Show Notes 3/19-22

A few sincere words

I tried very hard for several days to write something in this space. I wanted to share some interesting information about Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton, our two featured artists on this week's show. But I've come up dry with each attempt.

I'm normally very diligent about the show; I turn out new episodes on an ambitious schedule. I make multiple Facebook posts promoting the show every week, I even write this blog! If that's not diligence, I don't know what is. But this week, I've been distracted. 

On Monday (a day when I normally record the first hour of the show each week), I was unable to record because of a scheduled CT Scan, the results of which would tell whether I'd beaten cancer with nine months of radiation, surgery and chemotherapy. No pressure! Late Monday afternoon, the phone rang, and it was my oncologist calling to tell me that I had received a clean report. No cancer, no more drugs, no more treatments. Just a routine checkup every three months, and a new CT Scan every six months for a while. Those who have had that experience can understand the weight that was lifted off of my wife, my family and me. Good day. A very good day.

However, it threw my production week a day behind schedule. I finally finished the show on Wednesday and scheduled the first few Facebook posts for the week. I was able to complete my writing for Facebook. But this blog post was another kind of challenge. 

I considered writing something about how isolated we all are from one another because of the Coronavirus scare. But then, I thought that people were likely sick and tired of hearing about that and needed some relief, some simple distraction. So, I decided to just stick to writing about the artists and the songs and give the people what they expect. But I just couldn't do it. I couldn't just press forward as if nothing were amiss.

We've got a great show for you this week. Why not use it to connect with your friends and family? Contact them and invite them to listen to the show along with you from wherever they are. Sing along with the familiar old songs. Reach out to a band student you know and invite them to listen with you. They NEED to hear this music! Invite the grandparents to tune in. They remember all this music and can share stories of where and when the y heard it, danced to it, and who know what else? Music unites friends, families, communities. Big Band Swing is an important (and fun) chapter in American music history. Let our program help you connect at a time when real close human contact is becoming more and more rare.

What's on this week's show? Hour One starts with about 20 minutes of the best of Benny Goodman's big band. We've selected a handful of original 78 recordings of the original Goodman band playing these magical arrangements by Fletcher Henderson, Jimmy Mundy and Eddie Sauter. Hour Two ushers in a Swingin' Spotlight feature on Lionel Hampton and the outstanding jazz combos he assembled in the 1930s and 40s. Hamp was always able to secure the services of the tippity-top jazzmen of the day, rehearse them on the arrangements, get them in the studio, and give them the chance to express their ideas within the confines of the three-and-a-half-minute 78 rpm single. The results were often compelling, sometimes brilliant. We will share a selection of these little gems from the World's Greatest Record Library at the top of Hour Two this week. 

Additionally, this week brings a listen to piano star Johnny Guarnieri's All Star Orchestra swingin' on a Savoy label 78 from 1944. We'll listen in on a live one-nighter with Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra recorded right on the bandstand in 1964, and we'll hear Bing Crosby singing with Paul Whiteman's orchestra in 1929. As always, the best of the Big Bands will be included, with appearances by Artie Shaw, Count Basie, Harry James, the Andrews Sisters, Kay Starr, Glenn Miller and many more.

Let's get together and share a couple of hours of great American Swing. We need In the Moods now more than ever! 

Here is the In the Mood Broadcast Schedule:

All times CDT (GMT -5 hours)
Thursday:
10:00 am - 12:00 noon: 920 WON The Apple in New York City https://www.wonnewyork.net/920-won-the-apple
Friday:
8:00 - 10:00 pm: WSSE-DB in Clarksville, Tennessee wsseonline.com

Saturday:
8:00 - 10:00 am: Jazz Hall Radio 91.1 FM in Birmingham jazzhall.com
3:00 - 5:00 pm: WKLF AM 1000/FM 95.5 in Clanton wklfradio.com
10:00 pm - 12 midnight: WSSE-DB in Clarksville, Tennessee wsseonline.com
Sunday:
11:00 am - 1:00 pm: SeaBird Radio seabirdradio.co.uk
3:00 - 5:00 pm: WVAS 90.7 FM in Montgomery wvasfm.org

8:00 - 10:00 pm: Jazz Hall Radio 91.1 FM in Birmingham jazzhall.com               

The above schedule includes Live Links, so you can click and go directly to the live stream of each radio station. 

Let us hear from you! You can leave a comment here or visit our Facebook Page. Remember to look out for one another, be kind, and Keep Swingin', my friends! 

Scott Michaels