"BIG BAND NEWS"
SEPTEMBER 2006
compiled by
Christopher Popa
BIG BANDS ON DVD
A new series of DVDs, "Jazz Icons," from Reelin' in the Years Productions, features full-length concerts and studio performances by several big band leaders, namely Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Louis Armstrong, and Dizzy Gillespie [ shown above, l. to r. ].
Each title includes a 16-page booklet, with photographs and an essay about the performer.
The Basie release was filmed while the band was on a European tour, visiting Sweden during April 1962. Personnel included Sonny Cohn, trumpet; Frank Wess and Frank Foster, saxophones; Freddie Green, guitar; and Sonny Payne, drums. Basie bio-discographer Chris Sheridan wrote the liner notes for the DVD.
Rich and his big band, including Steve Marcus, tenor sax, were taped overseas during the summer of 1978, and the DVD contains such favorites as Bill Potts' arrangement of Big Swing Face and the Bill Reddie chart of Channel One Suite. Notes are by an alumnus of the Rich band, Dean Pratt, who played trumpet in the group from 1976-78.
Armstrong's all-stars, with Peanuts Hucko, clarinet, and Trummy Young, trombone, were filmed in concert in Antwerp, Belgium, during February 1959. Among the selections on the Armstrong DVD are Basin Street Blues, Love Is Just Around the Corner, and When the Saints Go Marchin' In.
Gillespie is heard in a small-group setting in Belgium during 1958 and a big band concert in Denmark in 1970, at which former Gillespie sidemen including trumpeter Benny Bailey, saxophonist Billy Mitchell, and drummer Kenny Clarke, as well as players known from various other swing bands, such as trumpeter Dusko Goykovich (ex-Woody Herman) and trombonist Nat Peck (Miller AAF), are on hand.
For more details, view the website jazzicons.com.
BIG BANDS ON COMPACT DISC - SELECT LIST
Count Basie: "Vol.4: Circus in Rhythm: Radio Transcriptions and V-Discs 1944-1945,"
Naxos Jazz Legends (UK) 8.120820
Jimmy Dorsey: "Forgotten Gems," Flare ( UK ) ROYCD246
[ 24 lesser-known selections including Ballerina, Didn't You Know That I Care, Go Fly a Kite, South Rampart Street Parade, Let
Yourself Go, and I Get Along Without You Very Well ]
Maynard Ferguson: "M.F. Horn 3 / M.F. Horn 4 & 5: Live At Jimmy's," Vocalion ( UK )
2CDSML 8429 [ 2-CD set = the 1973 Columbia LP C 32403 and the 1974 Columbia LP KG 32732 ]
Dizzy Gillespie: "Shaw 'Nuff," Collectables COL-CD-7729 [ sextet and orchestra ]
Glenn Miller: "Glenn Miller's All Time Greatest Hits," Sounds of Yesteryear ( UK ) DSOY715
[ 2-CD set spanning 1939-45 with many odd or poor choices as "greatest hits" ]
Bennie Moten: "Moten Stomp," Sounds of Yesteryear ( UK ) DSOY716
[ recordings made during 1926-27 for Victor by Moten's "Kansas City Orchestra" ]
"IF IT'S RHYTHM THAT YOU FEEL... "
Music of one of the great bands was heard, when The Gene Krupa Orchestra directed by Mike Berkowitz appears live on XM Satellite Radio's Channel 4, "The Savoy Express," September 9th at 9:00 pm EST. Besides Berkowitz on drums, featured soloists were Annette Sanders, vocals; Steve Hawk, trumpet; and Mike Tomaro, tenor sax.
The program, which eminated from the XM Performance Center in downtown Washington, D.C., included more than a dozen songs closely associated with Krupa, such as Leave Us Leap, Massachusetts, and Gene's Boogie, plus a new original, Thinking of Gene.
The program was replayed on September 12th at 2:00 PM EST and again that day at 12:00 Midnight EST.
BIG BANDS ON THE ROAD - SELECT LIST
Les Brown's Band of Renown directed by Les Brown, Jr.: Sept. 9 / 11-14 / 16 / 18-21 / 23 /
25-28 / 30, Mickey Gilley Theatre, Branson, MO
Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra directed by Bill Tole: Sept. 10, Livestock Exchange Ballroom,
Omaha, NE; Sept. 24, Warren Performing Arts Center, Indianapolis, IN
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra directed by Buddy Morrow: Sept. 15: Lexington Music & Theatre
Co., Lexington, MI; Sept. 16, Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario,
Canada
Jan Garber Orchestra directed by Howard Schneider: Sept. 9, [ private ]; Sept. 10, Indiana
Roof Ballroom, Indianapolis, IN; Sept. 22, Miller Performing Arts Center, Jefferson City, MO
Glenn Miller Orchestra directed by Larry O'Brien: Sept. 2, Dalhousie Arts Centre, Halifax,
Nova Scotia, Canada; Sept. 3, The Imperial Theatre, Saint John, New Brunswick,
Canada; Sept. 14, Gadsden Convention Hall, Gadsden, L; Sept. 15, Opryland Hotel,
Nashville, TN; Sept. 17, [ private ] Memorial Hall, Hutchinson, KS; Sept. 19-22, Woodland
Auditorium and Coronado Center, Hot Springs, AR; Sept. 24, Orpheum Theatre,
Gallesburg, IL; Sept. 25, Williams Center for the Arts, Oelwein, IA; Sept. 26, Woodstock
Opera House, Woodstock, IL; Sept. 28, Northland Pines High School, Eagle River, WI;
Sept. 29, Madison Civic Center, Madison, WI; Sept. 30, Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee, WI
Russ Morgan Orchestra directed by Jack Morgan: Sept. 10, Crystal Ballroom, Staunton, IL
Louis Prima, Jr.: Sept. 24-28, The Grand Theatre, Hilton Hotel, Atlantic City, NJ
Artie Shaw Orchestra directed by Dick Johnson: Sept. 17, Sherman Theatre, Stroudsburg,
PA; Sept. 19, Southampton High School, Courtland, VA; Sept. 20, Westin Resort Hotel,
Hilton Head, SC; Sept. 21, Benjamin Russell High School Auditorium, Alexander City, AL;
Sept. 22, Cumberland County Playhouse, Crossville, TN; Sept. 23, Pinehurst High School,
Pinehurst, NC; Sept. 24, Edgecombe Community College, Tarboro, NC; Sept. 25,
Garden Spot High School, New Holland, PA
BELLSON AMONG "HEROES AND LEGENDS"
Drummer - bandleader Louis Bellson will be one of the people honored for their contributions to the music industry, at the 17th annual Heroes and Legends (HAL) Legacy Awards, to be held September 24th at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
More information about the ceremony may be found at halawards.com.
BIG BAND BIRTHDAYS
Trigger Alpert, bassist (Rey '40; Miller '40-42; Miller AAF '43-'45), b. Sept. 3, 1916
Gerald Wilson, trumpeter (Lunceford '39-'42) - bandleader, b. Sept. 4, 1918
Virginia Maxey, vocalist (Barnet '43 / '48 "Red Skin Rhumba" [ sic ] Universal short;
Pastor '44; Elman '47), b. Sept. 4, 1923
Sam Butera, saxophonist (McKinley '47; Prima '54-'75), b. Sept. 17, 1927
Frank Foster, saxophonist - arranger (Basie '53-'64; Basie Orch '86-'95), b. Sept. 23, 1928
BENEFIT CONCERT
In 2003, respected musician and award-winning author Richard M. Sudhalter, whose books include a wonderful tribute to a pioneering generation of players, Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz 1915-1945 (New York City: Oxford University Press, 1999), suffered a massive stroke. Though recovering initially, his health more recently took a turn for the worse, and he has been diagnosed as having multiple system atrophy (MSA).
To help him defray medical and other expenses, a benefit concert was held September 10th at St. Peter's Lutheran Church on Lexington Ave. in New York City. Performers scheduled to appear included trumpeter Randy Sandke, trombonist Eddie Bert, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, vocalist Daryl Sherman, and The Loren Schoenberg Big Band.
According to one of Sudhalter's friends, Albert Haim, Professor Emeritus of the State University of New York (SUNY), "We all owe a profound debt of gratitude to Richard for his extraordinary and life-long efforts to elucidate, preserve, and disseminate the music we love. Richard has done a lot for us. It is time that we reciprocate."
Haim also encourages people to send checks or money orders c/o North Fork Bank, 54375 Route 25, Southold NY 11971. An account for Sudhalter has been established, number
0-126-36587-3.
For more information, see Haim's website, bixbeiderbecke.com.
NECROLOGY
Tony DeNicola, 79, drummer (Martin '52; Ventura '57; James '60-'61 / '66 Riverboat, NYC
and "Bring Back the Bands"; Butterfield '78), Sept. 2, 2006
Hubert Lombardo, 96, cousin of Guy Lombardo and the last family member with the
Lombardo name left in London, Ontario, Canada, Sept. 6, 2006
Doug Meriwether, 77?, Buddy Rich biographer, Sept. 10, 2006, heart failure
Iva Toguri D'Aquino, 90, known as World War II propagandist "Tokyo Rose" [ convicted but
later pardoned ], Sept. 26, 2006, natural causes
Mike Lefebvre, 60, drummer ("Showtime" LP w/ Gillespie '87), Sept. 26, 2006, bone cancer
TRIBUTE CONCERT
People will gather on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus September 20th, to pay tribute to the late trumpeter - bandleader Maynard Ferguson, who died August 23rd at age 78.
Musicians appearing are to include Ferguson's Big Bop Nouveau Band and alumni from his previous groups.
"They loved him," Ferguson's longtime manager, Steve Schankman, told reporter Jim Salter of The Associated Press. "Maynard was all about featuring his musicians. He was just the consummate gentleman."
Ferguson was hospitalized only three days, before he passed away from kidney and liver failure due to an abdominal infection.
"He went out on top," Schankman commented. "He didn't go out with his horn in the closet."
LABOR DAY JAZZ
The city of Detroit held its 27th annual "International Jazz Festival" September 1st through the 4th, downtown. Performers included the Gerald Wilson Big Band, which appeared that Saturday night at 8:00 on the Waterfront Stage.
A Detroit-based label, Mack Avenue Records, which has several CDs by Wilson in its catalog, recently gave a $10-million endowment gift, intended to secure the future of the Festival.
"KEEP THE JIVE ALIVE"
Auditions take place September 23rd for middle and high school students to become members of The Count Basie Theatre's Youth Jazz Orchestra. The Theatre, in Basie's hometown of Red Bank, NJ, gives the musicians a 10-week program, including instruction in jazz theory and improvisation, along with, of course, "a three-hour big band rehearsal."
MONEY BLUES NO MORE
Queens College and the City University of New York were recently awarded $5 million from the State of New York, to begin the design and construction of an 8,500 sq. ft. Visitors Center for the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Corona, Queens. The Center, to be built in 2009 on an empty lot across the street, would allow the Museum to offer an expanded schedule of concerts, lectures, exhibitions, community events, and other services and programs. Estimated total cost for the project is $9 million, so Queens College will raise the remaining $4 million.
IN-PRINT AND / OR ONLINE - SELECT LIST
Abbott, Jim. "Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band: Dizzy's Business (4 stars out of 5),"
Orlando [ FL ] Sentinel / orlandosentinel.com, Sept. 22, 2006. [ review of MCG Jazz 1023 ]
"Don Lusher Remembered," 4barsrest.com, Sept. 27, 2006.
Gillespie, James. "The Movies of Benny Goodman: A Pictorial Retrospective:
Take 4," The Clarinet, Sept. 2006, pp.44-48. [ fourth of five installments ]
Karlovits, Bob. "Unearthed video recordings have strong Pittsburgh influence,"
Pittsburgh [ PA ] Tribune Review / pittsburghlive.com, Sept. 10, 2006. [ review of "Jazz Icons" DVDs,
including " . . . Then there's Buddy Rich, leading his big band in Holland in 1978 with a look that drives the band as much as his
drums do . . . " ]
"Legends of Jazz Concert to Feature the Carl Saunders Sextet," tehachapinews.com,
Sept. 26, 2006. [ Oct. 13th program at California State University, Bakersfield ]
Paulu, Tom. "Chehalis museum brings area veterans' stories to life," [ Longview, WA ]
Daily News / tdn.com, Sept. 7, 2006. [ reporting the variety of items at The Veterans Memorial Museum in Centralia,
including a printed copy of the Glenn Miller AAF Band's "last program," which came from trumpeter Whitey Thomas ]
"Pocono Life: Artie Shaw Orchestra at Sherman Theater Sept. 17," Pocono [ PA ] Record /
poconorecord.com, Sept. 1, 2006.
Porterfield, Christopher. "Bringing Back Big: One man--and his 18-piece band--tries to put
new zing in swing," Time / time.com, Sept. 3, 2006. [ re: Gordon Goodwin and his so-called Big Phat Band ]
Saunders, Bret. "Carrying on Dizzy's mission," Denver [ CO ] Post / denverpost.com,
Sept. 24, 2006. [ Slide Hampton comments ]
Stryker, Mark. "Review: Gerald Wilson's ensemble," Detroit Free Press / freep.com,
Sept. 3, 2006.
Tumpak, John. "Cron's Voyage Continues," International Musician, Sept. 2006, p.19.
[ about musician Rosalind Cron, a former member of The International Sweethearts of Rhythm ]
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