[Dixielandjazz] More On "In The Mood" and Miller

[Marek Boym]

Hello,
Recently, the European (actually - German) version of the Glenn Miller
Orchestra played one concert in Israel - at an open air amphitheatre
in my home town, Raanana.  A good portion of the public was less than
50 (myself, unfortunately, excluded - I'm 66).  They still got
standing ovation.  They were very swinging, and the crowd loved it!
They even played "hot Time in the Town of Berlin" - a strange choice
for a German band, but perhaps indicating total detachment from
Germany of those days.
It was worth the money (about $50 per person).
Support live jazz!

On 24/08/07, Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis
<larrys.bands at charter.net> wrote:
> What I really want to know is how did the Miller solos happen?
>
> Who came up with them in the first place?  Were they improvised and then
> written down or were they written solos from the first?
>
> Most of them sound to me like they were more carefully crafted than
> improvised but they could have been improvised in the first place and over a
> period of time (which could have been just a few playings ) set in stone.
>
> That "crafted" feeling of a "written solo" is stronger to me with "In The
> Mood" than some of the others but they all have that feel.
>
> I would like to think that the Miller solos were played by some player who
> just happened to get it right in the recording studio.
>
> Speaking of Miller.  Wednesday night I played a concert at a slightly out of
> town college to a mixed crowd but mostly in the 50 year old and up group.
> The very large room of the commons building was almost sold out.  It was a
> dinner concert.  The food was good but nothing special, pulled pork, beans,
> etc.  They were charging $10 a head.
>
> We opened the concert with the Star Spangled Banner played with Solo Soprano
> Sax.  The arrangement had the first 8 bars rubato before the band came in.
> What a haunting thing.
>
> The second tune was a collection of about 10 or 12 Miller tunes.  The crowd
> went wild.
>
> The Gary Dammer Band is the best Big Band in St. Louis.  Gary is able to
> consistently pull the best big band players from the city most of whom are
> either full
> time Air Force guys or top pros from the area.  He gets a lot of support
> from the local Jazz station, WSIE.
>
> We did an arrangement of Killer Joe that has a tough sax soli in it.  What's
> impressive is that the band does not rehearse and only does about 8 or 10
> concerts a year and the sax section just sailed through it.
>
> Sherri Drake who is one of the finest jazz singers around did several tunes.
>
> The Rhythm section was absolutely rock Solid.  The Bass player is a young
> guy from the AF band and I don't know who he was but the piano player, Butch
> Gray, just retired from the AF.  Butch is also one of the best bass players
> around too.  On drums was Kevin Gianinno.  What a player!  I gig with Butch
> fairly often and he is just a pleasure to work with.
>
> We finished with Woodchoppers ball.  We opened the solos with the Tenors.  I
> get a real kick out of trading 12's and 4's with the other tenor.  Then a
> couple of the bones played.
>
> If you want to see the quality of one of the bone players check this out
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KseK_gYQKBs This was done last week as a
> tribute to Tom on his retirement from the AF.  He is now the principal TBone
> player with the Muny.  The rest of the bone section is either AF or Retired
> AF guys.
>
> It ended up with all the trumpets walking out front, each one in turn taking
> solos, then trading 4's then all playing together.  Almost everyone in the
> band are outstanding soloists.
>
> Talk about bringing down the house.  Miller and the other big band greats
> played by a good band still have the power to make people get up and cheer.
>
> Gary at 71 absolutely cooks.  When he plays a solo every note is in exactly
> the right place.  Just like a master chef at work.  Not too much and not too
> little.
>
> Too bad that bands like this can't play more often but the $2500 price tag
> usually intimidates most around here.  Our next concert isn't until October
> but fortunately Gary is bringing in Kim Park from Nashville to solo on alto.
> Kim and his dad both played with the Kenton Band.  I'm looking forward to
> it.
>
> One other neat thing about that band is you will never see a tuner come out
> and no one ever checks a pitch with the piano and yet from the first note
> everyone is absolutely right on pitch.
> Larry
> StL
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Robert S. Ringwald" <robert at ringwald.com>
> To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
> Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2007 11:09 PM
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] More On "In The Mood" and Miller
>
>
> > As you know, Zeke Zarchy 92, is about the last living original member of
> > the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band.
> >
> > I asked him about the "In The Mood" sax solos on the recording and if
> > after that time, the solos were played the same way for live performances.
> > Below is his answer:
> >
> > (snip)
> > Hi Bob
> >
> > the saxes  usually--played the same solos. The
> > audiences expected that and sang along - with the band
> > most of the time.
> >
> > Clyde Hurley  played the original solo . Tex Beneke
> > and A L  Klink
> > played the two tenor sax parts .  Yes, they played
> > the parts like the records .  I hope that answers
> > your Questions
> > Best. Zeke
> > (snip)
> >
> >
> > --Bob Ringwald K6YBV
> > 530/642-9551
> > 916/806-9551 Cell
> > www.ringwald.com
> > Fulton Street Jazz Band
> >
> >
> >
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> >
>
>
>
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