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, in the

  Time Warner complex in Manhattan, with bidders participating in-person,

  by telephone, and on eBay.  Proceeds from the sale were to go to various

  jazz foundations, archives, and to benefit young musicians. 

     It was reported that each lot came with a note from the Smithsonian

  Institution, "offering to help with any preservation work and holding out the

  hope that the item in question might be donated to the museum

  sometime down the line."