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Big Band Bash is a show presenting the music, musicians, and era of the great Big Bands. Each show highlights a different aspect of the big bands, whether it be a show about a certain band or bandleader or a subject of the big bands anywhere from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. I hope to get your feet tapping with this great music.
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I am continuing this week with part two of Classic Artie Shaw Bluebird and Victor Sessions which has selected cuts from the Mosaic Record Company's eight disc set of the same name. The sound quality is great and most of these songs are from Artie's classic years. All of the songs on the show are instrumentals as that was how Mosaic elected to produce the set. I hope you enjoy part 2 of The Classic Artie Shaw Bluebird and Victor Sessions. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
In 2011 I bought two 8 disc sets from the Mosaic Record Company. The first was dedicated to the Columbia sides of Benny Goodman which I presented a show on a few weeks ago. The second is what our show today is about. This disc set featured the classic Bluebird recordings of Artie Shaw. For all the vocal fan listeners I have to apologize as this set only focus on the instrumentals. But what a collection of instrumentals. We start from the year of 1938 and Artie's great recording of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" and continue from there. Many of the arrangements are by Artie himself or Jerry Gray. This is a great set that is, unfortunately, not for sale anymore. I hope you enjoy part 1 of The Classic Artie Shaw Bluebird and Victor Sessions. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
This week I am going to continue with part two of the Mosaic box set, The Classic Columbia and Okeh Benny Goodman Orchestra Session 1939 -1957. These are many of the recordings that Benny made during those years and these are all instrumental recordings. Benny had some great vocalists during those years but Mosaic kept this set to just instrumentals. Some of the songs we'll be listening to include, Jersey Bounce, A String of Pearls, Birth of the Blues, I'll Get By, and many more. This set is no longer available and so I am happy to be able to present some of these great recordings. I hope you enjoy a look at some of the recordings by Benny and the orchestra. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
This week we will be listening to selections from a Mosaic Record Company set that I have called the Classic Columbia and Okeh Benny Goodman Orchestra Sessions. This is part one of a show I did back in 2012 and repeated almost three years ago in 2019. These are all the instrumental recordings that Benny did for Columbia and the Okeh record label. Unfortunately the producers of this set omitted all the vocals. But there is some fantastic music by the Goodman band starting in 1939 when he switched to the Columbia label. If you are a Benny Goodman fan then I hope you enjoy these two programs. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
This is part two of a program I did on Metronome Magazine. In the issue, there was a section devoted to record reviews. In part one, I started to play many of the records that they were reviewing. We continue with more record reviews from Metronome magazine from March of 1942. The cover featured a blue background and a great picture of Jimmy Dorsey. Many of these songs were not hits for the bands that recorded them but they were great recordings. I hope you enjoy the record reviews from the March 1942 issue of Metronome. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
May 30, 1909 is the birthday of bandleader and clarinetist Benny Goodman. Instead of playing some of his hits which I've done in past programs, I would like to play two radio remotes. These were recorded Oct 23 and 27, 1937 when the Goodman orchestra was appearing at the Manhattan room of The Hotel Pennsylvania. Benny was the first bandleader that I started listening to when I was a senior in high school. It's because of his great playing and artistry that I became a life long fan of the big bands. Happy Birthday Benny. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
When I was in high school, my dad knew of my interest in the big bands. While out at his job, he found someone that was getting rid of several issues of Metronome Magazine. I still have them and I thought it would be interesting to try to find as many of the record reviews as I could. The cover featured a blue background and a great picture of Jimmy Dorsey. Many of these songs were not hits for the bands that recorded them but they were great recordings. I hope you enjoy the record reviews from the March 1942 issue of Metronome. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
This week I am continuing with part two of Big Band Remotes from World War 2 with two remotes from the Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands series. At the same time, however, I am having a birthday salute to a favorite bandleader of mine, the late Artie Shaw. Artie was born on May 23, 1910 and he also appeared on the Spotlight band program for five consecutive weeks in 1945. So to honor Artie I would like to play the first two programs in that series. The sound quality is very good and there are some exciting solos from trumpeter Roy Eldridge. I hope you enjoy this look back at some on location performances from the great Artie Shaw as we remember his birthday. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
On this week's show I would like to honor a request. A listener asked for some big band remotes that took place during World War 2. Most of the remotes I have during that era are from the Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands program. I found four 15 miniute shows so on the program today we will be listening to the bands of Tommy Dorsey, Bob Chester, Benny Goodman, and Les Brown. Three of the shows are from 1943 and one is from 1944. I hope you enjoy this look back at some on location performances from four of America's top bands. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
This week we will be listening to and learning about two bands that I've never recently covered before: Bob Chester and Teddy Powell. This is a rebroadcast of a show I produced back in 2012. Bob had a great band that was heavily influenced by Glenn Miller. Teddy's band had a great start in New York but had trouble sustaining that popularity outside of the Northeast. These are the original recordings by both bands. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
This week we take a look back at the music and career of Glenn Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra. As an orchestra they predated Benny Goodman and the start of the swing era. They had some excellent musicians and had a few big hits in the 30's and 40's. I'll be playing some of these numbers as we look back at the career of the Casa Loma Orchestra. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
This is part two of the Time Life records set I started last week. These records were originally recorded in 1971 by Billy May and His Orchestra/Glen Gray's Casa Loma Orchestra. Those were recreations featuring many of the musicians who were on the original recordings. Today's program features the music from the set of 1938-1939. I have this box set and thought that instead of hearing the recreations that it would be interesting to listen to the originals. So I'm borrowing the playlist and presenting the original recordings. Included with the albums was a nice book which told about the swing era. The book from the 1938-1939 set featured an essay on Where Swing Came From. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
This is another volume in Time Life records ambitious project called "The Swing Era". It was a ten volume set with three records included in each volume. Today we turn to the years of 1938-1939. The songs were rerecorded by the bands of Billy May and Glen Gray. I have this set and thought that instead of hearing the recreations that it would be interesting to listen to the originals. So I'm borrowing the playlist and presenting the original recordings. There are about 30 songs so I'm going to break it up into two parts. I hope you enjoy the music in this set. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
Hello everyone. This week is a continuation of the two part series I started last week on the Dorsey brothers. This was a show I produces several years ago and am rebroadcasting. There are many of your favorite Dorsey hits and the Puzzler is back. I am in the process of producing some new shows and hope to start presenting them next week. Until then, thank you for your continued listening and support. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
This week I have gone back into the collection and pulled out two shows that I did on Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. There is a lot a good music in these shows. We'll being this week with a look at Jimmy and follow next week with Tommy. I would like to dedicate these two shows to the memory of my mother, Evelyn Earlene Miller. I hope you enjoy the music. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
Welcome to the second part of our Glenn Miller birthday celebration. March 01, 1904 is the birthday of the late Glenn Miller and to celebrate I've picked out some recordings that ia a mixture of his songs. These are all live recordings and in addition we'll be listening to a radio remote recorded on May 17, 1939 at the Glen Island Casino. This is a great program of Glenn Miller music. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
March 01, 1904 is the birthday of the late Glenn Miller. Join me on this program as we celebrate his birthday. I've picked out some recordings that are very pretty mixed with some of his hits. In addition we'll be listening to a radio remote recorded on March 26, 1939 at Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook Ballroom. This is a great program of Glenn Miller music. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
We conclude our celebration of Black History Month this week with a look at the big band of Jimmie Lunceford. Jimmie Lunceford's band differed from other great bands of the time because it was better known for its ensemble than for its solo work. Additionally, he was known for using a two-beat rhythm, called the Lunceford two-beat, as opposed to the standard four-beat rhythm. We'll be playing many of the Lunceford band's many hits. I hope you enjoy this sampler of the many great African-American Bands from the swing era. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
We wind up our celebration of Black History Month with some more assorted artists. The performers today are ones that I didn't get to on the previous shows. Some of the artists on the show today include Charlie Christian, John Kirby, Russell Procope, Buster Bailey, Charlie Shavers, Louis Armstrong, The Ink Spots, Benny Moten, and Chu Berry. I hope you enjoy this sampler of the many great African-American Bands from the swing era. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
We continue our celebration of Black History Month this week with more assorted bands and vocalists. Some of the artists on the show today include Ella Fitzgerald, Earl Fatha Hines, Duke Ellington, Ivy Anderson, Roy Eldridge, Louis Jordan, Lionel Hampton, Jimmy Rushing, and Helen Humes. I hope you enjoy this sampler of the many great African-American Bands from the swing era. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com
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