The Two Greatest Bands of All Time?
Both Kinds of Music: Sweet and Hot
There have always been two camps in the world of Big Band Jazz: Sweet and Hot. Fans of sweet music had plenty to choose from.Sammy Kaye, Dick Jurgens, Hal Kemp, Jan Savitt,, Russ Morgan, Freddy Martin, Guy Lombardo and many others were ready, willing and able to get your foot tapping on one and three in no time. For the swing-a-roos, there were Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Bunny Berigan, Jimmie Lunceford, and more, all swinging high and mighty.
Last week, we profiled the Chick Webb orchestra, and we quoted Webb's trombonist Sandy Williams, as saying that the only two bands that ever beat the Webb band in the Savoy Ballroom cutting contests were Casa Loma and Duke Ellington. Interesting, The greatest of all the Dance Bands and the greatest of all the Jazz Bands. And it struck me that that would make for a pretty great show. On the one hand, you have Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra, who elevated popular dance music to new heights of elegance and musical proficiency. And on the other hand, there's Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra, blazing a trail across the Twentieth Century, charting new ground for Jazz and Pop music with fresh melodies, modern harmonies and solos that defined the Era. What a show that would be!
And that is the show we have planned for you this week. We start Hour One with about 20 minutes of pure Dance Band Delights, delivered by Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra. We include some remarkable items here, starting with the 1939 Sunrise Serenade with composer Frankie Carle at the CLO piano. It's the first recording of this now-standard tune, and it's one of Frankie's earliest recorded performances. We reach back to 1933, when the band was on Brunswick, for Blue Prelude, an excellent version of that song, which was recorded by multiple bands that year. The CLO version features the trombone work of Pee Wee Hunt, Clarence Hutchenrider on clarinet, Murray McEachern on alto sax, and the trumpet of Sonny Dunham. We get to hear one of Pee Wee's trademark vocals in this segment, and it winds up with one of the Casa Loma blockbuster "killer-dillers," replete with solos from their stable of great players.
This band truly exemplifies the best things about sweet music. The melody is always strongly presented, the dance tempos are always customer-friendly, and the musicianship is top-notch. Combine all that with the CLO's impeccable stage presentation, and it's easy to see why they were a perennial favorite of the Big Band Era with a strong and loyal following.
Hour Two begins with a hearty helping of Jazz genius from Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra. We start with the always-exciting C Jam Blues from 1942. it's a bare-bones-simple musical idea enriched beyond measure by Duke and his men. It's just the beginning of our look at a small part of the amazing musical legacy left to us by Duke Ellington. Throughout the segment, we hear Duke's fertile mind conjuring new musical textures, melodic ideas and harmonies, while providing custom-tailored solo opportunities to his trusty sidemen. We get to hear all the Usual Suspects at work here: Ben Webster on tenor sax, Laurence Brown and Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton on trombone, Jimmy Blanton on bass, Ray Nance and Cootie Williams on trumpet, Barney Bigard on clarinet, and, of course, Johnny Hodges on alto sax. And we wrap it up with our alma mater, swung mightily on the Capitol album Ellington '55. Of course, we can only scratch the surface of Ellington's genius here in 22 minutes.
In addition to these special features focused on Casa Loma and Duke Ellington, In the Mood brings you a garden of musical delights this week. One is the Benny Goodman Quintet's nod to the boogie woogie craze of 1940, Grand Slam. And with such as Charlie Christian, Johnny Guarnieri and Nick Fatool on hand, you can be sure that it's light, tight, and just right. We also hear from Charlie Barnet, Claude Thornhill, Gene Krupa, Tommy Dorsey, Ralph Flanagan, Artie Shaw and many more. Joe Williams belts it out in front of the Count Basie band, Peggy Lee traces the history of Fevers throughout history, and we make a little history of our own, when I play a Spike Jones record for the first time ever on the show.
As you can see, this is a show not to be missed. And you'll have 12 chances to hear it this week on a total of 9 different stations, all of which are streamed live 24/7 on the Internet. Of course, we would love to hear from you, so please leave us a request or a comment, either here or on our Facebook Page. Scroll the posts, and you'll find a complete broadcast schedule for the week, including live links to all the stations' Live Streams.
As always, remember to call a young band student or musician and invite them to listen to the show with you this week. They'll thank you for it! Be good to one another this week, and above all,
Keep Swinging!
Scott
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