FEBRUARY 2014 "BIG BAND NEWS"
compiled by Music Librarian CHRISTOPHER POPA
The big bands are back
in a new and exciting way!
MORE NEW COMPACT DISCS
Duke Ellington. "Live at Cabaret L'Alcazar," Squatty Roo Records 1200. A live 1969
appearance in Paris, France.
---. "Last Trip to Paris," Squatty Roo Records 197. The performance of Nov 14, 1973,
from Ellington's final European tour.
---. "Retrospection: The Piano Sessions," Phoenix. Music from 1953, 1957, 1966, and
a guest appearance on a Nat "King" Cole radio show.
Benny Goodman. "Volume 21: The Final Part of the Complete AFRS Benny Goodman
Radio Show," Sounds of YesterYear (E) 951. 2-CDs with shows 48, 49, and 50.
Glenn Miller. "Peggy and Other Pin-Up Girls," Sounds of YesterYear (E) 950. Songs
about ladies, performed by Miller and his civilian band, his AAF orchestra, and the
post-war ensemble under Tex Beneke's direction.
Various artists. "Ella Fitzgerald: The Voice of Jazz," Verve. 10-CD set offering a
comprehensive look at her recording career, including her days as vocalist with Chick
Webb's band.
---. "The Wizard of Oz 75th Anniversary Anthology," Sepia (E) 1246. Includes Miller,
Lopez, Masters, and T Dorsey.
NEW BOOK
Thomas Brothers. Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism (New York City: W.W.
Norton & Company, 2014).
LIGHT THOSE BIRTHDAY CANDLES
Sammy Nestico, b.Feb 6, 1924. Arranger - composer with Basie '67-'84.
Elliot Lawrence, b.Feb 14, 1925. Pianist and bandleader.
Les Brown, Jr., b.Feb 15, 1940. Son of bandleader Les Brown. Sang with his father's
band, then, upon Les Sr.'s death, took it over.
Peggy King, b.Feb 16, 1930. Vocalist with Spivak '50; Flanagan '51; J Gray '55 "Stand
By for Music."
Pete Christlieb, b.Feb 16, 1945. Tenor saxophonist with J. Gray '63-'64; Zentner '65;
Bellson '67; Severinsen / Tonight Show '72-'92.
Buddy DeFranco, b.Feb 17, 1923. Clarinetist with Fio Rito '42; Barnet '43-'44; T Dorsey
'44-'45 / '45-'46 / '47; Basie '50. Bandleader '51; Miller Orch '66-'74.
Joe Wilder, b.Feb 22, 1922. Trumpeter with Hampton '46; Lunceford '47; Basie '53-'54.
Joe LaBarbera, b.Feb 22, 1948. Drummer with Herman '72 "The Raven Speaks."
Michael Berkowitz, b.Feb 23, 1949. Drummer and leader of Krupa Orch '03- .
Dave Pell, b.Feb 26, 1925. Tenor saxophonist with Brown '48-'55.
NECROLOGY
Rcihard Hayman, 93, d.Feb. 5, 2014,"natural causes." Arranger for Monroe '45?-'50?.
Alice Babs, 90, d.Feb. 11, 2014, complications from Alzheimer's disease. Vocalist
with Ellington '63 / '68 / '73.
Sid Caesar, 91, d.Feb. 12, 2014. Saxophonist with Fields '42; later, a comedian.
REMEMBERING YOU
Tricky Sam Nanton, b.Feb 1, 1904. Trombonist with Ellington '26-'45.
Stan Getz, b.Feb 2, 1927. Tenor saxophonist with Kenton '44-'45; Goodman '45-'46;
Herman ' 47-'49.
Tony Gottuso, b.Feb 2, 1917. Guitarist with Shaw '36-'37; Whiteman '38.
Joe Mondragon, b.Feb 2, 1920. Bassist with Herman '46; Rich '56-'57.
Sonny Stitt, b.Feb 2, 1924. Saxophonist with Eckstine '45-'46; Gillespie '46.
Chico Alvarez, b.Feb 3, 1920. Trumpeter with Kenton '41-'3 / '46-'51.
Snooky Young, b.Feb 3, 1919. Trumpeter with Lunceford '39-'42; Hampton '42-'43;
Basie '45-'47 / '57-'62.
Gil Bernal, b.Feb 4, 1931. Tenor saxophonist with Hampton '50-'51.
Artie Bernstein, b.Feb 4, 1909. Bassist with Nichols '31; Dorsey Bros '32-'34; Norvo
'33; Clinton '37; Thornhill '37; Goodman '39-'41.
Manny Klein, b.Feb 4, 1908. Trumpeter with Whiteman '28; Dorsey Bros '33;
Goodman '34; Shaw '40.
Don Goldie, b.Feb 5, 1930. Trumpeter with Teagarden '59-'61.
Don Fagerquist, b.Feb 6, 1927. Trumpeter with Krupa '45 / '47-'49 / '50; Shaw '49-'50;
Herman '51-'52; Brown '52-'56.
Bernie Glow, b.Feb 6, 1926. Trumpeter with Shaw '45; Raeburn ' 47 / '56 / '57;
Herman ' 47-'49 / '50 / '53.
Conrad Gozzo, b.Feb 6, 1922. Trumpeter with I Jones '38; Norvo '40; Chester '41;
Thornhill '41-'42; Shaw '42-'44; Herman '46 / '51-'57; Beneke-Miller Orch '47-'48;
then studio work for Crosby '47?-'51; J Gray '49-'53; Anthony '51-'58; May '51-'64.
Howard McGhee, b.Feb 6, 1918. Trumpeter with Hampton '41; Kirk '41-'42 / '43-'44;
Barnet '42-'43; Auld '44.
Joe Maini, b.Feb 8, 1930. Saxophonist with Rey '48; Thornhill '51.
Buddy Morrow, b.Feb 8, 1919. Trombonist with Shaw '36-'37 / '68 (Capitol LP); Duchin
'37; T Dorsey '38; Whiteman '39; Crosby '40-'42; J Dorsey '45. Leader of own band.
Leader of T Dorsey Orch '77-'91.
Peanuts Holland, b.Feb 9, 1910. Trumpeter with F Henderson '41-'42; Barnet '42-'46;
Redman '46.
Walter Page, b.Feb 9, 1900. Bassist with Moten '31-'34; Basie '36-'42 / '46-'49.
Foots Thomas, b.Feb 10, 1907. Saxophonist with Calloway '30-'43; Redman '43.
Chick Webb, b.Feb 10, 1909. Leader / drummer of own band.
Tex Beneke, b.Feb 12, 1914. Tenor saxophonist / vocalist with Miller '38-'42. Leader
of MIller Orch '46-'50. Leader of own band.
Buddy Childers, b.Feb 12, 1926. Trumpeter with Kenton '43-50 / '52-'54; T Dorsey
'51-'52.
Mel Powell, b.Feb 12, 1923. Pianist / composer with Goodman '41-'42; Miller AAF
'43-'44.
Bernie Privin, b.Feb 12, 1919. Trumpeter with Shaw '38-'39 / '68 (Capitol LP); Barnet
'40-'41 / '43; Goodman '41 / '42 / '45-'46; Miller '43-'45; Hefti '54.
Lennie Hayton, b.Feb. 13, 1908. Pianist / arranger with Nichols '27-'28; Whiteman '28-'30.
Arranger for Shaw '40-'41.
Jack Lesberg, b.Feb 14, 1920. Bassist with Spanier '40; Goodman '46 / '67;
Teagarden '47; Armstrong '47 / '49; T Dorsey '50; McKinley '50 / '53; Butterfield '54 /
'56-'5 / Hackett '63 / '69-'70.
Taft Jordan, b.Feb 15, 1915. Trumpeter with Webb '33-'39; Ellington '43-'47;
Oliver '50-'52?; Goodman '58.
Charlie Fowlkes, b.Feb 16, 1916. Baritone saxophonist with Hampton '44-'48;
Basie '51-'69 / '75-'80.
Tadd Dameron, b.Feb 21, 1917. Arranger / composer for Leonard '40-?; C Hawkins
'47; Shaw '49.
Rex Stewart, b.Feb 22, 1907. Cornetist with Henderson '26 / '28-'33; Ellington '34-'45.
John Carisi, b.Feb 23, 1922. Trumpeter with Miller AAF '43; Thornhill '49 / '50;
McKinley '51-'52.
Flip Phillips, b.Feb 26, 1915. Tenor saxophonist with Herman '44-'46 / '72 (Newport,
RI Jazz Festival) / '78 (Century LP); Goodman '59-'60.
Mildred Bailey, b.Feb 27, 1907. Vocalist with Whiteman '29-'33; Norvo '36-'39;
Goodman '39.
Abe Most, b.Feb 27, 1920. Clarinetist / saxophonist with Brown '41-'42 / '49?-'50;
T Dorsey '46-'47.
Leo Watson, b.Feb 27, 1898. Vocalist with Shaw '37; Krupa '38.
Ben Webster, b.Feb 27, 1909. Tenor saxophonist with Moten '31-'33; F Henderson 34;
Calloway '36-'37; Ellington '35-'36 / '40-43 / '48-'49; Herman '43.
Lee Castle, b.Feb 28, 1915. Trumpeter with Shaw '36-'37 / '41-'42/ '50; T Dorsey ' 37-'39;
Bradley '41; Dorsey Brothers '53-'56; McKinley ('55 Grand Award LP).
Jimmy Dorsey, b.Feb 29, 1904. Alto saxophonist / clarinetist with Nichols '26-'27;
Whiteman '27-'28; Dorsey Brothers '34-'35 / '53-'56; leader of own band.
ON TOUR WITH THE BIG BANDS
Les Elgart Orchestra directed by Russ Dorsey. Feb. 10, Euless Library, Euless, TX;
Feb. 13, private party, Heritage Ranch, McKinney, TX .
Glenn Miller Orchestra directed by Nick Hilscher. Feb. 3, Van Wezel Performing Arts
Hall, Sarasota, FL ; Feb. 4, Shell Point Retirement Community, Ft. Myers , FL ;
Feb. 5, Wilson Center For the Arts, Jacksonville, FL ; Feb. 6, Florence Civic Center,
Florence, SC ; Feb. 8, Fountain Inn Civic Center, Fountain Inn, SC; Feb. 9,
Newberry Opera House, Newberry, SC ; Feb. 11, Naval Air Museum , Pensacola,
FL ; Feb. 12, Northwest Florida State College, Niceville, FL ; Feb. 14, Kathleen
C. Cailloux City Center, Kerrville, TX ; Feb. 15, Strange Brew, Austin, TX ; Feb.
16, Cameron ISD Performing Arts Center, Cameron, TX ; Feb. 18, Rio Rancho
High School, Rio Rancho, NM; Feb. 20, Ocotillo Performing Arts Center, Artesia,
NM; Feb. 23, Spencer Theatre, Alto, NM; Feb. 27, Desert Hills High School, St.
George, UT.
A SLICE OF QUEENIE PIE
Duke Ellington's only opera, "Queenie Pie," a comparatively unknown work, is being performed by Chicago Opera Theatre through March 5th.
The title character, Queenie Pie, was inspired by the life of Madam C. J. Walker, the first African American self-made woman millionaire, who developed and sold a line of hair and beauty products through innovative mail orders and door-to-door sales.
In his Chicago Tribune newspaper review on the 16th of this month, critic John Von Rheim wrote that it's "an exuberant production of a deeply flawed piece one would describe more as vaudeville and popular musical theater than opera . . . The music is a delight . . . What a shame that the score is saddled with such a lame libretto."
Interested in the opera genre since the 1940s, Ellington started composing "Queenie Pie" in 1962, when he received a commission from the New York public TV station WNET. In collaboration with librettist Betty McGettigan, he worked on the opera from 1967 to his death in 1974, but the work remained unfinished.
Since then, different versions have been produced (1986 in Philadelphia and Washington, DC; 1993 in Brooklyn; 2008 by the Oakland Opera Theater and in 2009 at the University of Texas, Austin).
Jeff Lindberg, Artistic Director of the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, serves as Conductor for "Queenie Pie," which, in fact, uses the Chicago Jazz Orchestra as its pit band.
Ellington's grandaughter, Mercedes, was in the audience on the 15th of this month.
SNEEK PEEK
In next month's "News," just in time for the 110th anniversary of Glenn Miller's birth, Roly Taylor's detailed chronology of Miller's mighty Army Air Force band continues.
go to Big Band Library homepage
THE RETURN OF
SAUTER-FINEGAN:
COMPACT DISC REVIEW
Sepia Producer Richard Tay has done an excellent job in transfering Sauter-Finegan's two United Artists stereo LPs, "The Return of the Doodletown Fifers" and "Pop Concert," recorded in 1960 and 1961 respectively, to compact disc - with the catalog number Sepia 1248.
Creative instrumentation, great sound, colorful artwork, and full liner notes enhance this release, which should be a must-buy for collectors.
BIG BAND LIBRARY RATING:
You will really enjoy it!
