BIG BAND NEWS

MARCH 2018

by Music Librarian CHRISTOPHER POPA

A SPECIAL PROGRAM TAKING PLACE

ON THE BIRTHDATE OF GLENN MILLER

Glenn Miller DECLASSIFIED

with author-historian DENNIS M. SPRAGG

Thurs., March 1, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.

Cindy Pritzker Auditorium, Harold Washington

Library Center, 400 S. State St., Chicago, Illinois

Weaving together cultural and military history, Glenn Miller

Declassified (Potomac Books, 2017) is the story of the musical

legend Miller, his military career as commanding officer of the

Army Air Force Band during World War II, and the

circumstances surrounding his disappearance in December

1944. After having researched formerly classified military and

government documents and Miller family archives, Dennis

Spragg [ below, right ] is interviewed by Music Librarian

Christopher Popa about the importance and lasting legacy of

Miller's life and service to his country, and Popa will sing a few

examples of music made famous by Glenn Miller.

WELCOME BACK TO

NATALIE ANGST! At least for a little bit, Natalie Angst is back as Female Vocalist

with The Glenn Miller Orchestra directed by Nick Hilscher. I

thought she was easily the best girl singer with them in a long,

long time; in fact, one of the very best ever! She plans to be

touring with the Orchestra until late April or early May.

Here she is shown with Nick Hilscher at a performance earlier

this year.

COMPACT DISC

REVIEWS INCLUDING

A NEW GLENN MILLER

Both the civilian band and the service orchestra of Glenn Miller

are heard on “Dance Folio,” Sounds of YesterYear (UK)

DSOY2093. Among the 25 tracks are It’s Great to Be An

American, ‘Til Reveille, a medley of Schubert’s Serenade /

Irresistible You / Little Brown Jug / Rhapsody in Blue, and Soldier,

Let Me Read Your Letter.

Sounds of YesterYear is up to the next-to-the-last CD in its

series of Kenton “Concerts In Miniature.” Volume 23, catalog

number DSOY2091, features three broadcasts—one is from the

Carousel Ballroom in Manchester, New Hampshire on September

29, 1953, and the other two are from Birdland in New York City on

October 13 and 20, 1953.

Storyville, meanwhile, reaches the penultimate portion of their

Duke Ellington “Treasury Shows” on compact disc with Volume

24, number 9039024. Truthfully, the material here is the first in

this series of 2-CD sets without U.S. government bond promotion:

so you will hear broadcasts from NBC’s “Music for Modern” and

“All Star Parade of Bands” programs in 1953, plus, as a bonus,

Mutual network broadcast from April 1944 at the Hurricane

Restaurant in New York City.

A little bit late for Christmas, but still of interest is this CD-R by

Music Boutique. It was transferred from the 1963 Decca album

DL 74438. I don’t know why Music Boutique felt the need to re-do

the lettering (see the image on the left) instead of using it as it

was on the LP (the image on the right).

Two different albums centered around some famous mem-

bers of the Count Basie band—one recorded in 1959 for the Jubi-

lee label, and the other for Roost in 1956—are paired here by

Fresh Sound Records, number FSRCD 947. The Basie-ites, as

they are called, include Joe Newman and Thad Jones (trumpet),

Al Grey (trombone), Frank Wess and Frank Foster (saxophones),

Freddie Greene (guitar), and Sonny Payne and Jo Jones (drums).

DEAR MR. COPELAND Recently I wrote a letter of admiration to singer-arranger Alan

Copeland, now age 91, telling him how much I have enjoyed his

work, especially his years with The Modernaires, including their

concerts and recordings they did with Tex Beneke and Ray

Eberle as “Music Made Famous By Glenn Miller.” Of course, Mr.

Copeland has many more achievements, such as recording with

Count Basie, conducting the Les Brown band for Dick Haymes,

arranging a Dorsey/Sinatra tribute CD for singer-game show host

Peter Marshall titled “Let’s Be Frank—with a touch of Tommy,”

etc. Here is a reproduction of Mr. Copeland’s response to me: