Big Band Bash

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Black History Month Part 1: The Mills Brothers Feb 08, 2020

Show notes

This week I am going to begin our celebration of Black History Month with a look at the popular vocal group the Mills Brothers. They were a fascinating group from their beginnings until the 1980's when some of the brothers started to pass away. I'll have several of their hits and as usual the Big Band Bash Puzzler is back. I'll have a few more artists in the weeks to come that I haven't featured before. I hope you enjoy this look at the fantastic vocal group, The Mills Brothers part of our Black History Month celebration. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

A Ray Anthony Birthday Salute Part 2 Feb 01, 2020

Show notes

This week is a continuation of our birthday salute to bandleader Ray Anthony. Ray turned 98 years of age on this past January 22nd. For the show today, I chose four different cds recorded by the Anthony band and picked songs that I thought were appropriate for the big band era. The big band puzzler is back this week also. I hope you'll tune in and listen to some great music by Ray Anthony as we wish him a very happy 98th birthday. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

A Ray Anthony Birthday Salute Part 1 Jan 25, 2020

Show notes

Ray Anthony was born on January 20th 1922 and he is celebrating his 98th birthday. That makes him the oldest surviving member of the original Glenn Miller orchestra. This week and next I'll be playing a lot of Ray's big band recordings as we celebrate his birthday. On the show today, I have some songs from a 1953 broadcast where Ray's special guests were Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberle. Also, I have a radio remote from the Hollywood Palladium. You don't want to miss this special program as we say Happy Birthday to Ray Anthony. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

All American Bandleaders Magazine Part 2 Jan 18, 2020

Show notes

This week I am continuing with part two of our look at the 1942 magazine All-American Bandleaders. My father brought several old magazines home for me when I was in high school. I had them packed away in my closet and came across them recently. I scanned this issue in to the computer and made a PDF file of it. You can download a copy of it by going to my blog: http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com/ and clicking the lick for the magazine. The magazine has features from the popular bandleaders from the times and so I am following the playlist and presenting a song by each bandleader in the magazine. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

All American Bandleaders Magazine Part 1 Jan 11, 2020

Show notes

All American Bandleaders was a celebrity / fan magazine about 1940's bands and vocalists. I found one of these magazines from April 1942 that I had packed away in a closet. Each page was a little feature or story on a different bandleader. Since the magazine was 36 pages with hardly any advertisements I thought it would be fun to go through from the beginning to the end and play as many of the bandleaders as I could find. This week features bandleaders from pages 1 - 19 and we will wind up the rest next week. It is a big band potpourri from All American Bandleaders magazine this week on Big Band Bash. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

The Disappearance of Glenn Miller Part 2 Jan 04, 2020

Show notes

The disappearance of Glenn Miller 75 years ago has been the subject of many theories over the years. We will take a look at some of the theories and listen to some more of those great sides recorded by Glenn and the Army Air Force orchestra. Also, I have a live radio program from July of 1944 which is a little different than his I Sustain The Wings series. I hope you'll find something enjoyable in this second of two parts on The Disappearance of Glenn Miller.Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

The Disappearance of Glenn Miller Part 1 Dec 28, 2019

Show notes

On December 15, 1944 Glenn Miller got into an airplane with the pilot and another passenger. He was headed to Paris to make arrangements for a Christmas Day concert and also to see about moving his Army Air Force Orchestra over there. The weather was not good when the plane took off. It was cold and foggy two conditions not suitable for air travel. The plane left at 2:00pm and the three air travelers were never seen again. Please join me for a look at the events and history of Major Glenn Miller's disappearance. I'll also be playing some of the recordings made by the AAF orchestra. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Stan Kenton Early Capitol Recordings Part 2 Dec 07, 2019

Show notes

This week is a continuation of our look at the career of the late Stan Kenton. Stan's birthday is December 15th, 1911 so this seemed like a good time to go back and listen to some of the many exciting recordings he made for Capitol Records in the 1940's. Since this Mosaic Records set has a very informative booklet, I tried to give the dates and arrangers for each song. The Big Band Bash puzzler is back this week. Also, I continued with and wound up the biography of Stan that I stated last week. I hope you enjoy this look at one of the greatest and most controversial of the big bands, Mr. Stan Kenton. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Stan Kenton Early Capitol Recordings Part 1 Nov 30, 2019

Show notes

This week on Big Band Bash I will be presenting a two part show on the music and career of the late Stan Kenton. Stan's birthday was on December 15th so I thought now would be a good time to listen to some of those great, early recordings he made for Capitol Records in the 1940's. The music on the show comes from an out of print Mosaic Records Company set called "The Complete Capitol Studio Recordings of Stan Kenton." It was an eight disc set presenting his music in chronological order. Stan was a very controversial band leader so I have divided his biography into two parts. I hope you enjoy the music this week from band leader Stan Kenton. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Big Band Thanksgiving Nov 23, 2019

Show notes

With the Thanksgiving holiday fast approaching, I wanted to put together a show for that day as I have never produced a Thanksgiving show before. It turned out a little more difficult than I thought. I could only find one song in my collection that had the title "Thanksgiving". I'm not sure why there were not more results because there are songs written about other holidays. So not to be deterred I searched my collection for the word "Thanks" and found about a dozen songs. So to finish the show I added some songs about autumn. I also threw in some Thanksgiving trivia. I hope you enjoy the show and I want to wish each of you a very happy and safe Thanksgiving. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

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