[Dixielandjazz]Beating Up Glenn Miller-was Beneke & Klink sax solo

[LARRY'S Signs and Large Format Printing]

snip:Charlie Suhor said: I play with a big band that's tired of
'em, but as a drummer I try to accentuate the positive, literally,
kicking the phrases with left hand and bass drum support in tasteful
ways that hopefully refresh the oomph that's in the lines. It's not
"vintage" performance but it's a way of re-appreciating what's there.

This is the kind of attitude that all professional musicians should have.
It's true we get tired of tunes and end up really hating some. (my top of
the list is Mack the Knife and Proud Mary)  A professional musician should
always play every piece of music the best he can.  My first teacher
instilled that in me and I never forgot it.  Mack the Knife will be played
on tonight's gig -- I will hate it -- I will play it well -- I will take
home my money and do it again next week.

When you hate a majority of the tunes that you have to play you should
consider quitting.  Music should be fun.  As they say "Rock on".
Larry - St. Louis


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Charles Suhor" <csuhor at zebra.net>
To: "Steve barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
Cc: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 25, 2005 11:52 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz]Beating Up Glenn Miller-was Beneke & Klink sax
solo


> I'm not quite sure I get the beat-up-on-Glenn-Miller thing that's been
> showing up so much. Granted, the fame and the durability of many of his
> charts outstrip their quality, especially in light of great big bands
> that weren't getting the same kind of exposure, popular adulation, and
> dough. Granted, his soloists didn't hold a candle to those in the
> jazzier big bands. Granted, his "smooth/sweet" book was crammed with
> sentimental schmaltz, often sung with dreamy malaise by bland
> vocalists, with a few fine tunes showing up.
>
> Having said that, how about some perspective?
>
>  From memory of tons of 78s and from the 20+ double CD "Big Band Box"
> (which includes more than the biggest hits of the best known bands) I
> can testify that most of the big bands had a "sweet" book with bland
> charts and an on-site "crooner." (We all know the exceptions, but they
> were few.) They also had very trivial novelty stuff aplenty--as in the
> jazzed up nursery rhyme and jazzing the classics crazes. (Again, some
> came off well, like Ella's "A-Tisket..." and Les Brown's "Bizet Had his
> Day" and hey, Miller's "Volga Boatman," but most were thin gruel.)
>
> Also, the much maligned "In the Mood" and "String of Pearls" and many
> other Miller charts actually have lines that swing. (This is
> conceptually a world away from Lombardo--please!--who cultivated very
> different traditions of syncopation, orchestration, etc.) It's just
> that we've played and heard the Miller stuff so much that the juice has
> gone out of our performance. I play with a big band that's tired of
> 'em, but as a drummer I try to accentuate the positive, literally,
> kicking the phrases with left hand and bass drum support in tasteful
> ways that hopefully refresh the oomph that's in the lines. It's not
> "vintage" performance but it's a way of re-appreciating what's there.
>
> Charlie Suhor
>
>
>
> >
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