Big Band Bash

Latest Episodes:

Songs About the Cold Jan 22, 2022

Show notes

Hello everyone. This time of the year is usually cold in my neck of the woods. Well Mother Nature did not let us down here in the United States. The eastern states reported record low temperatures and it hs been cold at my house. I have never done a show about the cold so I searched for songs with cold, winter, and wind in the title. Some of them turned out to be about something else but they all have a cold adjective in the title. I hope you enjoy the various selections on today's show as we settle back and try to stay warm. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

1938-1939 Time Life - The Swing Era Part 2 Jan 15, 2022

Show notes

This is part two of the Time Life records set I started last week. These records were originally recorded in 1971 by Billy May and His Orchestra/Glen Gray's Casa Loma Orchestra. Those were recreations featuring many of the musicians who were on the original recordings. Today's program features the music from the set of 1938-1939. I have this box set and thought that instead of hearing the recreations that it would be interesting to listen to the originals. So I'm borrowing the playlist and presenting the original recordings. Included with the albums was a nice book which told about the swing era. The book from the 1938-1939 set featured an essay on Where Swing Came From. I hope you enjoy the music in part two of Time Life's the Swing Era. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

1938-1939 Time Life - The Swing Era Part 1 Jan 08, 2022

Show notes

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 1938-1939. The songs were rerecorded by the bands of Billy May and Glen Gray. I have this set and thought that instead of hearing the recreations that it would be interesting to listen to 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 in this set. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Big Band Party Jan 01, 2022

Show notes

Happy New Year everyone. For this program, the first of 2022, I decided to see how many songs I could find that had the word Party in the title. The reason being is that many people go to parties on New Year's Eve or they recuperate from the party from the night before on New Year's Day. It was a fun exercise and an added bonus was finding a radio remote from the Glenn Miller orchestra on New year's Eve of 1938 from the Paradise Restaurant in New York City. I hope you enjoy my selections as we usher in the New Year of 2022. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Rerun A Stan Kenton Centennial Dec 11, 2021

Show notes

This December 15th will be the 110th Anniversary of the birthday of the late bandleader Stan Kenton. In 2011 I put together a show celebrating the centennial anniversary of Stan's birth. I haven't played this show in ten years so to keep from reinventing the wheel I am going to play this show. There are lots of your Kenton favorites on this show as well as a biography of Stan. I hope you enjoy this show as we celebrate the birthday of the late Stan Kenton. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Pearl Harbor 80th Anniversary Dec 04, 2021

Show notes

This December 7th will be the 80th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. To honor the men and women who lost their lives that day, I have put together some of the songs associated with World War Two as well as explained a little bit about why and how the attack took place. There are lots of songs from 1941 through 1945 and I hope you remember that fateful day which prompted our entry into World War two A day that started many changes for the big bands and music in general. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Rerun The Singers Part 2 Nov 27, 2021

Show notes

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. I am taking this week off as I present part two of a program I produced back in 2012. It is kind of a sampler of the many vocalists that were popular during the swing era, a kind of potpourri if you will. Last time, I presented many different singers and today is a continuation of the many great vocalists. I was a little rough back in 2012 but the music is great. I hope you enjoy this rebroadcast of The Singers Part Two. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Rerun The Singers Part 1 Nov 20, 2021

Show notes

Since I have produced twenty new shows, I am going to take a break for the next two weeks and turn to a rerun of a two part show I did way back in 2012. It was a show I did focusing on the vocalists. I put together many different vocalists into a sampler. I think you'll enjoy this rerun as it has a lot of the popular vocalists from the swing era. I hope to be back after the Thanksgiving break with some new episodes of Big Band Bash. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Part 10 - This is the Best of Duke Ellington Nov 13, 2021

Show notes

Well, with this last episode we come to the end of a series that I have really enjoyed presenting. Our local PBS station runs reruns of the Lawrence Welk show every Saturday at 6:00pm. I was watching it and the show they were doing was a salute to the swing bands of the 30's and 40's. So I thought let's run a series highlight ten of the top bands and present many of their hit songs. We've been through nine top big bands and this show is the closer. I'll be playing many of the hit songs by the great Duke Ellington. These come from many sources but I think you will recognize many of these Ellington classics. I hope you enjoy the best of Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Part 9 - This is the Best of Gene Krupa Nov 06, 2021

Show notes

I've been listening to Gene Krupa's band since 1973. That is the year he passed away and the local jazz show had a tribute to Gene. On this Part 9 of This Is The Best Of, I will be playing some of the hits of Gene and his band. The band that had Anita O'Day and Roy Eldridge was always my favorite but any band he was the drummer for was a very exciting band. There is not a lot of patter on this show as I wanted to play this great music. If you are interested in the life of Gene Krupa check out one of my other podcasts on the great drummer. I hope you enjoy the music of Gene Krupa and His Orchestra and thank you for listening. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

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