Big Band Bash

Latest Episodes:

June Christy - A Birthday Salute Nov 26, 2016

Show notes

I'm back this week with a new program celebrating the birthday of vocalist June Christy. June achieved her first fame with the Stan Kenton Orchestra of the 1940's. She went on to a very successful solo career in the 1950's and 60's. All of the recordings today feature June with the Kenton orchestra. I hope you enjoy these great recordings as we celebrate the birthday (November 20th) of the late June Christy. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Kay Starr - A Tribute Nov 12, 2016

Show notes

This week we pay a tribute to Kay Starr who passed away on November 3rd at the age of 94. Ms. Starr, whose career began when she was a teenager and continued into her 80s, was a rarity: a singer who blossomed in the big-band era of the 1930s and 1940s, hit it big as a pop and country artist, and scored one of her biggest hits in the emerging rock scene of the mid-1950s. I'll be playing many of the recordings of Kay that I could find from the 1940's. Although most of her biggest hits were from the 1950's I did find some nice songs from the 40's. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

The Dorsey Brothers Part 4 Nov 05, 2016

Show notes

On Part Four of the Dorsey Brothers we conclude the series with a live broadcast of the reunited brothers. The late 1940's was a hard time for the big bands with Tommy disbanding his band in 1946. But he couldn't stay away and was back with a new group. Jimmy gave up his band and the new group was billed as The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra featuring Jimmy Dorsey. They remained together until Tommy's death in 1956. The broadcast on today's show is from Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook ballroom recorded in 1955. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

The Dorsey Brothers Part 3 Oct 29, 2016

Show notes

On Part Three of the Dorsey Brothers we will turn our focus to the band of Tommy. When Tommy split from his brother Jimmy he took over the Joe Haymes orchestra. Molding it into the kind of band he wanted Tommy was soon recording many of his hit songs. I tried to pick out many of TD's hits and we will also learn about his career apart from Jimmy. In part four we will conclude the series with the reunited brothers in the 1950's. This is a great series filled with many hits that you are sure to like. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

The Dorsey Brothers Part 2 Oct 23, 2016

Show notes

On this the second part of my four part series on the Dorsey Brothers we will be focusing on Jimmy's orchestra. Jimmy was the older of the two brothers and after Tommy walked out on their combined orchestra, Jimmy continued the band under his name. He had many hits during the swing era and we will be playing many of them today. His biggest hits featured vocalists Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell. Next week I will be looking at the career of Tommy Dorsey and in part four we will conclude with the reunited brothers. This is a great series filled with many hits that you are sure to like. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

The Dorsey Brothers Part 1 Oct 16, 2016

Show notes

Today I am starting a four part series on the Dorsey Brothers, Tommy and Jimmy. Together and separately they recorded some of the biggest hits of the big band era. We will be starting with some of the early original recordings of the Dorsey Brothers orchestra. Then in part two, I will be focusing on Jimmy's orchestra. In part three we will look at Tommy's orchestra and in the final part we will look at the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra featuring Jimmy Dorsey when they were together again. This is a great series filled with many hits that you are sure to like. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

Artie Shaw Revisited Part 2 Oct 08, 2016

Show notes

We continue this week with a show I produced in the summer of 2015. This is Part 2 of Artie Shaw Revisted. There are a couple of more interview segments with Artie from the series "The Mystery of Artie Shaw". Most of the music in this show is from 1940 on. The Big Band puzzler is gone this week to make time for the interview segments. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

Artie Shaw Revisited Part 1 Oct 01, 2016

Show notes

Welcome to an encore presentation of a show I did in the Summer of 2015 on Artie Shaw. Here are the notes from that show: Artie Shaw has always been one of my favorite clarinetists. Since it has been a while since I did a program on Artie, I thought now is a good time. I have picked out many of Artie's hit records. In addition I'll be playing a few interview excerpts from the series "The Mystery of Artie Shaw" which ran on radio in the early 2000's. This series was produced by Ted Hallock who interviewed Artie in 1998. Artie is as feisty as ever even telling Ted at one point that one of the questions he asked was dumb. I hope you hear some of your favorite Artie Shaw recordings and enjoy the interview excerpts. The Big Band puzzler is gone this week to make time for the interview segments. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

The Arrangers - Part 2 Sep 03, 2016

Show notes

This week we continue our look at the arrangers. The arranger has a vast store of musical knowledge and uses it to take 15 to 20 musicians and create a musical masterpiece. They decide who plays when, what section is playing, who takes a solo and much more. Benny Goodman had a lot of the great arrangers working for him in the 1930's so I thought it would be interesting to focus on his band's hits and see who they were arranged by. We'll be hearing arrangements by Mel Powell, Eddie Sauter, Fletcher Henderson and more. I hope you will tune in. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

The Arrangers - Part 1 Aug 27, 2016

Show notes

This week we take a look at one of the most important members of the big bands - the arranger. The arranger has a vast store of musical knowledge and uses it to take 15 to 20 musicians and create a musical masterpiece. They decide who plays when, what section is playing, who takes a solo and much more. It is an art and we will take a look at some of the great arrangers and listen to some of their classic arrangements. We will be listening to songs from Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Lunceford, Benny Carter and more. I hope you will tune in. Please visit this podcast at http://www.fgmiller.com/bbb/

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