Arts & Crafts: Show Notes 9/9-13

 A Collaborative Effort

RCA Record Cutting Lathe 1940

Record-making is a tough deal. A complex and unforgiving proposition that demands total concentration from all participants at all times throughout the process. Especially the records we play on In the Mood. 

In the 1930s and much of the 40s, commercial recordings were mastered direct-to-disc, which is the most difficult way to record. Any error, technical or artistic, could cause the take to be scrapped. The only option at the time was to start over from the top. So, on recording day, everybody had to get it right, at the same time,  from the artist at the microphone to the engineer  at the cutting table. 

Just imagine all the things that could possibly go wrong: the singer could be hearing back from that pizza from last night; the trumpeter may have a cold; a microphone might crackle; the gain rider may fail to anticipate a loud note and it over-modulates. And there were a million possible problems with the disc cutter itself. Getting a technically flawless take on disc was something of a minor technical miracle carried out multiple times daily at various locations in New York, New Jersey, L. A., Hollywod, Chicago and elsewhere. That's why I'm always impressed when I note that the famous Big Band recording I'm about to play was Take 1 in the studio. And doubly so when the recording is of a virtuoso performance on the level of Berigan's I Can't Get Started or Harry James' Flight of the Bumble Bee. There are a hundred ways a record cutting lathe can thwart the efforts of even the most attentive technicians. The process was, in fact, a significant fire hazard. The extremely fine shaving of acetate that was planed off the surface of the blank record was highly flammable; many radio stations, for example, had announcers in a booth on the ground floor with the mic wired to a cutting table in a concrete room in the basement with buckets of sand stationed about the room.    

And that's before we even get to making actual records. The record-pressing process itself is loud, hot, dangerous and sweaty. Steam is jetting about, and the presses are applying extreme heat and pressure. Toxic chemicals are used in the plating process and chemical baths. 

All of it done with no computers, no editing capabilities, and no margin for error. Pretty Impressive. What you hear on the record is exactly what went down in the studio. Until about 1946. If you've ever listened to the Edward R. Murrow collection I can Hear It Now, you were hearing the first obvious example of tape editing on a commercially-released recording.

Since Glenn Miller died in 1944, before the advent of tape recording  technology, we know that all his records were done in the studio just as you hear them on the record: perfect from front to back in a flawless take. This was driven home to me when I heard a live radio broadcast by the Miller band wherein they play their new tune, A String of Pearls for the first time in a public performance. And it sounds exactly like the record. Rock solid, total confidence through and through. In those days, you went into the recording studio prepared.

Our tribute to Glenn Miller opens Hour 1 of In the Mood this week, with a seldom-heard Decca recording by Glenn's 1937 band leading off. It's interesting to hear Glenn's arranging style before developing the "Miller Sound." We cover the hits like Star Dust, Serenade in Blue, Moonlight Cocktail, and we may even indulge ourselves with our best copy of the show's namesake. Maybe. Just maybe.

Hour 2 kicks off with a fond listen to the sweet and very danceable band of Dick Jurgens. This was the band that first introduced us to Eddy Howard, but went on after his departure to perhaps its greatest success. Jurgens ruled the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago the way Chick Webb ruled the Savoy. And, like Webb, his music was tailored to the local taste. Midwesterners preferred their music sweet, melodic, smooth, and not too flashy. You know - Lutheran. And Dick Jurgens gave them quality dance music that fit the bill. We'll hear a good representative sampling of this band's original recordings on Columbia and Okeh. I think they came out sounding pretty good...and downright hot in a couple of cases. I'm still looking for a great copy of When You Were Sweet Sixteen.

Additionally, we enjoy some of our perennial favorites from the World's Greatest Record Library this week, with entries from Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey and The Brother, Benny Carter, Count Basie, Gene Krupa, Louis Armstrong and more. Bing will sing one, and we'll hear 78s from Tommy Dorsey, Johnny Guarnieri, the Basin Street Six and others. This one's gonna be a swingin' show with gems common and rare, so plan to join us!

As always, we welcome your input, comments and requests, either here or on our Facebook Page. 

Remember to contact a young musician or band student this week and invite them to listen to the show with you. It'll be a great experience for both of you! 

Be good to one another this week, and above all,  

Keep Swinging! 

Scott                 

     

Why No CDs? Show Notes 9/2-6

        "We Don't Play CDs on This Show" 

"Nope...Just Records."

It's true. This is a two-hour weekly show about Big Band music, and when it comes to the historic recordings of the popular bands of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, we rely on source material from the World's Greatest Record Library. Why? Because I can trust it. I've been collecting records since I was in Grade School. All those years have taught me how to identify the genuine article. And that's what I'm determined to play on this show. I believe in the original hit recordings of the Big Band Era. These are the records that went to the top of the charts. And I want to bring them to you sounding as authentic and original as I possibly can. 

To be completely hones, I'm not sitting here in the studio spinning records as I do the show each week. I started back in 2000, dubbing records to the hard drive, and using a combination of analog and digital tools to help them sound as good as they can be made to sound. I use EQ, bandpass filters, and occasionally even some compression and expansion. I usually employ digital pop and click removal, and occasionally, digital surface noise reduction. What you hear on the show is these "sanitized" cuts playing back off the hard drive. Of course, the original records are still right here on the shelf. 

Big Band reissues on CD can be problematic for several reasons. Often, these releases are similar to the original hit version, but not the real deal. Maybe an alternate take from the same recording session...or maybe an obscure version cut years later. The true nature of each cut on a reissue CD can be very difficult to nail down. If you're like me, and you've been listening to this music all your life, you know the hit take when you hear it. Anything else fails to satisfy. 

Quite often, the engineers mixing and mastering these CDs get very ambitious trying to make these vintage recordings sound more modern, and have been known to employ a variety of subtle and not-so-subtle tricks and effects in that pursuit. Extreme brightening of the top end of the audio spectrum, or a major bottom-end roll-off may make some of these cuts more pleasing to modern ears. But this is an attempt to make these recordings into something they're not. Records made between 1935 and 1948 have a particular, charming sound due to the comparatively narrow frequency range of the recorded sound. As a sound engineer, you have to respect those boundaries and understand that the only thing on the record outside of that narrow range is noise: Rumble on the bottom and hiss on the top. 

My approach is to evaluate each record individually and make the most of what's there. I never add reverb or fake stereo effects. A lot of what we play comes off of the original 78s from the period. More comes from reissue albums from the major record labels. Surprisingly, over the years, RCA's Reader's Digest packages have yielded some of the cleanest transfers. And, IMHO, the way I process the audio delivers a more natural and certainly a more original sound. 

I've peeled off the cuts I need from the many compilation albums with various artists, and I'm now working through the single-artist LPs alphabetically. At this writing, I'm up to Woody Herman. And it's taken me 20 years to get this far. I'm 62 years old. I think I can make it to the finish line.

I sincerely hope you enjoy this week's show. We have special Spotlight features on Les Brown and the Glenn Miller Army Air Force band. We get to hear some of Les's best recordings, including some with Doris Day. This time, however, we successfully resist the impulse to play Sentimental Journey. And the AAF band is simply magnificent, packed full of some of the best players of The Greatest Generation. Luckily, the broadcast and dress rehearsal recordings of NBC's I Sustain the Wings program have survived well into the 21st Century. 

Other highlights this week include appearances by Peggy Lee with Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw's Gramercy Five, Fats Waller, Vaughn Monroe, and my all-time favorite record by Larry Clinton. We hear from Harry James, Count Basie, Kay Kyser, Duke Ellington and many more. We even go way back to 1932 for a special treat from Bing Crosby and the Mills Brothers. Bet you can guess what it is!

Remember to call a young musician or band student this week and invite them to listen to the show with you. They need to hear this music, and it'll be the high point of their week.

Thanks for wading through all the geek stuff here. People often ask me where I get the music for this show, so I thought I'd share a little about how all that works. As always, we'd love to hear from you, either here or on our Facebook page. Take good care of one another this week,and above all, 

Keep Swinging! 

Scott           

Lightning in a Bottle: Show Notes 8/26-30

 Bebop or the Blues - Walking the Line

In the mid-1940s, Woody Herman found himself with a tough decision to make. He'd enjoyed more than a reasonable amount of success with his band ever since taking over the old Isham Jones orchestra in 1936. Woody had been with Jones for several years, playing sax and clarinet, and providing a few ideas for this firmly-established traditional dance band. How traditional was it, you ask? It was SO traditional...that they still had a tuba and a banjo in the rhythm section instead of bass and guitar. Woody's task was to take most of these players, and a few new ones, and create a totally new band with an identity and a sound of its own. Simple!

It took almost a year and a half to bring forth the "Band that Plays the Blues," but by the time its first records appeared on Decca late in 1937, the transformation was complete. Gone were the tuba and the banjo. Gone were the ricky-ticky old arrangements, replaced by smooth new charts and a blues-based repertoire that contained none of the dated trappings of the old Jones band. And from late in 1937 until the spring of 1941, the Herman band was in the thick of it, with one-nighters, radio hookups, successful engagements at top venues, even a couple of movies for Paramount. But by 1941, Woody could feel a shift in the wind, and his own band started to sound dated and stale to him. He had seen the Jones band cling to its old, outdated sound rooted in the 1920s, and the slow, embarrassing decline that resulted. He knew he had to get out in front of the curve...whatever that was. 

What it was was a hotter, newer style of jazz dance music that some were calling "Progressive." It sneaked up on the band over a 2-year period, as players moved on and were replaced by a younger, hipper crop of musicians, arrangers and composers. 

This new style of music was brash and loud, with unexpected rhythms and jarring harmonies - potentially pretty dangerous stuff for an established band. Which brings us back to Woody's tough decision: How much of this new style should we incorporate, if any? As always, with many heads, good decisions are made, and Woody was a strong believer in getting lots of input from the guys, letting them take ownership of the band's creative force. It was decided that a little bop goes a long way, meaning that certain elements of this new style could genuinely enhance the product, both for the musicians and for the patrons. Pianist Ralph Burns and trumpeter Neal Hefti got busy writing, and pretty soon, these fresh and energetic new charts were lighting up the bandstand. The rules were simple: respect the melody, write parts that let your sections shine, make it sound like traditional dance music on steroids, but don't let it get out of hand, and play it hot and super tight. 

By combining the proven elements of successful dance music with new harmonic and rhythmic ideas, Herman's First Herd managed to strike a "sweet spot" between the new and the old; a sound that was fresh and exciting for the kids, and progressive enough to snag the mid-40s hipsters, while still playing music that "grown-ups" could enjoy. The combination was pure magic; you might call it Lightning in a Bottle. 

We open the show this week with a selection of tunes that represent the transitional period in the Woody Herman band. We open with a '50s update of the band's signature hit, Woodchopper's Mambo. Trust me - you'll like it. We hear the theme song of the Band that Plays the Blues, Blue Flame, along with a few other selections from 1941-43 that show the evolution of the band's sound over those few years. There's a lot to like here, including the biggest hit single of Woody's career. 

Hour Two begins with a little over 20 minutes of toe-tapping delights from the Benny Goodman Sextet. There are plenty of stories out there about what a weird guy Benny could be. He was quirky and cheap, obsessed with the clarinet, and lived in his own little world much of the time. But far and away, what Benny Goodman did best was swing! Everything he did, from the BG Trio and Quartet all the way up to his big band, everything was done with a swing. Yes, even the ballads. And it worked. Now, these classic recordings from the 1939-1945 period are all landmarks of chamber jazz. Many were written or conceived by Goodman himself and fleshed out as head arrangements in rehearsals with the Sextet. Occasionally, one gets to hear an alternate take of a familiar recording, and the evolutionary process is obvious. A lot of famous Goodman Sextet recordings are Take 2 or 3, whereas recordings by his big band are usually Take 1. 

I worked for many hours transferring our original 1950 and 1951 pressings of these cuts from Columbia's Six-Eye deep groove re-issues. I prefer those to any other releases of these sessions so far, simply because there is no added reverb or stereo effects. The Columbia engineers were generous with their audio compression and EQ curves, helping these original masters to really stand up and salute. Over the years, I've managed to get my hands on some very sparingly played copies of these albums, and I've meticulously removed the pops and scratches. The result is pretty spectacular, if I do say so. These recordings are a sheer joy to the ear. We'll hear Slipped Disc, On the Alamo, Limehouse Blues, and even one of the famous takes from the Sextet's original recording session in October of 1939. Sweet stuff. Do not miss.

In addition to the aforementioned, In the Mood has much in store for the lover of Big Band and Dance Music this week. Jimmy Rushing is scheduled to belt one out with the Count Basie band, Dick Haymes will croon a smoothie with Harry James, Ella swings one with Teddy Wilson, and Bing does a little cutting up with Eddie Condon and the gang. Big Bertha brings us a Roy Eldridge favorite right off the Decca 78, the Mills Brothers harmonize, and Ivie Anderson brings us a Duke Ellington classic. 

That oughta whet your whistle!

There's A LOT here that would greatly benefit a young band student. If you know one, call them now and invite them to listen to the show with you this week. You'll make their day! 

As always, we'd love to hear from you, either here on the blog page, or on our Facebook Page. Leave a comment or a request, and let us know where you are and how you listen to In the Mood!  

Be good to one another this week, and above all, 

Keep Swinging! 

Scott                     

Sweet and Hot: Show Notes 8/19-23

 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                 

 

Chick Webb-Short & Sweet: Show Notes 8/12-16

 A Lot to Do and Not Much Time to Do It

Chick Webb - 1933

Chick Webb started early and finished early. His career as a professional drummer started at age 11, and we lost him to complications of spinal tuberculosis at age 34 in 1939. Everything he did, including his drumming, was done with urgency and purpose; it was almost as if he knew his time would not be long. 

In the early '30s, Chick was King of the Savoy Ballroom, and, as Stanley Dance wrote in 1962, he could have been king of Harlem if he'd wanted to be. His immense talent was incongruous with his stature. Standing only about four feet tall, it was hard to imagine all that amazing energy coming from this little man - until you saw him play. And his personality, energetic and positive, won him friendships wherever he went. His band ruled their turf at the Savoy, making mincemeat of nearly all other bands in the "cutting contests" of the day. Chick's trombone soloist and close friend, Sandy Williams, recalled that the only two bands the actually bested the Webb outfit were Duke Ellington and, surprisingly (at least for me), Casa Loma. According to Williams, those were the only two times they were out-played and out-performed. 

But Webb's drumming was never in question; he was universally admired by his contemporaries. Duke Ellington's longtime drummer, Sam Woodyard, recalled hanging outside the Savoy one night when he was still too young to go inside. The windows were open, and Chick's playing stuck with the impressionable kid. "He was the first drummer to make sense in a big band," said Woodyard. "His time was right there. He knew how to shade and color, and he knew how to bring a band up and keep it there." Another star drummer influenced by Chick Webb was Buddy Rich. "He was startling," said Buddy. "He was a tiny man with a hunchback and this big face and big stiff shoulders. He sat way up on a kind of throne and used a 28-inch bass drum, which had special pedals for his feet, and he had those old gooseneck cymbal holders. Every beat was like a bell."

Even though Chick had to literally be tied into a chair and made to listen to her audition, he recognized Ella Fitzgerald's talent almost immediately. And he featured her generously, acknowledging that her singing was good for the music and good for business. Record sales went through the roof on A-Tisket, A-Tasket, Ella's first Number One record with the band, and after that, it was a whole new ball game. Webb recognized what was happening as clearly as anyone: Ella's star was rising so far and so fast, the band became secondary to her singing. But the rewards were significant: better booking and more of them, bigger royalty checks from Decca (much bigger), and seemingly universal fame for himself, the band, and everyone in it. It is significant to note that the Chick Webb band sold more records during the last two years of Chick's life than it had in all the previous years combined. 

But, all too soon, Chick's old nemesis, the spinal tuberculosis which had stunted his growth in his youth, began to present new problems. His energy flagged, and although he was able to maintain his level of playing, he would often collapse after a gig and have to spend days recuperating. Family and friends (including Ella), urged him to take some time off to regain his health, but he refused. It all came to an end on June 16, 1939, when he could fight no more. At the urging of the guys in the band, Ella stepped in as leader, keeping things running as best she could for another two years before throwing in the towel.

We go to the 78 section of the World's Greatest Record Library for many of the Chick Webb selections in this week's feature. We'll hear a couple of Ella's most popular records with the band, but we will also focus on some other sides that demonstrate Chick's extraordinary abilities, including Liza and Strictly Jive,  a Chick Webb original, as well as a couple of others that highlight the substantial contributions of some of Chick's prominent sidemen, including Taft Jordan, Chauncey Houghton and Wayman Carver. The records themselves are in amazing shape considering their age, and we will let Big Bertha do her magic on them. 

Hour Two this week kicks off with about 20 minutes of The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven with Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians. We start with a Carmen Lombardo composition, the little-heard Get Out Those Old Records. It's a nostalgic look back into the 'teen years of the early Twentieth Century's popular songs, sung by Carmen and Kenny Gardner. ("Boola-Boola, Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula"). I wouldn't recognize many of the song titles mentioned if I didn't also collect cylinder records. We'll hear big hits from the 1940s like Seems Like Old Times and Poor Little Rhode Island, both excellent examples of the "Businessman's Bounce" style of this band. We'll also spin the band's amazingly non-swinging 1936 recording of Bei Mir Bist Du Schon, sung by Carmen, and the mega-hit The Third Man Theme from 1950. Solid dance music from a band whose personnel and sound changed very little between 1935 and 1975. 

Besides these riveting Spotlight features on Chick Webb and Guy Lombardo, In the Mood brings you the best of the Big Bands of the 1930s, 40s and 50s this week, with entries from the bands of Artie Shaw, Lionel Hampton, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Glenn Miller, and many more. We'll hear Louis Armstrong in his first recordings with Duke Ellington, Ella Mae Morse striking out as a solo artist, and we'll pay tribute to the memory of Dame Vera Lynn, who just left us a few weeks ago at the age of 103. I'd tell you more, but if I haven't already got you, I'm not gonna get you by promising you Eddy Howard or a vintage side from Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians.

So there you have it. This was a fun show to put together, and I hope you enjoy hearing it. Remember to call a young musician and make their day by inviting them to listen to the show with you this week. They need to hear this music. And they need to know that you support  their musical dreams. 

As always, we'd love to hear from you with a comment or a request, either here or on our Facebook page at 

facebook.com/inthemoodwithscottmichaels 

Be kind to one another this week, and above all, 

Keep Swinging! 

Scott        

            

It's Showbiz! Show Notes 8/5-9

Making it Look Easy

Frank Sinatra 1942

When Tommy Dorsey hired Frank Sinatra in 1939, he was taking a gamble. Sinatra had no track record of success. He'd only been in the "bigs" for a year or so. He'd made a handful of records with Harry James, but Dorsey hadn't heard them. All Tommy knew was that this skinny kid (and I DO mean skinny!) had a nice voice, could sing on key, and had that "certain something." At a time when secretaries and waiters made $15 a week, Sinatra was now making ten times that amount.

Suffice it to say that Dorsey didn't know what he was getting when he hired Sinatra, but he had his suspicions. Tommy was a quick and shrewd judge of talent and character, and he believed this kid had real potential. 

Little did he know how fiercely ambitious Sinatra was - or how all that ambition would translate into an amazing work ethic that drove Sinatra to work tirelessly on his technique, rehearsing every syllable of every word of every song until he was happy with it. Jo Stafford, lead singer of the Pied Pipers, remarked years later that she and the other band members were surprised and impressed with Frank's willingness to work and work a song until everyone was satisfied with every aspect of it. He even spent extra time rehearsing vocals with the Pied Pipers, making sure his intonation was perfect, and matching his vibrato to mesh seamlessly with the group. And when it came time to deliver the goods on the bandstand, Sinatra really came through with performances that were usually better than adequate, and occasionally thrilling. And the girls absolutely flipped for this guy. The bobby-soxers were swooning in the aisles. Women generally wanted to either mother him, maul him, or feed him. And Dorsey was watching. 

Tommy knew he really had something in this kid - but he also knew that he was in danger of being eclipsed by one of his own sidemen, and this could not be allowed. Tommy firmly believed that the leader of the band was the biggest star on the stand. So, after nearly three years, during which Sinatra built a substantial name for himself and contributed mightily to the Dorsey band's drawing power, terms of separation were agreed upon that would allow Frank to go forth and make his way as a single. 

Frank made his final appearance with the Dorsey band on September 3, 1942, on the band's weekly  network radio show. Tommy gave Frank a heartfelt sendoff, and used the occasion to introduce Frank's replacement, Dick Haymes, to the nationwide audience. Frank sang one final song with the band, The Song Is You, and it was over. 

Or was it?

Remember those terms of separation? Under that agreement, Dorsey was entitled to one-third of Frank's earnings - for life. Sinatra had signed the agreement, believing that he was betting on himself, and that his earnings would be so substantial that he could live without Dorsey's cut. This turned out to be a little optimistic, to say the least. Life after the Dorsey band was more of an uphill endeavor than Frank had anticipated, and he was actually having trouble supporting his young family. As time wore on, it became obvious that Frank would have to persuade Tommy to release him from bondage. But Dorsey would not be moved. Frank appealed again and again to his old boss, but Tommy stood firm, declaring, "A deal's a deal." 

This part of the story has never been substantiated, but the tale has circulated for many years that Dorsey received a visit very late one night at his comfortable country home from some "gentlemen" who were very persuasive in their reasoning, and convinced Tommy to let Frank out of the contract. Was the Mob involved? Now, that's a very ugly accusation. Was violence threatened or implied? Was the barrel of a gun placed in the bandleader's mouth? Who can say? But Frank Sinatra found himself a free man in short order. 

We will start the show this week with about 20 minutes of Frank Sinatra's best recordings with the Tommy Dorsey band. We start with This Love of Mine, one of the first songs "owned" by Sinatra in the Dorsey band. The arrangement was written by one of Dorsey's staff men, Axel Stordahl, who wound up writing arrangements for and backing Sinatra in his Columbia recordings. Sinatra would adopt this as his radio theme song in the 1940s. Among others, we'll hear the big production number, Let's Get Away from It All, which pairs Sinatra with Connie Haines for some lighthearted banter, and the mega-hit I'll Never Smile Again, a sensitive and artful collaboration between Frank and the Pied Pipers.

To start Hour 2, we turn to the danceable, stylized sound of the Russ Morgan Orchestra. Russ was a versatile and hard-working arranger who knew his stuff and produced sparkling charts for symphony orchestras, Big Bands, studio orchestras, radio shows, movies, and more. Russ's band had many hit records, and several number one hits. And they were big favorites of dancers everywhere. They even delivered credible Dixieland performances from time to time. The one thing that the Morgan orchestra did not do was swing. They had a straight-ahead dance band style, ornamented with Russ's favorite bag of signature arranging tricks, and they stuck to it with great success. 

A lot of what Morgan played was considered "cornball" even by 1940s standards, but you can't argue with box office. "There are millions of squares out there," Russ once said, "Millions. And they like to dance too." There were no star soloists in this band; Russ was versatile enough to cover all solo spots, either on piano, singing, or on that muted wah-wah trombone. I'll admit, Music in the Morgan Manner is an acquired taste. But it doesn't take long to acquire. Your foot will be tapping before you know it. We'll hear a generous representative sampling of Russ Morgan's music on this week's show.

In addition to the aforementioned musical experiences with Frank Sinatra and Russ Morgan, this week's In the Mood brings you a delightful array of sweet and swinging treats from the likes of Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Harry James, Count Basie, Dick Jurgens, the Dukes of Dixieland, and many more. Doris Day will sling a happy pop tune, Cab Calloway will shout and jive, and Eddy Howard will raise an eyebrow with one of the most suggestive songs we've ever played. In all, a well-rounded couple of hours.

As always, I am grateful for your interest in this music and this show. Remember to share this incredible music with a young band student or musician this week. They NEED the benefit of having this stuff in their back pocket. 

Feel free to leave a comment or request, either here on on our Facebook Page. 

Be good to one another this week, and above all, 

Keep Swinging! 

Scott 

     

                  

White-Hot Jazz: Show Notes 7/29-8/2

The Lunceford Magic

Jimmie Lunceford - 1939

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Jimmie's band started in Memphis, Tennessee, back in the late 1920s. He was a high school band director (the first in Memphis), and he started his first band with his most promising students. They made their first records for Bluebird in 1930, and it was, even then, a very credible band indeed. And it only got better throughout the 1930s.

With all that youthful exuberance in the band, of course they played lots of hot jazz, much of it arranged by the band's pianist Ed Wilcox, later joined in that endeavor by trombonist Eddie Durham. These two provided the charts for the first Lunceford recordings to gain noticeable traction - Jealous, Bird of Paradise, Rhapsody Jr. Next came the formidable alto sax and clarinet savant Willie Smith, who wrote the intricate arrangements for such Lunceford trademarks as Mood Indigo, Rose Room and Runnin' Wild. Nearly all of these arrangements put the melody in the brass at a slow dance tempo, underpinned by intricate obbligato lines for the reeds, doodling and looping around the melody. Then, sometimes, as in Sleepy Time Gal, the deft reeds would take the spotlight, taking an acrobatic unison chorus filled with sixteenth and thirty-second notes. This formula was the sole property of the Jimmie Lunceford band for several years, and it brought them much success with the jitterbugs and dedicated dancers. 

Then there was Sy Oliver, who grew up playing trumpet in the Lunceford band. Sy wrote his first arrangements for Jimmie, and they remain standouts on the jazz landscape - most notably Stomp It Off, Rain, Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down, and of course, 'Tain't What 'Cha Do (It's the Way that You Do it). Sy's mastery of two-beat jazz on these songs and others like them is what got Tommy Dorsey's attention and prompted him to hire Oliver away from Lunceford in 1940. Of course, Sy went on to write some legendary charts for Dorsey as well.

The World's Greatest Record Library is blessed with a plentiful selection of Lunceford classics, and we will hear a pile of them on this week's show, including Stomp it Off, 'Tain't What 'Cha Do, Rose Room and Margie, as well as White Heat, a "killer-diller" recorded at one of the band's last sessions for Bluebird. Just a few months later, the band would switch to the new Decca label, and find immediate popular success. 

Of course, it takes great players to execute these complex and demanding arrangements, and we will hear ample evidence of the strength of Lunceford's lineup. We will hear the Great Eddie Tompkins, Tommy Stevenson and Sy Oliver on trumpets, Ed Wilcox on piano, Jimmy Crawford on drums, Moses Allen on bass...and then there's that amazing reed section populated with Willie Smith, Laforet Dent, Joe Thomas and Earl Carruthers. That section alone was responsible for more standing ovations than many bands got in their entire careers. 

Needless to say, this will be a fantastic way to kick off the show this week. Hope you're ready to be impressed!

Hour 2 begins with about 20 minutes of extremely high-quality dance music from one of the clarinet Greats, Artie Shaw and his orchestra. Artie proved early on that his band could make a lot of noise and bring the Lindy Hoppers onto the dance floor. And by 1939, Artie was moving toward a smoother, more sophisticated sound. We will hear some excellent examples of both from his 1938-40 bands, including Jungle Drums, I Surrender Dear, and a live broadcast of April in My Heart, from the Blue Room of the Hotel Lincoln in New York. We will even go back and spin our original Vocalion 78 of The Blues A & B from 1937

Besides the amazing segments dedicated to Jimmie Lunceford and Artie Shaw, this week's In the Mood brings on a tall stack of red-hot shellac from the best of the Big Bands of the 1930s, 40s and 50s, including, but not limited to, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Ralph Flanagan, Lionel Hampton and many others. We'll hear from the Andrews Sisters, Helen O'Connell, Eddie Heywood, Jack Teagarden, and even Bing Crosby singing with Paul Whiteman in 1928. 

Yes, I must admit, I am a shameless name-dropper!

Remember to contact a young player or band student and invite them to listen to the show with you this week! With all of our affiliates streaming online 24/7, you'll have plenty of chances to catch the show this week on any of our 9 affiliates! 

Of course, we would love to hear from you with a comment or a request, either here or on our 

Be good to one another this week, and above all, 

Keep Swinging! 

Scott