Too Good for Swing?
Harry James - 1953
Harry James was from Albany, Georgia, born into a circus family in 1916. In fact, Harry's middle name was the same as the name on the circus wagons: Haag. Harry's father, Everette, was the circus bandmaster, and determined early on that Harry was to be a musician too.
Starting at age 10, Harry took trumpet lessons from his father. Everette gave him a new page from the Arban's book to learn every day, often withholding recreation and play time from the boy until the new lesson was thoroughly learned. I once told Chuck King that story, and asked how difficult it might be to learn a page from Arban's every day. "That depends on the page," was his reply.
Like many young men of that time, Harry dreamed of being a baseball player. He'd missed the chance to play as much as he wanted as a kid, and he tried to make up for it for the rest of his life. There are many stories about the informal baseball league that existed among the Big Band musicians of the 1930s and 40s. Harry's team was a strong competitor, and none more so than Harry himself. He was known to have the band bus pull over at almost any time of the day or night for a quick game of catch. And his band's on-the-field rivalry with the Tommy Dorsey band was the stuff of legends.
Circus music is a brand of endeavor all its own, and Harry spent several years in the Haag Circus Band, playing these demanding pieces from America's brass band tradition. These thrilling and difficult marches and concert pieces, sometimes called "screamers," provided a rigorous course of study for Harry, and the experience served him well.
This musical tradition of trumpet pyrotechnics was a priceless training ground for a young trumpeter, and its herculean demands are evident in the showpieces in the James repertoire, including Flight of the Bumble Bee, Trumpet Blues and Cantabile, and others. Harry learned these amazing feats of trumpet prowess in the circus band.
Harry's talent and technique was recognized immediately when he joined the Ben Pollock band in Chicago in 1934. They called him "Hawk" because of his sight-reading abilities. And by the time Harry landed in the Benny Goodman band in 1937, he was already, at age 20, the whole package. He was a consummate professional, capable of reading and playing any style from classical to swing, as well as composing and arranging. Such was Harry's talent and temperament that when he left Goodman to start his own band, Benny bought in with a cash investment.
We begin this week's show with a 20-minute Spotlight feature on Harry James, and we're playing some great examples of his outsize talents. We start from his 1972 recording of Don't Be That Way, which contains some of his potently swinging solo work. We will also hear big chart hits with singers Kitty Kallen and Dick Haymes. And then there is Moten's Swing, an extended arrangement that comes directly off of our original 78 copy. We've combined the two sides of the record into one for your dining and dancing pleasure. We hear some impressive solos from Harry, Willie Smith, Jack Gardner, and others. Know a young trumpet student? They need to hear this segment!
Was Harry James "too good for Swing?" IMHO, there is no such thing. I don't think there is any doubt that, if anything, Harry James elevated Swing music by playing it with all the quality and technique at his command. For many players and fans alike, Harry was the greatest trumpeter of the Big Band Era, without peer until the emergence of Al Hirt in the late 1940s. There is ample evidence to support this proposition, and we will hear some fine examples this week.
Hour 2 kicks off this week with approximately 20 minutes devoted to the amazing talent of Ella Fitzgerald. We start with her beginnings in the Big Band Era, singing with Chick Webb, and then her own band in the 1930s and early 40s. We trace her steps through her duets with the Ink Spots and Louis Armstrong to her sensational scat-singing to her mastery of the Great American Songbook on Verve Records in the 1950s and 60s. In the end, we are left to marvel at her versatility and virtuosity. Even as early as age 16, you could tell that Ella Fitzgerald "had something." And we celebrate that "something" this week.
Besides Swingin' Spotlight features on Harry James and Ella Fitzgerald, this week's In the Mood is a swinging garden of delights dotted with major hits from Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Russ Morgan, and many more. We'll hear some Blues from Duke Ellington, some danceable swing from Ralph Flanagan, and a toe-tapper from Ray McKinley. We've just done a much-needed digital restoration on our thoroughly-played LP copy of the 1955 Coleman Hawkins gem, The Hawk in Hi Fi, and we'll hear a sample, plus some unforgettable treats from Tiny Hill, Casa Loma, and Louis Armstrong.
Think you can afford to miss this show? Think again!
Please feel free to leave us a comment or request either here or on our Facebook Page. Invite a band student to listen to the show with you this week! Be good to one another, and above all,
Keep Swinging!
Scott
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