The big bands are back
in a new and exciting way!
NEW CAB CALLOWAY MERCHANDISE
Fans of the "hi-de-ho-man" will be happy to learn of two appealing items.
One is a compact disc, "Cab Calloway 'live': At The Cafe Zanzibar," produced by Wayne Knight, for his Mr. Music imprint based in California. The title, given the catalog number MMCD-7035, presents 20 vocal or instrumental selections by Calloway's big band or Cabaliers sextet, including We the Cats Shall Hep You, Zanzi (named after the Cafe Zanzibar venue in New York City), Lamarr's Boogie (for Lamarr Wright, Sr., a long-serving trumpeter in Calloway's group), and The Duck Trot. Some selections were previously released by Knight on his Giants of Jazz LP label.
The other new Calloway item is a t-shirt by Ed and Amy Seeman of Florida, featuring five images of Calloway in a colorful design. (In fact, attractive t-shirts depicting many other bandleaders, namely Barnet, Basie, Cugat, T Dorsey, Ellington, Goodman, Herman, James, Kenton, Krupa, Miller, Prima, Rich, and Shaw, are also offered by them.) The bandleader t-shirts come in adult sizes of small, medium, large and x-large for $16.95 plus shipping, adult 2X for $20 plus shipping, and adult 3X for $22 plus shipping.
NEW COMPACT DISCS
Tex Beneke. “The Glenn Miller Formula Part IV,” Sounds of YesterYear ( E ) DSOY943.
Producer Michael Highton resumes his series of Beneke’s Thesaurus transcriptions.
Enoch Light. “Pertinent Percussion Cha Cha’s / I Want to Be Happy Cha Cha’s,”
Sepia ( E ) 1238. 28 tracks, originally released as two Command LPs.
Sauter-Finegan Orchestra. “Golden Memories of Sauter-Finegan: In Stereo: Memories of
Goodman and Miller / Straight Down the Middle,” Jasmine ( E ) JASCD 288.
22 selections, originally released as two RCA Victor LPs.
Chick Webb. “The Complete Chick Webb and Ella Fitzgerald Decca Sessions
(1929-1941),” Mosaic. 8-CD set of recordings made for Brunswick, Vocalion, and
Decca. As the Decca masters given to the Library of Congress are not yet available,
unfortunate that Mosaic had to resort to using Chronological Classics CDs as the
sources of three selections, as well as a Hep CD for a fourth.
Various artists. “The Best Years of Our Lives: The Most Popular Songs of 1937,”
Sounds of YesterYear ( E ) DSOY 940. Kemp, Goodman, T Dorsey, Shaw, Clinton,
and others.
---. "The Sounds of Christmas: Rare Holiday Gems," Jasmine ( E ) JASCD 778.
Includes 7 songs by Freddy Martin, 2 by Eddy Howard, 2 by Guy Lombardo, others.
NAME BANDS LIVE
Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra directed by Bill Tole. Oct. 12, St. Charles, MO; Oct. 20,
Auburn, WA.
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra directed by Terry Myers. Oct. 28-29, Drury Lane Theatre,
Oakbrook Terrace, IL.
Les Elgart Orchestra directed by Russ Dorsey. Oct. 5, private wedding, Adolphus
Hotel, Dallas, TX.
Harry James Orchestra directed by Fred Radke. Oct. 18, Merrillville, IN.
Glenn Miller Orchestra directed by Nick Hilscher. Oct. 3-4, Jabez Sanford Hardin
Performing Arts Center, Evans, GA; Oct. 5, Reinhardt University, Waleska, GA; Oct. 6,
Cornwell Center, Charlotte, NC; Oct. 8, Lancaster Grand Theatre, Lancaster, KY;
Oct. 11, River Raisin Centre, Monroe, MI; Oct. 12, Macomb Center for the
Performing Arts, Clinton Township, MI; Oct. 13, James F. Dicke Auditorium,
New Bremen, OH; Oct. 19, Patchogue Theatre, Patchogue, NY; Oct. 20, The Newton
Theatre, Newton, NJ; Oct. 21-22, Westchester Broadway Theatre, Elsmford,
NY; Oct. 25, Dover Downs Casino & Hotel, Dover Downs, DE; Oct. 27, University
of Charleston, Charleston, WV; Oct. 29, Paramount Theatre, Anderson, IN.
A NEW DAWN FOR VAUGHN
The Vaughn Monroe Society reports that the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA, which holds Vaughn's old band library, is planning to remember him in several ways. Dan Gabel, a Boston area trombonist and leader, is in the process of cataloging those arrangements, and is writing a biography of Monroe. Meanwhile, the New England Conservatory Jazz Orchestra directed by Professor Ken Schaphorst (and with Dan among the trombones) will be performing a free concert featuring the hits of Vaughn Monroe as well as Billy Eckstine on the 17th of this month in Jordan Hall. Then next Spring, Gabel's own band will perform a series of concerts and will include some of Monroe's music.
NECROLOGY
Gordon Dooley, 92, d.Oct. 28, 2013. Trumpeter with Beneke '50.
Frank Wess, 91, d.Oct. 30, 2013, heart attack related to kidney failure. Saxophonist with
Eckstine '46; Basie '53-'64.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
Terry Gibbs, b.Oct. 13, 1924. Vibraphonist with T Dorsey ’47 / 50; Rich ’48;
Herman ’49-’50?; Goodman ’50-‘52.
Norman Leyden, b.Oct. 17, 1917. Arranger with Miller AAF ’44-’45; Beneke-Miller Orch
’46-’49; Columbia “Once Upon a Time” LP with Johnny Desmond ’59.
Betty Bennett, b.Oct. 23, 1921. Vocalist with Thornhill ’46; Rey ’47-’48; Ventura ’49;
Herman ’50; Barnet ’52.
Tony Eaton, b.Oct. 30, 1939. Correspondent and longtime member of the [international]
Glenn Miller Society; guest speaker ("The Curious Disappearance of Glenn Miller");
liner notes writer for Sounds of Yester Year ( E ).
REMEMBERING YOU
Ann Richards, b.Oct. 1, 1935. Vocalist with Kenton ’55. Married him ’55.
Chino Pozo, b.Oct. 4, 1915. Bongo and conga drums / timbales with Kenton ’55;
Cugat ’59. Cousin of Chano Pozo.
Fred Norman, b.Oct. 5, 1910. Trombonist / composer with Hopkins ’32-’38.
Arranger for Krupa ’40-’43. Also wrote or arranged for Berigan, J Dorsey, T Dorsey,
Goodman, I Jones, James, Miller, Shaw, Teagarden.
Carmen Mastren, b.Oct. 6, 1913. Guitarist with T Dorsey ’36-’40; Miller AAF ’43-’45.
Jo Jones, b.Oct. 7, 1911. Drummer with Basie ’35-‘36 / ’36-’48.
Alvin Stoller, b.Oct. 7, 1925. Drummer with Monroe ’42; Goodman ’42; T Dorsey
’45-’47; J Gray '50 / '51 / '52; May '51 / '53 / '54 / '55 / '56 / '57 / '60 / '62.
J.C. Heard, b.Oct. 8, 1917. Drummer with T Wilson ’39-’40; Carter ’42; Calloway ’42-’45.
Sonny Igoe, b.Oct. 8, 1923. Drummer with Les Elgart ’47; Hutton ’48; Goodman ’49;
Herman ’50-’52; Ventura ’53-’55.
Bill Stegmeyer, b.Oct. 8, 1916. Saxophonist / clarinetist with Miller ’38; Crosby ’39 / ’58.
Arranger for Butterfield ’46-’47.
Harry Edison, b.Oct. 10, 1915. Trumpeter with Basie ’37-’50; Rich ’50.
Al Killian, b.Oct. 15, 1916. Trumpeter with Basie ’40-’44; Barnet ’43 / ’45-’46; Hampton
’45; Ellington ’47-’50.
Paul Tanner, b.Oct. 15, 1917. Trombonist with Miller ’38-’42; Beneke-Miller Orch ’46-’50;
Beneke ’50-’51.
Lenny Hambro, b.Oct. 16, 1923. Alto saxophonist / clarinetist with McKinley ’51-’52;
McKinley-Miller Orch ’56-’64.
Cozy Cole, b.Oct. 17, 1909. Drummer with Willie Bryant ’35-’36; Calloway ’39-’42;
Scott ’43-’45; Armstrong ’49-’53.
Barney Kessel, b.Oct. 17, 1923. Guitarist with Marx ’43; Barnet ’44; Shaw ’44-’45.
Howard Smith, b.Oct. 19, 1910. Pianist with Norvo ’36; Miller ’37; T Dorsey ’37-’40.
John Best, b.Oct. 20, 1913. Trumpeter with Brown ’35-’36; Barnet ’37; Shaw ’37-‘39;
Miller ’39-’42; Shaw Navy Band ’42-’44; Donahue Navy Band ’44-’45; Goodman
’45-’47; J Gray ’47-’53; May ’50-’55.
Ray Linn, b.Oct. 20, 1920. Trumpeter with T Dorsey ’40-’41; Herman ’42 / ’45;
Shaw ’44-’45; Raeburn ’46.
Dizzy Gillespie, b.Oct. 21, 1917. Trumpeter with Calloway ’39-’41; Eckstine ’44.
Leader of own band.
Wendell Marshall, b.Oct. 24, 1920. Bassist with Ellington ’48-’55; Bellson '51.
Chubby Jackson, b.Oct. 25, 1918. Bassist with Barnet ’41-’43; Herman ’43-’46 /
’48 / ’50 / ‘58; Ventura ’47 / ’51.
Charlie Barnet, b.Oct. 26, 1913. Saxophonist with Norvo ’34. Leader of own band.
Boyd Raeburn, b.Oct. 27, 1913. Leader of own band.
Bill Harris, b.Oct. 28, 1916. Trombonist with Chester ’43; Goodman ’43-’44 / ‘59;
Herman ’44-’46.
Neal Hefti, b.Oct. 29, 1922. Trumpeter / arranger / composer for Herman ’44-45;
Ventura ’46; James ’48-’49. Wrote for Basie ’50-’60. Leader of own band.
Zoot Sims, b.Oct. 29, 1925. Tenor saxophonist with Sherwood ’42-’43; Goodman
’44 / ’46 / ’50 / ‘58; Herman ’47-’49.
Illinois Jacquet, b.Oct. 31, 1922. Tenor saxophonist with Hampton ’41-'42; Calloway
’43-’44; Basie ’45-’46. Leader of own band.
Ted Nash, b.Oct. 31, 1922. Tenor saxophonist with Light ’40; Heidt ’42; Harris ’43;
Fields ’44; Brown ’44-’46; J Gray ’47-’52.
WELCOME TO THE WEB
Thirty years after it was re-organized, The Artie Shaw Orchestra now has its own, official website, artieshaworchestra.com.
Sections include “About Us,” “Audio” (be sure to listen to the band play I Get a Kick Out of You, live), “Reviews,” and more.
Best wishes to leader Matt Koza and all the boys in the band.
NEW IN-PRINT
John McDonough. “The Glenn Miller Orchestra @ 75,” DownBeat, Oct. 2013, p.32+.
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OCTOBER 2013
"BIG BAND NEWS"
compiled by Music Librarian CHRISTOPHER POPA
