The Complete History Big Band

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE

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vou had I0 bc MCrG InIIIfront oÍ New

York's Paramount Theat er on a bitter cold Monday

The Paramount Theater, 1943.

moming in 1937, waiting Íor the doors to open and praying that an inquisitive truant oÍÍicer would not single you out Írom the thousands oÍ hookyplaying high school students shetched out behind you and aroünd the block. You are tenih in line, assured oÍ capturing a coveted seat Íront row center. SaÍely ensconsed, you will crain you neck at the distorted movie screen looming overhead and Íor three consecuüve showings, endure, bleary-eyed, ihe passionate embraces oÍ Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor. For it isn'i the movie you've come to see, it's the Benny Goodman Band, and you've been Íreezing out there since 6:30 am, waiting Íor the doors to open at noon. Finally, a scramble past the ticket-taker, a mad rush down the centeraisle, and that perÍect seat just Íour Írom the geographic center oÍ the first row. In the darkened theater, the newsreel announces troubie in China, unrest in

"t ,1# ta'l uY;

Ethiopia, and the latest siyles in ladies hats ... a Pete Smith Special shows you how to repair a rooÍ ... then 93 minutes oÍ a Íeature Íilm you will have seen nine times beÍore the week is up.

With "The End," the

curtain

closes slowly, the lights go up thendown again and

you squirm in anticipation, nervously devouring the last oÍ Íour Milky Ways. Then you hear it-"Let's Dance," the Goodman theme. That live brass surrounds you even beÍore you see them, and as the curtains slowly part, they rise up into view on ihe stage elevator like gods ascending Írom the

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE BIG BANDS

depths.

Benny Goodman siands in Íront an unimposing man in glasses,looking more likea dentist than a jazz musician. In total command, he tums, places the clarinet to his lips, throws his head back slightly and plays the Íamiliar notes youhave heard thousands oÍ times beÍore Írom the worn 78 at home. But this is real Goodman, live Goodman, and you're hearing it Íor the Íirsi time right now. All the harmonics are there, the subtle nuances oÍ pure sound. You Íeel the music in the back oÍ your neck and the base oÍ your spine as the crowd roars its pleasure.

Goodman beats it oÍÍ-ah-one, ah-two, ah-three-ah ... and Krupa propels ihe band into "King Porter" with Harry James' trumpet wide open in the lead-oÍÍ solo. The notes are clipped and precise, the ione Íull and soul-stirring. The tempo is Íast, the band communicatingdeliqht with itselÍ and iis audience. The kids are dancing in the aisles now, skirts Ílying, heads ihrown back, doing the Shaq and the Lindy and ignoring the users' vain attempts to break it up" The trumpet section, in the Goodman tradition, with its hard-edged lead and perÍect harmony, engages ihe reeds in conversation-questions and answers that you are part oÍ. You are transported right along mellow, convoluted solo and into James again, who spurred on by thousands oÍ cheering voices, blasts the rooÍ oÍÍ as he drives the band into its rousing Íinale!

with the beat, throuqh Vido Musso's

He parks his 1939 Packard, banking ihe wheels against the curb, and you cuddle against him, gazing down at the moonlit bay, the Golden Gate Bridqe a shimmering string ol diamonds in the light mist' He's brouãht you home Írom an evening oÍ dancinq and since this is your Íirst date, you ,r"*o.r.ly anticipate thai one goodnight kiss at your Íront door. But there's no

hurry-the mood in the car is so perÍect' He

out to adjust the radio tone control Íor more bass, the sound Írom TommY's trombone as mellow as the night, and as he

,"u"ir.,

encircles you with ihe same arrn, you

cuddle even closer. You turn yôur Íace up to his as Frankie, blending perÍectly with the sweet tones oÍ ihe Pied Pipers, begins his Íirst chorus. The Íirst kiss is a long one, lasting halÍway into the second chorus' Sinatra's voice is all mixed up with the pounding in your chest, slidinq down the notes, emulating Dorsey's horn. In a year or so, ihat musical device will be sending you and ihousands oÍ other girls inio dead Íaints at ihe Paramount and a Íew dozen other theaters all around the country'

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The Tommy Dorsey OLchestra with Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers. Drummer A"ãai nich and trumpeter Zissv Elman at left.

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,,r vou had t0 hG lhGrcLakeside Ballroom

on a warm summer evening in lg4l,

at

in Denver, Colorado, dancing to Jimmie LunceÍord'

juicy, well-phrased tenor is expounding on the melody oÍ "Cheaün' On Me" as you and your pariner glide across the crowded dance Íloor. As the solo ends, you dip, holdinq her securely. She bends back graceÍully and you break, grinning at each other Írom êrm's lengih. The LunceÍord guartette WillY Smith, TommY Young, Sy Oliver and Eddie Tompkingssings the lyric in spare and rhythmic style, and with the latest musical chord Íading, you dip once more and ioin the others in applauding the band'

Joe Thomas' big,

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Wiih the Íirst chords oÍ the next number, you and your date cross rapidly to the bandstand. Ifs "Uptown Blues," a LunceÍord standby much too important to dance to! You lean uP against the bandstand, halÍ the paying customers inthe ballroom clustered around and behind you' You're not disappointed. Tonight, "Uptown Blues" is a head arrangement, the band taking it anywhere ihey want' For the most part, it is an extensive series oÍ solos against mournÍul, slow-tempoed blues ensemble playing. You beat the time with your Íoot

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The Glenn

Miller Orchestra plays Íordancinq.

vou had t0 bg ffiGrG ,,r Cn q gray, spring aÍternoon, somewhere in England,

L944..The atmosphere has the con- oÍ a grounded Fortress. Fliqht crews and sistency..oÍ.a wet sponge, the weather is mechãnics, GI's Írom the A-lrbasssq"àalousy all-the way to the coniinent and ron, nurses Írom a nearby base hospital, beyond. There wiil be no round trip to assorted RAF types and even some brass Germany.today. You tap your íoot to the down Írom London-over 10OO in all-i beat oÍ "Chatanooqa Choochoo" and relax. stand with you as Miller gets the ChooMajor Glenn Miller, hís trom- choo" saÍe[y into the rãundhouse, apbone held casually in his leít hand, frónts his plauding wildly as the band reemerqes, its orchestra on the makeshiÍt bandstand. It's solden ieeds riú"; 'É;;.""d. j;81,r".,, not the same group as Ít was back home, two yo, ,lt dãw., u"J úr. vàurselÍ years ago-Tex and most oí the old guys are in the sound, your heavy ttúúii""f.Li hung gone-but it sounds good, as good as ever. loosely or.r'your shoulàers-to *urJ oÍÍ the How can it miss with musicians hkeSqt. Ray damp, EnqlisL chill. Out on the iinl, a .re* McKinlev on drums and Sqi. Mei Powell chieiruns-uponeoÍtheW.iqÉiúÀúi*inds, playing piano? its muÍÍied roar blendtnq ínevànü with The audience Íills the caver- Johnny Desmond's voice. For the mtment nous maintenance hangar, some standing, you Íiqht back the reality, allowing the some seated on jerry cans, wooden crates, music to seduce you with its bittersweet engine stands, and along the graceíul wing visions oÍ a world that has ceased. to exist. THE COMPLETE HISTORY OFTHE BIG

BANDS

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THE BIG BAND SCENE

Loma, in üe adrrrit hands oÍ Glen Gray, had captured an audience oÍ college kids, and that Duke was the outstanding genius oÍ the Biq Band Sound ... despite it all, it was BennY Goodman, his clarinet and 13 musicians that kicked it oÍÍ. The year 1935 was one oÍ empty pockets and rising expectations. America was in the midst ol the worst economic depression it had

THE ERÀ OF THE Big Bands lasted Íor about a decade. It can be said to have started on the evening oÍ August 21, 1935, at the Palomar Ballroom in Hollywood, CaliÍornia. That night, Benny Goodman, aÍter a disasterous tour across the

country, Íinally pulled out all the stops and Íor the Íirst üme, tumed a ballroom Íull oÍ dancing couples into a wildly cheering audience. Whv Goodman? Ànd why 1935? There were other big bands that predated his, some that had been around since the twenües*Casa Lomâ, Pollack, Whiteman. And there werê magniÍicent black bands like Ellinqton, Webb, LunceÍond. But despite the Íact that Ben Pollack was playing exciüng head iazz, that Whiteman was using sophisticated arrangements, that LunceÍond's group was one oÍ the most exciting to ever grace a bandstand, that Casa

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ever experienced. Having hit bottom, ihere was nowhere to go but up. And so we craved laughter, optimism, escapeneeds that the arts and the entertainment media were only too happy to satisly. Fred Astaire musicals and Lubitsch comedies ... the books oÍ H. Allen Smith and Dashiell Hammett ... the wit ol KauÍman and Hart, Hecht and McArthur, S.l. Perleman, Robert Benchley and Dorrcthy Parker. Fred Allen, Boiangles Robinson, Amos and Andy,

Eddie Cantor, Jack Benny, Will Rogers and Shirley Temple entertained us ... and we thrilled

to the heroic exploits oÍ Joe Louis, Amelia Earhart, Lou Gehrig, ]essie Owens and Howard Hughes. Popular songs echoed our idealized image oÍ grace-under-pressure: "Who Cares?", "They Can'tTake That Away From Me," "Happy Days Are Here Again," "Making Whoopie," "Things Are Looking Up." Into all oÍ this stepped Benny Goodman and his 13 talented musicians. They were saying things through their music that people wanted to hearjoyÍul, exuberani things that made people happy whether they danced or just }istened. Like a pied piper, BennyGoodman led us intothe swingyears, the Era oÍ the Biq Bands. Within a year, over 100 Biq Bands were crisscrossing the country. Fans bought their

records, lO-inch 78s, Íor

as

little as 35 cents apiece, danced to their Íavorites at hotels, ballrooms, country

clubs, and Ílocked to theaters wherc they appeared. Radios played Big Band music day and night, and a Íew times a

week there were sponsored radio shows like "The Camel Caravên," Íeaturing Benny Goodman. Late-night remotes picked utr Jan Savitt and Bob Bon live Írom the Steel Pier in

Atlantic

City

A*ie

Shaw

direct Írom the Hotel Lincoln in New York ... Claude Thornhill Írom the Glen Island Casino. Big Band leaders and sidemen quickly became celebriües, glamorous Íigures mooned over and worshipped by their andent Íans. Esquire magazine's annual poll oÍ the best oÍ the Big Bands was second only to the naüonal elections in the number oÍ votes cast! The bands diÍÍered con-

"... The year 1935 was one of empty pockets and rising expectations. Into it stepped Benny Goodman and his 13 talented musicians, saying the joyÍul exuberant thÍngs that people wanted to hear. Like a pied piper, Goodman led us into the swing years. ... siderably in the type oÍ music they played. Besides the swing bands, there were "sweet" bands and "Mickey Mouse"

(novelty) bands. The sweet bands played solely Íor dancing and were Íar less inventive musically. The best oÍ them* bands like Guy lombardo, Sammy Kaye and Freddy Martin-knew what they were up to, did it with great sincerity and maintained high musical standards. The Mickey Mouse bands . had no discernible standards at all and relied almost totally on gimmick. Blue Barron, the most blatant oÍ them all, reÍused to take his own band seriously, despite extensive tours and high recond sales! There were others with varying degrees oÍ musical

competency. Shep Fields insisted, Íor reasons still obscure, on bJowing bubbles into a microphone. Milt Britton's band turned the bandstand into mayhem as all the musicians smashed instruments over each othey's heads. Gray Gordon Íeatured "tick-

tock" rh.ythm, a gimmick relying on temple blocks that created the sound oÍ a ücking clock throughout everything the band played. And there

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OFTHE BIGBANDS

were also the society bands-

Meyer Davis, Lester Lanin, Emile Coleman ômong themwho worked debutante parties, "important" weddings, even the White House. But the swing bands were the giants, the elite, their sound the most creaüve, the most ex-

citing. Like baseball têams, their line-ups were known intimately by ardent Íans, any change in personnel cause Íor endless discussion. Serious swing buÍÍs prided themselves

on their ability to

recognize trumpet player Harry ]ames or Yank Lawson by a single note out oÍ their horns, a Íeat the musicians themselves were most likely incapable oÍ! And the Íans knewwhen a band was putting out or simply trying to get by on the qig. They memorized all oÍ the important recorded solos and to the dismay oÍ the jazz instrumentalists, demanded the same "improvisations" at a live perÍormance that they had heard countless times on their own records. Bunny Berigan, Íor example, Íound it necessary to repeat over and over again his original solos Írom "l Can't

Get Started" to keep

his Íollowers happy. But more oÍten 11

it was the audience that turned the band on, and when the mood was riqht and everything swung, those ex-

uberant emotions inspired some oÍ the most exciting sounds around. No wonder some oÍ the best recordings made by swing bands oÍ the thirties and Íorties were recorded beÍore enthusiasüc, live audiences. The comparison between Benny Goodman's original studio recordings oí "Sing Sinq Sing" and the swinging version done during his Íamous Camegie HalI concert says it all! As the Biq Band Era progressed, more and more bands were Íormed, until, by the end oÍ World War II, there were morle ihan 400 playing all over the country.

". . .Big Band leaders

and sidemen became celebrities, glamorous ÍÍgures mooned over and worshippeC by their ardent Íans. Esquire magazine's annual poll oÍ the best oÍ the big bands was second only to the national elections in the numberoÍ votes cast. ..."

Lionel Hampton

Popularity, oÍ course, was based on many Íactors, not the -east oÍ which was exposure to

=e public. Prejudice deprived

:rlany black bands, in particu.ar, of publicity, radio spots and bookÍngs. The sad paradox, oÍ :3urse, is that there would have been no swing era if black =usicians had not invented ' zzz inthe Íirst place. Swing was 'ust another term Íor big band 'azz, and jazz, as everyone Knows, is the only true and pureiy American contribution :c the arts. As the decadelrogressed, ::rings got símewhat better, but by then it was too late-the Biq 3and Era was dying. Oniy two

Winter's and Bennie de Weile's not only recorded, but made numerous radio broadcasts as well. Many oÍ their amangements were liÍted directly Írom BBC and American overseas broadcasts oÍ such "degenerate Jews and Negroes" as Artie Shaw, Jimmie LunceÍord, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Harry James!

"order" and conÍormity. The origins oÍ iazz are well known. The successÍul and happy marriage oÍ jazz and the large dance orchestra is what was responsible Íor the Era oÍ the Biq Bands. Initially, biq bands were either Íor marching ordancing. Synchopated marching bands developed in New Orleans

:=portant black bands sur;rved it, Ellinqton and Basie. :{ad things been more egui:able during the golden years,

àere is no doubt that many :nore black name bands would :ave been included in the

above list, bands such as: iletcher Henderson, Teddy /y'ilson, Earl (Faiha) Hines, Don Redman and Claude Hopkins, :c name a Íew. The Biq Bands caught on in lurope, too, at least roughly counterpart to their swinging Àmerican cousins. Ted Heath's

band, Íor one, acquired as nuch popularity in AmerÍca as :t did in England. During the 'É/ôr years, there were three English bands that aroused guite a bit'of admiration and afÍection among members of the American armed Íorces

The Sguadronaires (oÍÍicially known as the R.A.F. No. I I

Dance Band), Geraldo and his Orchestra, and The Heralds oÍ Swing. Surprisingly enough, swing bands were being Íormed in

Nazi Germany ôs well*

despite the Íact that Hitler had outlawed )azz and "all other degenerate Negro and Jewish music." Bands like Horst

Frank Driqqs Collection

The Ben Pollack Band, 1925. In its heyddy, the band íeatured what would become the \iqgest names oí the Swinq Era: Benny Çoodman, Iack Teagarden, Chdrlie Spivak, Glenn Miller, Iimmy McPdrtland, Bud Freeman, Matty Matlock, Yank Lawson, Ray Bouduc, Harry fames, Irving Fazola, DaveMatthews omong them. The Íact that jazz and swing

were verboten in Nazi Ger-

many did not stand in the way oÍ it being used Íorpropaganda purposes, particularly when beamed to allied personnel. As Íor the rest oÍ occupied Europe, the sounds of iazz, oÍ the Biq Bands, were not to be heard again uniil aÍter liberation. This is not surprising, as toialitarian societies, oÍ both the right and the leÍt have always Írowned upon this type oí music and in almost every case, banned it along with all otherexpressions which do not conlirm the Íinal

truth oÍ the state. Jazz is essentially a theme song oÍ Íreedom, thus destructive oÍ

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OFTHE BIGBANDS

with beats so iníectious that instead oÍ being marched to, they were actually danced to. A product oÍ the Bourbon Street parades was the two-step, an

ideal dance with which

to

celebrate the insistent beat oÍ the ragtime and dixieland music that developed there. Meanwhile, the large dance orchestra, a more "civilized" European invention, had as its funcüon the creaüon oÍ wel]orchestrated music that was pleasant and unobtrusive enough Íor polite respectable society to dance to. Its grenesis took place over a century beÍore the Biq Band Era, in Vienna, where the Íirst modem 13

social dance, the waltz (a German invention) became

The lean Goldkette Band wds gone by the time the Biq Band Era began, nevertheless iÍ nurtured many Íine musicians oÍ swing from 1924-1927: Bix Beiderbecke, Iimmy and Tommy Dorsey,.Buss Morgan, foe Venuti, Pee Wee Russell, Frankie Trumbauer and many others.

overwhelmingly popular with the middle and upper classes. The waltz had an insistent beat a sensuous rhythmic pattern. A man and woman could, Íor the Íirst üme, hold each other in public and moye- ^ copatàd..two-beat rhythms oÍ through a series oÍ graceÍul the raqtià'e brass band and the turns to romantic music oÍ a precise ensemble sounds oÍthe kind never heard beÍore, more "reÍined" dance orchesplayed by large, lush orches- tra. The most notable oÍ these tras with soaring strings and a early musical innovators was steady, "shockingly" provocaJim Europe, who in 1913 tive beat. (Only in the marital attracted the attention oÍ danbed was it socially permissible, cers Vemon and irene Castle. in those days, Íor respectable Iim Europe eventually became couples to be that close.) the Castle's music director, an Waltz orcheshas were the associaton that proved imbig bands oÍ their üme. Com- mensely popular with the pubposers such as Franz l"eharand lic and at one point netted the Richard Strauss provided new partnership as much as $31,material every year pretty 000 weekly! Soon, America much as arrôngers and com- was emulaüng the Castles by posers were to do Íor the biq dancing the Two Step and The Castle Walk in ballrooms bands oÍ a diÍÍerent era. throughout the country-but Sometime after the turn oÍ the century, a Íew brilliant black even more importantly, they were buyinq the Victor reconds musicians combined the synL4

recorded by "Iim Europe and His Society Orchestra." Europe, commissioned during the World War, was ordered to organize a band Íor the 369th Regirnent "HellÍighters.'' The band played many concerts Íor allied military personnel in Europe, much as the Glenn Miller Band was io dc twenty-Íive years later. it alsc inhoduced to the French and other Europeans, Íor the Íirs1

time,

a

brand-new kind

ol

synchopated music that was to become just as popularthere as it would become in the United States.

AÍter the war, other black bands picked up the reÍrain. The bands oÍ Ford Dabney,

Allie Ross, Wilbur Sweatman

In the summer oí 1923, the

Fletcher Henderson

Band opened at The Club Alabamon

Synchopated marching bands developed in New Orleans with beats so inÍectious that instead oÍ being marched to, they were actually danced to. ... ".

..

West 44th streei. Two oÍ its sidemen, Don Redman and Coleman Hawkins, were themselves to become legendary iazz figures in Íuture years. (There is hardly aiazzmusician or critic alive today who does not consider Coleman Hawkins

the greatest oÍ all the

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and a Íew others in New York were gaining wide popularity. What they played was Íor the rnost part derivaüve oÍ ragtime. Their orchestras, however, sported much in the way oÍ strings and banjoes. There were even a Íew whiteimitators springing up here and there around the country, But Íor the most part, this early "Big Band" music was crude and unsophisticated by later standards, and its iazz content and musical quality were slim.

The true vanguard oÍ iazz was not situated in midtown Manhattan where the Biq Bands held sway, but uptown in the Harlem speakeasies. It was there that the true innovators mostly pianists such as Eubie Blake, ]ames P. Johnson and Willie (The Lion) Smith, were reshaping ragüme into something else entirely. Ii was in the cellar clubs oÍ Harlem where the Íormal precision oÍ ragüme

was being broken down

bY jazz who improcombos small vised with great abandon around ihe classic themes. Sittinq in with them were musicians Írom a new gener-

ation-youngsters, such as Freddy lohnson, Fats Waller and Bill (Count)Basie, pianists, Íor the most part, who were gaining experience and developing their own ideas. Such was the scene in New York in 1920 when Fletcher

Henderson blew into town. He was to change everything. Fletcher Hamilton Henderson Jr. was born on December l8th, 1898 in Cuthbert, Georgia, the son oÍ a hiqh school principal and a piano teacher' Both he and his younger brother Horace (who was also to play a big part in the musical' era that Íollowed) received a musical education at home. Fletcher graduated Írom Atlanta University in 1920, Horace Írom Wilberlorce just a Íew years later. Fletcher, the young graduate, came to New York that summer with intentionss oÍ taking a Masters Degree in Chemistry at Columbia University. In order to üde himselÍ over till the semester began in the Íall, he took a job with a black music publishing Íirm, and later with the Black Svüan Record Company. Americ{yras to loose a chemist in exchàhqqÍor a new and exciting musical'Íorm.

iazz

soloists. During the course oÍ over Íour decades Hawkins was constantly in the ÍoreÍroni,

constantly developing and creating new ideas which have become part oÍ the language oÍ )azz).

At The Alabam, Henderson developed his band's style, using special arrangements written by Don Hedman and himselÍ. In the summer oí.1924 the Henderson band, aíter an argument with the club management, moved to the Roseland Ballroom. It was ihere that the band achieved its popularity, particularly with white audiences. À large group oÍ proÍessional musicians hung around the bandstand nightly, listening and learning. By this time the Henderson band had picked up impressive reinÍorcements.ln addition to some oÍ the earlier members, such as Hawkins, present on the bandstand were newcomers, Benny Morton, John Kirby, Benny Carter, louis Armstrong

Henderson set the stage Íor the Big Band Era. He invented what later was to be called Swing, ônd practÍcally every band Ín the business owned him a debt. ..." ".

. . Fletcher

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OFTHE BIG BANDS

i5

period used stock arrangements purchased Írom publishing houses. The Don Redman, Horace Henderson, and Fletcher Henderson arrangements oÍ the üme were Íar more comPlex than anything that could be purchased ready-made. Secondly, the Fletcher Henderson band was the Íirst to Íeature solo

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instrumental improvisation

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against the backgroundoÍ a {ull orchestra; it also dePended guite a bit on head arrange-

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The legrendary Bix Beiderbecke, 1924'

and Buster Bailey. Fletcher Henderson had created the Íirst swing band. The Fletcher Henderson Band was the most imPortani musical Íorce in Biq Band history. As early as L923, Henderson, unlike his Peers, who Íor the most part were

concentraüng on Primitive ensemble work'and "jungle" rhythms, he insisted on good musicianship Írom his men. Fletcher Henderson would hire only the best musicians with excellent intonation and the abili§ to read complex scores. These were vêry unusual requirements at the time, and

ments played

in

ensemble.

Only well-schooled, intelligent musicians possessed the abilitY to sit in such a band. There were other, eguallY important innovaüons. BY 1924 Fletcher Henderson had determined the standard size and Íorm oÍ what was to be the conventional Big Band: Íour rhythm consisting oÍ bass (or tuba), guitar, dmms and Piano, three trumpets, two trombones and Íour saxophones-two alto, two tenor, with altos usuallY doubling on clarinet. Practically every Biq Band that

Íollowed was to use this conÍiguration. The only deviation was the occasional

addition oÍ a fifth voice in the sal secüon and the addiüon in some cases oÍ a thind hombone.

There were to be no maior changes in the instrumentaüon oÍ Big Bands until the Íofiies. The Henderson band "invented" the swing sound. TheY were the first to use rePeated riffs, to interpret arrangements Írcely, allowing musicians to imprrcvise around a theme, to phrase the various sections oÍ the band to call and response, to play iazz lour beats to the measure (perÍect Íor a new dance called'The Foxhot"); in short, to sound like a Biq Band sounds today. Fletcher Henderson's career in ihe music business was a rocky one, despite his iniüal success. He directed a number oÍ excepüonal bands unül 1945, but aÍter his earlY eÍÍorts oÍ the twenties, his popularitY declined at a rapid rate. When Benny Goodman opened at the Palomar Ballroom on that Íate{ul evening in the summer oÍ 1935, he was playing Fletcher Henderson

needless to sêY, a seat in Henderson's band was pres-

tigious, enhancing a musician's reputation and insuring him Íuture employment' Henderson would often leave a chair empty Íor weeks at a üme rather than hire a musician in whom he did not have complete conÍidence. The reason Íor his uncompromising attitude toward musical ability was twoÍold. First, Fletcher Henderson's was the Íirst jazz band to use special arrangements and scores composed speciÍically Íor its own use. Every other band oÍ the 16

Fletcher Henderson, "the Íather oí the Biq Band Sound," at Roseland Ballroom, New York.

us de-

nal the

rin ne.

jor ion ,.

iniey

ed ots

to to oÍ 3ê,

he

arrangements. Some oÍ them were exact duplicates oÍ what the Henderson Band had been playing Íor years. Goodman was more successÍul with Henderson's music than Henderson himselÍ had been-and the reasons were obvious: Goodman had behind him a very large and very eÍÍective booking agency, constant radio exposure, good publicity-and he was white. Fletcher Henderson became Benny Goodman's chieÍ ôrranger and was responsible to a maior degree Íor the Goodman style. This style was re-

business who went out oÍ his way to help me.IÍithadn'tbeen Íor his music, I don't know

I would have been.'

band in the business,

ex-

cluding some waltz orcheshas

and mickey mousê bands,

Henderson graciously loaned Basie a good podion oÍ his library, because Basie had to play regular network radio shows Írom the Grand Terrace with practically no book, onlY head arrangements oÍ originals, which were not allowed at the Terrace. The Basie-

owed him a debt. There would have been no Glenn Miller, no Artie Shaw, no Dorseys oÍ any kind, no Ben Pollack or Chick Webb, or Woody Herman or Iimmie LunceÍord-and Íor that matter, no Big Band Era at all, iÍ Fletcher Henderson had not been there Íirst. He conceived the sound and the substance oÍ

when the Count and arranger Eddie Durham were members oÍ the then-popular Bennie

AÍter Goodman's breakthrough in 1935, Big Bands oÍ all types werê olçtanizing by the hundreds around the

where

Henderson association, oÍ course, dated back to 1931,

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tained even when other arrangers-Horace Henderson,

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Iimmy Mundy, Edger Sampson and Benny Carter-arranged Íor Benny's band. (These were all men who started with Henderson and also produced arrangemenis Íor him). Still another Henderson contribuüon has beên documented

by Frank Drigqs in

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his

extensive and excellent album notes to Columbia Record's

retrospecüve Íour-record set on Fletcher Henderson: "A Study In Frustraüon" (Colum-

bia C4L 19): "Henderson's

replacemeni at the Terrace wa§ the new CountBasie BandÍrom Kansas City. Basie recalled môny years later that Henderson was the only leader in the

Moten orchesha Írom Kansas City. Attempting to modernize

the band along

Henderson lines, they persuaded Moten to purchase Íorty arrangements Írom Benny Carter and Horace Henderson. Now, years later, Count Basie was playinq with the same relaxed drive that had

characterized Henderson bands Íor better than a decade. Basie was the logical leader to camy on Fletcher Henderson's iradition in big band iazz." The Henderson in{luence went Íar beyond Goodman and Basie. Henderson set the stage Íor the Biq Band Era. He invented what later was to be called Swing (and still later what was to be renamed Big Band Jazz). PracücallY every

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OFTHE BIG BANDS

country, and those already in

existence suddertly began achieving undreamed oÍ poPularity. A new breed oÍ radio personality appeared on the scene-the "disc iockey." He

played telephone

requests,

conducted popularity polls and in many cêses became somethinq oÍ a celebrity himselÍ. The record companies soon discovered that air exposure oÍ

their product actually sold

disc iockey became a power to deal with. In most maior ciües, long lines oÍ teenagers (and adults also) were Íorming in Íront oÍ the omate movie palaces oÍ the time, which were altemating Íeature Íilms with live bands on stage. It was not unusual Íor a records. The

L7

the same again. The Big Band Era was over. The decline oÍ the Big Bands was iniüated'by a war that demanded the services oÍ its

musicians and arrangers and the gasolines and tires Íor its buses and cars. The giants oÍ the business, Goodman, Basie, Herman, The Dorseys, etc., had their pick oÍ those Íew talented musicians who were ineligible Íor the draft, and though it was increasingiy diÍÍicult to íill vacated chairs, they managed where others Íailed. It was the lesser-known bands, the

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crowd oÍ 25,000 to storm New York s Paramoünt Theater during the course oÍ one day, in a massive attempt to see and hear a Íavorite band. Kids would qladly sit throuqh the movie three or Íour times in onder to dig their band over and over agrain and many oÍ them returned the next day and the next to go through the whole thinq again. In towns all over the country, teenagers who had missed a week oÍ math.classes could recite blocks oÍ dialogue, verbatim, from the latest Clark Gable movie. The Biq Band craze oÍ the thirties was a phenomenon that was not to be repeated Íor another 30 years, when the Beatles turned on ô new generation oÍ young Íans to rock music. There is no oÍficial date Íor when it all ended, but in December oÍ 1946, the bands oÍ Benny Car.ter, Jack Tea-

gardin, les Brown, Ina Ray Hutton, Harry lames, Woody Herman, Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman called itguits. Though some oÍ them would reorganize later, and others, like Goodman, would put

bands together occasions, 1B

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it was never to be

Sam Donahue, .A,lvino Rey, Bob Crosby, Ray McKinley, Bobby Byrne, Wayne King, and many other bandleaders. Some oÍ them directed bands in the service, some were noncombatants and some sôw combat. OÍ the later, perhaps the most dramatÍc incident involved Saxie Dowell, Hal Kemp's ex-tenor man, whowas the director oÍ the Navy band aboard the ill-Íated aircraft carrier USS Franklin. In March oÍ 1945, Franklin was reduced

to a Ílaming wreck during a Íight with the lapanese. In the course oÍ the battle and in the subseguent successÍul efforts

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second echelon, who were hard hit and had to put up with inÍerior musicianship or Íold up their tents. Many oÍ them Íolded, the ones who didn't Íound themselves losing their Íans.

À large number oÍ leaders

were either dra{ted

or

volunteered. Glenn Miller and Larry Clinton went into the Air Force, C]aude Thornhill, Orrin Tucker, Artie Shaw and Eddy Duchin went into the Navy. The entire Clyde McCoy band enlisted as a unit, as did Ted Weems and six oí his musicians. The Íiqhting Íorces also received the services oÍ

to save the ship, Íive oÍ the musicians were killed and an

egual number

received

wounds and bums. AÍter their battle stations became untenable, the band rescued what instruments it could salvage and between bouts as Íireman and corpsman, made music on the shattered Íliqht deck. Despite the Íact that Franklin seemed doomed, the crew stayed with her and sailed the wreck all the way home to San Francisco. She entered the harbor to the strains oÍ Saxie's band. Meanwhile, the civilian bandleaders were having their

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problems. Gasoline rationing was responsible Íor the closing oÍ many oÍ the once popular, "j ust - twenty-minutes -out *oftown" ballrooms and country ciubs. Nevertheless, most oÍthe Biq Bands were working steady, Íillinq in with Armybase Cates. A Íew were signed by the

JSO and managed to get overseas tours. Hotel ballrcoms, theaters and midcity ballrooms were still doing business. The main problem was touring, and Íew bands

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attempting it. Then in 1942 came another blow-the musicians' record:ng strike. It lasted Íor over a iear despite the Íact that no one :eaily wanted it, not the nusicians, the record companies nor the public. Unable :c hear new releases, the public began to stray, The only popular records being cutwere by vocalists. Frank Sinatra, Íor example, made a series oÍ recordings that rnanaged to :eplace an orchestral backãround with that oÍ a choir. Things were changing. Men :nd women, separated by the ivar, were listening more and :rore to senümental ballads which reÍlected their Íeelings :::ore than the swingingsounds

oÍ the Big Bands. The lonely serviceman grinding out his war on some remote PaciÍic atoll preÍerred the softromantic phrasing oÍ Dinah Shore

singing "Where or When"

to

the hard-edged irumpet oÍ Erskine Hawkins piaying "Tuxedo }unction." His girl-

Íriend, busy riveting Flyinq Fortress Íusilages in Wichiia, Kansas, Íound herselÍ in perÍect

agreement with Frankie whenever she played his recording oÍ "Saturday Night Is

the loneliest Niqht oÍ the Week." Her Basie and

Benny Goodman

Goodman records were qiathering dust. For one reason or another, the singers, recent graduates

takinq over. Frank Sinaha had started the trend, and by 1942

Írom the Biq Bands,

werle

was drawing huge crowds, larger even than those drawn by the Big Bands just a Íew short years beÍore. Most oÍ his

Íans, at least iniüally, were

women-Írantic, teenagers storming the stage doors, screaming at him in wild hysteria, Íainüng

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their theater seats, whlle their older sisters purchased his records by the dozens and quietly melted to that soÍt, sensuous, romantic voice. Bv the time the war had ended, the singers had, Íor the

Bunny Berigan most part, taken over the world oÍ popular music. In the immediate post-war euphoria, there was a brieÍ rekindling oÍ Biq Band acüvity, butitwas just a passing Íancy. Public interest was elsewhere, That part oÍ it which was jazz-oriented turned to the new and exciting music being played by the small,

progressive jazz and bop groups led by Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and other in,novators. Most everyone else

was listening to the Duke Ellington TI{E COMPLETE HISTORY OFTHE BIG BANDS

voices,

spending their evenings at the local bowling alleys and shopping around Íor their Íirst television sets. It was all over. Ü 19

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n a Chicago evening in the spring oÍ 1936,Iohn Hammond was idly tuning his radio when he accidentally picked up, at the Íar end oÍ the ÀM dial, an experimental transmitter broadcasting Írom Kansas City's Club Reno. The music Hammond heard under the crackling static was that oÍ a nine-piece band led by ô man identiÍied as Bill Basie. Hammond was thrilled by the sound and immediately contacted his Íriend Benny Goodman, also in Chicago at the time. Unable to receive the station indoors, Goodman qrabbed a portable radio and ran out into a vacant lot. A Íew days later, Goodman was on his way to Kansas City. "When Benny came to the Reno Club in the spring oÍ 1936 to hear us," Basie later said, "none oÍ us were aware that he was digging us." ButGoodman, ever more excited by the live sound, telephoned his booker, MCA's \{illand Alexander, ât once. "Goodman told me about the band," says Alexander, "only he kept calling it Count Bassie, and he kept urging me io go to Kansas City to hear it. John (Hammond), oÍ course, had been the instigator, so he and I Ílew out there."

A,.*urrder

sisned

the Basie Band on the spot-only a Íew short hours beÍore legendary band booker Joe Glazer arrived in Kansas Ci§ to sign Basie up himselÍ. The Basie Band swings Iightly, a lyrical blue riÍÍ simply stated by mellow saxophones. A baritone bottoms out the reeds as multi-trombones slide in and out oÍ the melody line and muted trumpets tell us what's important. A flute takes a Íew chords apart against the solid ensemble and the potenüal power underneath is Íor the moment Íelt but unheard. A cue Írom the Count -a nod oÍ his head, a Íew elegant notes Íroú his

That earlY band certainly didn't possess the precision oÍ later Basie ensembles, but in spite oÍ the ragged playing, it swung Íreely-itwas exciting. in a review oÍ a radio remote oÍ the band published in the lanuary, 1937, issue oÍ Metronome magazine, George Simon wrote: "True, the band does swing, bui that sax section is invariably out oÍ tune. And iÍ you think the sax secüon is out oÍ tune, catch the brass! And iÍ you think the brass by itselÍ is out oÍ tune, catch the intonation oÍ the band as a whole!" Simon later commented on the Íact that black musicians oÍ that period were oÍten unable to aÍÍord good instruments and had Íew opporhrniües to study wiih the

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J-lasie traveled East Írom Kansas City, working his way to New York and his debut at Roseland. The Roseland opening Proved somewhat disappointingr, the ensemble playing süll Írayed at the edges. A oneweek Paramount Theater gig showed marginal improvement, then Billie Holiday joined the band Íor a date at the Savoy Baliroom, leaving shortly aÍter Íor the Artie Shaw Band and higher PaY' Says Basie: "She was our Íirst qirl

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keyboard-and

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conholled explosion

takes place in a brass barage propelled by the insistent drive oÍ the incom-

parable Basie rhythm section. The excitement builds in plateaus, Íinally Ieveling oÍÍ into a solid brick wall behind a lone trumpet. Through it all, the Basie piano provides punctuation. Melodic, sophisticated, direct and uncomplicated, the beat oÍ the Basie Band is alwaYs there, an organic part oÍ every bar oÍ music.Itis the keystone on which the Basie sound is constructed, Íor above all else, the Count's band swings' It has been swinging Íor ÍortY Years' THE COMPLETE HISTORY OFTHE BIGBANDS

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The Count Basie Orchestra, 1943, with blues singer limmy Rushing.

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"Cherokee" vocalist and she was beautiÍul to work with.l was just as thrilled to hear her as the audience was"" By the time the Basie Band opened at New York's Famous Door on 52nd Street in 1938, important changes had been made. Its soloists read iike a roster oÍ the jazz hall oÍ Íame: Lester Young, Herschel Evans, Benny Morton, Buck Clayton, Dicky Wells, Harry Edison. The original Basie Rhythm Seeüon is süll spoken oÍ with awe: Freddy Green, Walter Page, Joe Jones. Eddy Durham climbed aboard as arranger, and Earl Warren, a superb musician, whipped the reed section into shape. Jimmy Rushing was there too, his Íeet planted Íirmly on the bandstand, a solid piano oÍ a man with a blues voice that couid project a mile, yet always sounded at ease, unstrained, operating at only a tiny portion oÍ its potential power, The Basie Band ieÍt the Famous Door in triumph, hailed as the greatest jazz band oÍ all time. And thouqh the Count's Íuture bands swung, none \Á/ere as Íree-wheeling as that inspired 1938-39 aggregation. As the years went by, the ensemble playing grew more disciplined, but the spontaneity that distinguished the group's earlier years became less and less obvious. Not that the Basie Band ever ]acked talented soloists. Their numbers are legion. Buddy Tate, Don Byas, Vic Dickenson, Freddy Green, Illinois Iacquet, J.J. Johnson, Joe Newman, "Snooky" Young, Frank Foster and many others were part oÍ the Basie sound. Even Buddy Rich played a Íew engagements as a temporary replacement Íor ailing Joe Jones. The Basie Band voealists included Billie Holiday, Jimmy Rushing, Helen Humes, Joe Williams, and Lamberts, Hendrix and Ross. Tony Bennet, Frank Sinatra and Paul Robeson have all sung with the band. And the beat goes on. Basie remains in complete control, as aiways, directing his awesome swinging machine with a nod, a shrug, a single piano note. TasteÍul and restrained, the musicianship remains superb, the sound joyous and optimisüc. We need it. I 22

D D E I-! CTT

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$ilt0PH0ltEs

Charlie Barnet Gene KÍnsey James Lamare

Kurt Bloom Skip Martin

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TRUMPETS

Billy May Lyman Vunk Bobby Burnet John Cwens TnomB0ilE$

Claude Murphy Don Ruppersburg

Bill Robertson DRUMS

CliÍÍ Leeman B0ss

Phil Stepens OUITIR

Bus Etri Pt01t0

Bill Miller UÍIGntISI

Mary Ann McCall

o o o o

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The Charlie Barnet Orchestra, Lincoln Hotel, 1940. LeÍt to right: Ben Hall, trombone;

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6

Lyman Vunk, trumpet; Billy May, trumpet; Gene Kinsey, alto sax; Lyle "Spud" Murphy, trombone; Iohnny Owens, trumpet; Lloyd "Skippy" Martin, alto; Bobby Burnet, trumpet; Don Ruppersberg, trombone; Iimmy Lamare, baritone; Clifí Leeman, drums; Bus Etri, guitar; Charlie Barnet, leader and tenor sdx; Bill Miller, piano;

Phil Stephens, óoss.

Charlie Barnet, at the age oÍ 17, played the chimes with Duke Ellington's band on a 1930 recording of "Ring Dem Bells." No one seems to know how this came about, but it was the start oÍ a career in the music business Íor a young man later to become known Íor both his swinging bands and, through ten marriages, his swinging IiÍe s§le. Looking back, Barnet said: "The band business was a romping, stornping thing, and everybody wôs swinginq! I can't heip but think back to the group oÍ boys in the band-it was a happy band, and even with one-nighters it was a ball."

=E

COMPLETE HISTORY OFTHE BIG BANDS

o o

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23

rrr I

i," Bamet group

echoed those sentiments-it sounded like a happy band. Disciplined and precise at the same time, and based on a serious respect Íor music, many critics have called it the most consistently jazz oriented sound oÍ ail the white bands oÍ the time. "Our band was never hiqhly stylized like Benny Goodman's or Glenn Milley's," said Barnet. "We had a lot more latitude than most orchestras. We created more inÍormal head arrangements than any other band except Basie's, I guess. And we were happy ninety percent oÍ the time. There were no cligues; it was just a bunch oÍ guys having a ball." peers in ihe band business, Charlie Bamet was bom into wealth and prestige. For his thirteenth birthday, he was given a C-melody sax, and despite Íamily plans Íor a more "respectable career," became dedicated io music. "l leamed to play hot by Íooling around with the Victrola," said Barnet. "l was nuts about the Fletcher Henderson band, and when I heard Hawkins play, I just naturally swiiched to the tenor." He attended Rumsey Hall and the Blair Academy, and shortly aÍier enrolling as a Íreshman at Yale, Bamet picked up his sax and headed south. The Íirsi band was put together in 1933 Íor a I2-week engagement at the Paramount Grill in New York. The group featured arrangements by two trumpet players later to Íind their own spotlight-Eddie Sauter and Tutti Camarata-and presented boy vocalist Harry Yon Zell, also slated Íor slory.

P.

J-larnet disbanded his group in 1935 to try his hand at acting. That same year he appeared in two Íilms, Irene and Mary and love ondHisses. The experience convinced him that his real interest and talent still resided in lazz. Charlie Barnet's later bands were obviously inÍluenced by Duke Ellinqton. Despite the carping oÍ a Íew critics, Bamet never imitated Ellington or anyone else. He often expressed deep admiration Íor Ellington and, to a lesser degree, Count Basie, but he interpreted the work oÍ both giants 24

with an Índividuality that uniquely illuminated them Írom his own perspective. The Barnet ensemble did Íairly well through the mid-thirties, culminating in a summer engagement at the Glen Island Casino, a date that Íeatured a new Midwestern vocal group called the Modernaires. By 1938-39, ihe band had become tremendously popular among swing Íans, its stomping, rollicking sound brilliantly enhanced by the work oÍ its newest arranger, Billy May. Barnet's tenor playinq had changed somewhat by this time Írom a style strongly reminiscent oÍ his idol Hawkins, to a more rousing, sliqhtly drier solo horn, easily identiÍiable as Barnet's own. Many critics maintain that during this period Barnet was the best oÍ the white reed playerc./^l

\./harlie

Barnet always surounded himselÍ with superior musicians and was the Íirst io break through racial barriers to employ black musicians in the band itselÍ. It was because oÍ this that Barnet was never considered {or any radio jazz programs and lost out on a number oÍ big hotel gigs and their network radio remotes. The loss oÍ that important exposure was a shameÍul penaity Íor a commitment to principle embraced by very Íew white bandleaders oÍ the day. In 1933, the Charlie Barnet band was the Íirst white band to play Harlem's Apollo Theater. The best oÍ Charlie Barnet's recordings were made on RCA's Bluebird label between 1939 and 1942: "The Count's Idea," "The Duke's Ideâ," "The Gal From Joe's," "The Right Idea," "The Wrong Idea," "Cherokee," "Pompton Turnpike," "Wings Over Manhattan," "Red Skin Rumba," "Southern Fried," "Harlern Speaks," "l Can't Get Started," "Murder at Peyton Hall," "Phylisse," "Leapin at the Lincoln" "Lament Íor May," "Reverie oÍ a Moax." The band that was Íormed in 1938 Íor an engagement at New York's Famous Door, was a stomping, swinging group, described by George Simon in the August 1939 issue oÍ Metronome magazine as 'The blackest white band oÍ all!" It was the greatest compliment one could pay a white jazz band.

Drr,rn

an important -939 engagement at the Palomar 3atrlroom in Los Angeles, a fire broke :ut, destroying all oÍ the band's :::struments, uniÍorms and, most hagi:.a1ly, its entire music library. In a ;esture reÍlecting Barnet's standing in ie music communitY, Duke Ellington, Senny Carter and others came to the rescue with enough scores to rebuild a :smporary book. Said Barnet: "Hell, if s retter than being in Poland with bombs i:cppinq on your head!" Mary Ann McCall, a s:üd, jazz-oriented vocaiist, leÍt the band :: 1941. Her replacement showed uP -*ifi long, straggly hair and an ill-Íitting i:ess. It was Lena Horne, destined io :,ecome the most beauüÍul and rphisticated lady singer oÍ them all. Ãier a brieÍ rehearsal in the basement oÍ ::e Windsor Theater in the Bronx, she -*ient on cold with no arrangements and the show. She's been doing it =:pped :'ier since. For some reason lharlie Bamet has never received the n:claim he so riqhtly deserves and is :arely mentioned along with the other ::p white leaders. Nevertheless, listen-::g to his records today, the sound oÍ a';thenüc jazz piayed with verve and iedication comes through with as much excitemeni as it did almost 30 years ago. lhe band really cooked!n

silr0PH0llEs

Milton Schatz George Auld Gus Rivona Clyde Rounds IRUMPEIS

Bunny Berigan John Naptan

Harry Goodman TnomB0ilEs Nat LeBrousky Ray ConiÍÍ

DRUilS BuddY Rich OUITOR

Hank Wayland

B[S8 Dick Morsan Hnil0 Ioe Bushkin U0G0tl$ Iayne Dover THE BUNNY BERIGAN BAND, ]938 Frank Driggs Colletion

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OFTHE BIGBANDS

25

B.B. Beiderbecke and Bunny Berigan. Besides initials, the two men shared a common Íate-a meteoric rise to Íame, then a tragic decline into alcoholism and early death. It has been said oÍ both that they were reaching Íor notes never played through a trumpet beÍore, phrases and chord changes that could never be, music that

didn't exist. T

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his counterpart a decade before him, Bunny Berigan was beyond a doubtthe bestwhite trumpet player oÍ his time and certainly one oÍ the outstanding musicians in the history oÍ. jazz. "lÍ that man wôsn't such a gambler," said Red lvÍcKenzie, "evety' body would say he was the greatest that ever lived. But the man's got such nerve and likes his horn so much that he'll qo ahead and try things nobody else'd ever think oÍ trying!" Berigan's Íirst name band experience was with Hal Kemp. Kemp auditioned him in 1928, but turned him down because, according to Kemp's pianist-arranger John Scott Trotter, Berigan's horn possessed "the ünniest, most ear-splittinq tone you've ever heard!" But within the remarkable span oÍ a Íew years, Berigan's trumpet had developed one oÍ the "Íattest, Íullest tones in the business." Hal Kemp heard him once again and wasted nc time signing him up. AÍier leaving Kemp, Berigan recorded some sides with the Dorsey Brothers orchestra and went on to Íorm his own small group: Bunny's Blue Boys. A short time later he joined BennyGoodman, and Írom Iune to September oÍ 1935, was the mainstay oÍ the Goodman brass section, where he recorded a goodly numberoÍ impressive solos.ltwas the Goodman gig that brouqht Berigan to the public's attention"

E"r,

in 1936, Berigan recorded with a Íew pick-up bands, himselÍ as leader. One oÍ those records was an early version oÍ "l Can't Gei Started." Though the guintessential recording oÍ the number was to come later, that Íirst recording is still thought oÍ hiqhly b.Í iazz buÍÍs and critics. Berigan joined the Tommy Dorsey Band in 1937, staying on Íor only a Íew weeks. OÍ the Íew brilliant 26

sides he recorded with Dorsey, the most notable was "Marie." As a musician, the young trumpet player gained the immediate respect and aÍÍection oÍ his Íellow sidemen. Bud Freeman, also \Mith Dorsey in those days, speaks oÍ Bunny as someone who loved music and people, but had no patience Íor the music busrness" The prooÍ was to come in the spring oÍ 1937, when Bunny Berigan's Íirst biq band opened at the Pennsylvania RooÍ in New York, and tl:en took oÍl on the road. Berigan was not a success as a bandleader, lacking the necessary discipline and business sense. His sidemen idolized him as a musician and loved him as a Íriend, but the leadership iust wasn't there. Ray ConniÍÍ summed it up dr.rring an intervievr with Nat HentoÍÍ and Nat Shapiro: "We',.rere all Íriends.In Íact, Bunny wouldn't hire anybody he didn't like. And all r:Í us would take tums rrroming "willr him. Oh, it vras a mad ball! Ynrr should trave seen those hotel rooms! Rihs, booze, and women all over the place . . . . Even when he was drunk he'd blow rood. Ànd when he ovas soberman!"

B,,rr,"',

Íirst band

inch.rdecl some excellent young rnusi-

cians, discoveries like Joe Buskin, Georgie Auld, Ray ConniÍÍ,loe Lippman, and an unknown kid who traded in his tap shoes Íor a set oÍ

drums-Buddy Rich. The band went through a number oÍ Íemale vocalists, none as good as a young lady named Kitty Lane.

Bunny also sang, thouqh his loose, relaxed voice was considered by many little better than mediocre. The quality oÍ the band's recorded perÍormances was uneven, yet the beat was always strong and Bunny's solo work, Íor the most part, brilliant. The excellent musicianship oÍ the other soloists was always shadowed by the maesiro himselÍ. Nevertheless, some exceptional recordings were made, among them "Frankie and Iohnnie," "Mahogany Hall Stomp," "Little Gate Special," "Russian Lullaby," "Azurê," "Night Song," "The Prisoner's Song," "High Society," and "The Wearing oÍ the Green." It is "l Carr't Get Started," however, that remains the greatest recording oÍ the Biq Band Era and one oÍ the most important trumpet solos in all oÍ jazz. This Vemon Duke-lra Gershwin sonE was recorded by Berigan in 1937, on an RCA I2-inch, 78 RPM record, and to this day remains the only jazzto be Íound on thousands oÍ rock-pop juke boxes across the country. The band in this recording is strictly background Íor Berigan's voice and" trumpet. His closing solo is a tour de Íorce that moves Írom the extreme upper to the extreme lower range oÍ the trumpetwith an unsurpassed richness oÍ tone. ií Bunny Berigan had accomplished nothing else in his short, drâmaüc career, this would have been enough. Louis Armstrong, Berigan's Íoremost inÍluence, was later asked to record "l Can't Get Started" and re{used, stating that "It was Bunny's tune."

rrl I I he Beriqan band

was beset by disasters and near disasters Írom the start. A huricane blew the rooÍ off oÍ Boston's Ritz Carlton Hotel shortly after the band settled in . . . the band boy drove the instrument truck into a ditch

:i{E COMPLETE HiSTORY OFTHE BIG BANDS

and the band arrived late at a military academy date sans jnstruments, playing part oÍ the evening on borrowed iubas, Íield drums and cornets Írorn the military band. . . the band showed up irr Bristol, Conn. to Íind Gene Krupa already playing. T'Lrey should have been in Bridggport, Conn. Throuqh ii all, Bunny took little interest in business aÍÍairs. AÍter three years, he Íiled Íor bankruptey. In 1940, Bunny was once again working Íor his good Íriend Tommy Dorsey. His playing was a shot in the arm io the Dorsey group, which had begun to lose much oÍ its earlier spark and excitement. Two excellent solos he recorded during this period can be heard on Dorsey's "l'm Nobody's Baby" and "East oÍ the Sun." Berigan leÍi Dorsey in the Íall oÍ 1940, aÍter a disagreement. Once again, the trumpet player Íormed a band, the last he was to work with. At Íirsi the reviews were excêllent. Amy Lee wrote, aÍter hearirrg him on a Palisades Park remote: ". . . . his range, his conception, his lip and his soul are without comparison, and to hear him aqain is the kick oÍ all listening kicks." It was downhill Írom there. By spring oÍ 1941, Bunny Berigan was a shadow oÍ himselÍ, his weiqhi down, his clothes ill-fittinq. On more and more dates he Íound himselÍ apologizing to the Íans crowded around the bandstand Íor being unable to egual the guality oÍ his early solos. George Simon, reviewing the band during this period, was shaitered by the experience: "The band was nothinq. And compared with Berigan standards, Bunny's blowing was just pitiÍul. He sounded }ike a man tryinq to imitate himself, a môn with none oÍ the inspiration and none oÍ the technique oÍ the reai Berigan." On a warm evening in June 1941, Bunny didn't make it to a qiq at Manhattan Center. Benny Goodman, in a gesture oÍ Íriendship, brought his sextette over from the Paramount Theater and played the date for him. Bunny was in the hospital with cirhossis oÍ the liver. He died the next day, broke, 33 years old. tl 27

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The Casa Loma Orchestra, a spin-oÍÍ of the early Jean Goldkette, began its long career in Detroit, in the mid-twenties. Until the Benny Goodman band a Íull decade later, Casa Loma was the most popular band in the.country. The Íirst oÍ the white swing bands, it paved the way for all that Íollowed'

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Loma was the Íirst band to capture the imagination oÍ college kids, excited about the Íirst biq band swing sounds they had heard live. The orchestra's sweet arrangements, played at a tempo slower than had ever been atiempted beÍore, was sentimental, romanüc dance music at its best. Though jazz purists never took Casa Loma seriously, it was an excellent dance band and Íor Iive years or so had the Íield to itselÍ. Despite a somewhat stiÍÍ rhythm section in its early years, the musicianship was Íirst rate and the band cut a number oÍ sides notable Íor their Íull ensemble sound and good solo work by humpet players Grady Watts and Sunny Dunham, trombonist Murray McEachern and reed player Clarence Hutchrider. The Larry Clinton arrangement oÍ "A Study in Brown" and Larry Wagner's "No Name Jive" are two examples oÍ ihe band ai its swinging best.lts sweet recordings are legion, the best Íeaturing vocalist Kenny Sargeni on "For You," "Under a Blanket oÍ Blue" and "lt's the Talk oÍ the Town." TT{E COMPLETE HISTORY

OFTHE BIG BANDS

in 1929 the Casa Loma Orchestra leÍt Detroit to play a date at New York's Roseland Baliroom. From the day it leÍt Detroit, the group worked steadily, spending its summers at the Gien Island Casino and a number oÍ winters at New York's Essex House. Fronted by good-looking Glen Gray, the band was always elegant, each member dressed in natty tails. Casa Loma was the Íirst swing band to play the Paramount Theater (Fall, 1935)and in 1933-34, the Íirst to be featured on a regularly scheduled, sponsored radio show"Camel Caravan." Casa Loma, originally "Orange Blossoms," took its the called name {rom a Canadian nightclub, a date the band was signed to play in 1929, with the Prince oÍ Wales in attendance. The club never opened, butthe band decided to retain the title. It was a cooperative venture, the sidemen voting GIen Gray president oÍ the corporation. Gray initially remained in the reed section with FIenry Biagini and later, Mel Jenssen Íroniing. When Gray took over as leader, his name was added to the band's oÍÍicial title: Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra.

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J/espite a drop in popularity once the swing era caught up to it, Casa Loma remained Íor two decades exactly what it had started out io be-one oÍ ihe best big-name dance bands in the business. Its most importani contribution was to spark the imagination oÍ other musicians, to pave the way Íorthe swinging sounds that followed. According to Benny Goodman, booker CliÍÍord Alexander oÍ MCA was inspired by Casa Loma's sound-and successto consider buildinq a band thai could compete. It was Goodman himselÍ who replaced Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra on the "Camel Caravan" radio show in 1936, tr 29

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Iimmy and Tommy Dorsey Íormed the Dorsey Brothey's Orchestra early in 1934, and iÍ the two brothers had qotten along better, the upcomÍnq Biq Band Era would have had only one Dorsey Band instead oÍ two. Despite the problems, the brothers' solid bãnd caught on Íast with the public. It was a much more swinging aggregation than its nearest competÍtor, Casa Loma, due in part to Glenn Miller. He not only played in the trombone section, but managed the band and, as arranger, wôs responsible Íor its distinctive style. Many years later, it would be looked upon as the genesis oÍ the Miller Sound. Miller was also responsible Íor hiring almost halÍ oÍ the Dorsey Brothers musicians (includinq singer Káy Weber and drummer Ray McKinley). A year later he leÍt to help Rãy Noble organize árs band. 30

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Dorsey Brothers boasted the talents oÍ many exciting musicians and singers. Bassist Delmar Kaplan, trumpeters Bunny Berigan and Charlie Spivak, and singer Bob Crosby (Bing's brother)all worked with the band Íor short periods oÍ time. Bob Crosby was the band's vocalist until he leÍt to start his own, at which time a young amateur contest winner, Bob Eberly, was hired. Eberly remained with limmy until he went into the Army eight years later. George Simon quotes Eberly on the friction beginning to develop between the two Dorseys: "Tommy was doing everything-leading the band, making up the radio programs and all the ihings a leader does. He resented Iimmy Íor several reasons. For one thing, Jimmy was drinking a lot, and Tommy, even though he may have wanted to, didn't. That alone made him mad. But Jimmy used io like to needle Tommy also. He'd just sit there in the saxes, and when Tommy was leading, he'd make cracks like, 'Smile, Mac' and 'You're the biq star!' and that sort oÍ

ihing." .llE COMPLETE HISTORY OFTHE BIG BANDS

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time went on, to resent his brother's Tommy began

popularity with the musicians more and more. When he asked Ray McKinley why the guys didn't like him, McKinley said that thouqh Tommy always mainiained that the musicians had been hand picked, he never seemed to respect them. And the conÍlict continued. One night, aÍter Tommy had taken a ribbinq Írom limmy Íor driving his car rather than riding the bus, he walked oÍÍ the bandstand at the GIen Island Casino and never came back. Iimmy Dorsey had inherited a band all his own. The young alto-saxophonist eventually shaped it into one oÍ the best dance bands in the country. It was a happy band with considerable esprit de eorpst resulting no doubt from the relaxed, good-natured personality oÍ Iimmy himselÍ. He was a superb musician as well, with a keeniazz sense. Replacing Tommy's until Iimmy was diÍiicuit, trombone remembered a kid he'd heard playing with a high school band in Detroit. His name was Bobby Byrne (later to lead his own Íine band) and Iimmy recruited him when he was only 17. Byrne's {ine musicianship and uncanny range knocked the band out at the very Íirst rehearsai. ?'1

Bob Eberly stayed on as male vocalist as the band went through a host oÍ Íemale singers after Kay Weber's departure. Vicki Joyce, Iune Richmond, Martha Tilton (to ioin Benny Goodman in 1937), and Ella Mae Morse, a distinctive jazz voice discovered by Iimmy at a jam session in Houston, Texas, all sang with the band. Then, out oÍ a band playing the Villaqe Barn in New York, côme Helen O'Connell, one oÍ the most popular band singers in the business. Together, O'Connell and Eberly made a number oÍ hit records with the band still Íamous today. "Yours," "Ampola," "Green Eyes" and "Tangerine" all started outwith Eberly singing at ballad tempo, Íollowed with an up tempo jazz chorus played by Jimmy, and ended with O'Connell's swinging Íinale. ll'r

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r,ro,rnt the laie thirties, the limmy Dorsey Band Íeatured some excellent musicians, and, oÍ egual importance, an ideal arranging siaÍl composed oÍ Tutti Camaraia, Hal Mooney, ioe Lipman, and later, Don Redman. By 1938, ihe band had Íound its groove and its popularity reached heights shared by only a handÍul oÍ other

orouDs. rIn 1939, Jimmy

and Tommy Dorsey were reunited on the bandstand oÍ the Hoiel New Yorker. Jimmy was closing, Tommy was opening, and Íor a short iime they shared the stage, joking and adlibbing beÍore a large show biz audience that included their parents. It was an emotional moment and the audience responded with a massive outpouring oÍ appreciation and aÍÍeciion Íor both oÍ them. The Jimmy Dorsey Band continued to maintain its populari§ through the swing years, dlsbanding shortly aÍterWorld War II like so môny others. A Íew years aÍter the war-and over 20 years since they'd originally split up-Jimmy and Tommy were once again reunited and the second Dorsey Brothers Orchestra was Íormed. Thouqh there was conÍlict reminiscent oÍ the early days, the band operated with a Íair amount oÍ success until Tommy's death. Iimmy died seven months later, on lune 12, 1957. n

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was Íleecy velvet, a rich romantic tone egualed only the voice oÍ Frank Sinatra, who learned Írom it. Tommy Dorsey .=d u liÍetime love aÍÍair with his sliphorn, evident in every note he perÍeci ;,=yed. The band he led was solid, yet marvelously supple, a oe:icle Íor the Íine vocalists who blended with it so perÍectly: Jack StaÍÍord, connie Haines, -ecnard, Edythe wright, Anita Boyer, Jo :he Pied Pipers-u.rá, oÍ ccurse, Frank Sinatra. It was a dance band, *e best there ever was. The kids who Suzy Q'd and shagged to "Once In *1,:"g oÍ India" and necked on the living room soÍa to r *'*rhrile" knew it . . . and so did the sophisiicated, weil-coiÍÍed -#ilrtnen and their tuxedoed escorts who danced to "East oÍ the Sun" Never Smile Again" on the Hotel Astor rooÍ.

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t":: te Dorsey Band could play ballads as :: :àer big band could. It could swing, rn: 'rriüoui perhaps the consistency or Goodman, Shaw, Basie and =ee:vi§ oÍ but wiih a warmer, more

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.CMPLETE HISTORY OF THE BIG BANDS

jazz andÍor 20 years, ihe band Íeatured some oÍ the most exciting jazz soloists in

the business. BunnY Berigan, ZiqsY Elman, Peewee Erwin, Yank Lawson, Charlie Spivak, Max KarninskY and Charlie Shavers all sat in the trumpei section at one time or another. Iohnny Mince, Budde De Franco, HYmie 33

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the horn right, and still have people lov, it-.that was something else."

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Schertzer and Bud Freeman were Íeatured on reeds, Dave Tough and Buddy Rich on drurns, Sid Weiss played bass, and loey Bushkin on piano. Dorsey loved to jam. Many were the nights when the band packed it up at the Astor or Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook in New York, and Tomrny, his hom tucked under his arm, would rush over to the Onyx Club on 52nd Street to ioin ihe al]-night sessions. Nevertheless, Tommy Dorsey never really considered himselÍ an outsianding iazz soloist. At one point in his career, on a Metronomê all-star recording date, Tommy was teamed with Iack Teagarden, a trombonist Íor whom he had Íeelings approaching reverence. When asked to solo, Tommy demurred, stating that he wouldn't dare solo with iack in the same room. He ended up playing obbligato behind Teagarden's improvisation. Dickie Wells, the great jazz trombonist, said it well in his book The Niqht Peop/e: "You have to give Tommy Dorsey cre«lit, because Íor a trombone to sound like a trombone, there has to be a littleTommy there, somewhere. . . . He used to come up to Harlem guite a bit and he could swing too, but his tone was so Íine, people always wanted to hear him play pretty. There was nothinq stiÍÍ about Tommy's style. It was very Ílexible, and there was that beautiÍul Ílowinq tone. He really had 34

I

ommy Dorseywas born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, on November 19, 1905. His Íather, an accomplished music teacher, taught boih boys-Tommy, the trumpet, and Iimmy, the saxophone. As a teenager, Tommy switched to trombone and spent a Íew years gigging around with group called the Scranton Sirens. By 1925 he had graduated to the big time, working with Paul Whiteman, Vicior Young, Freddy Rich and others, and in 1933 Íormed the Dorsey Brothers OrÇhestra with his brother. They had it on the road by early the next year. When the brothers spl up in 1935, Tommy Íonned his own band out oÍ loe Hayme's aggregation, then working at the McAlpine Hotel in New York City.loe wôs an old Íriend, whose band was going nowhere, and s a deal was struck. Tommy reshaped the group, making good use oÍ its young arranger, Paul Weston, and within a short time was recording Íor RCA Victc By the time the band made its New Yor debut Tommy had added drummer Dave Tough, trumpeter]oe Bauer, teno Bud Freeman, vocalist ]ack Leonard, arranger Axel Stordahl and others. The opening, at the Blue Room oÍ the Hotel Lincoln, was a huge success-and the beginning oÍ the Tommy Dorsey phenomenon, The band's Íourth recording session on October IB, 1935, produced "l'm Getting Sentimental Over You." it was the Tommy Dorsey therne song-and would become instantly recognizable all over the world. Mostly Tommy against soÍt reeds and a slow, steady beat, his mastery oÍ the trombone in it has yet to be equaled. "Marig," recorded on Ianuary 29,1937 , is notable Íor Jack Leonard's beautiÍul vocal and a unigue ireatment by the band glee club, endin with the lyric "Living in a great big wa1 Bunny Berigan's solb, which Íollows, w live as long as iazz.

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According to trumpet player Max Kaminsky, Dorsey heard "Marie" perÍormed by ihe Royal Sunset Serenaders, a band that shared the bill with Dorsey in a Philadelphia theater. The arrangement Íeatured the band chanüng hot vocal responses behind the singer, and Dorsey loved it. He had his arranger copy it down and took it in trade Íor eight oÍ his own arrangements. "Marie" was a tremendous hit, backed by another hig, "Song oÍ India." The numberwas reguested so oÍten that Tommy grew sick oÍ hearing it and, using the same Íormula, had his arrangers write several other versions, all hits: "W'ho," "Yeaming," and "East of the Sun." Bunny Berigan is Íeatured on the lasi, preceeded by the Íamous choral lich "Well alriqhtthen. . . . Take it. . " Bunny!" Take ii he did.

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B"rnurr's duet wiih Dorsey on "Whispering" is ihe perÍect musical synthesis oÍ agile trumpet and golden trombone. Recorded on June 13, 1940, it Íeatured Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers and remains quintessential Tommy Dorsey. Dorsey's personal reputation varied, depending on who was speaking. There were a Íew characteristics, however, that everyone agreed on: his total lack of p.atience with musicians who couldn't cut ü,ithe admiraüon he Íreely showed Íor musical excellence, his sharp sense oÍ humor, and mosi ol all, his hair-triqger temper. The latter was Íamously demonstrated the time he {ired the entire band, vocalist Leonard included, Íor drinking beer on the bandstand. Tommy i'ôked about it later with insight and humor. Loyal to sidemen and vocalists he respected, Dorsey expected ihe same in return.In Íact, it was impossible Íor him to accepi the idea oÍ anyone leaving ihe band to go out on iheir own and the merest hint oÍ such "disloyalty" would set him oÍÍ. By 1938, the Tommy Dorsey Band had attained a pinnacle oÍ popularity matched by a handÍul oÍ other bands. Its ]oyal Íollowing extended to vocalist Jack Leonard and a number oÍ sidemen, and any personnel changes caused havoc among the Íans. Thus, in 1939, when Leonard leÍt the band aÍier an argument wiih Dorsey in which the leader accused the vocalist oÍ planning to deÍect, Íans all over the country Íound themselves in semi-shock. Who could ever replace Jack? 35

tried-{irst with he a singer named Allen DeWitt-but DorseY

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belonsed to a skinnY kid undet atthe time with Harry lames' In "o"ttu"t November ol that Year, DorseY was *ort ittg at Chicago's Palmer House' iust a Íew blocks awaY ÍromThe Sherman' where Harry lames was appearing' Ralph Burns, one oÍ Dorsey's êrraREers' ;i;Ji;ã;rerto The Sherman and invited that skinny kid over to the Palmer House i;;";;"diiion. Frank Sinatra ioined the Tommy Dorsey Band in Milwaukee' Áúo"t ien daYs later' James had lei Si"uttu out oihis contract, knowinq that íttn u pregnantwi{e he could use the .*ttu *ot ãY DorseY had Promised" Frank Sinatra's Íirst appearance with Dorsey was atthe Lyric Tltãater in Indianapolis' There were 11Ô special ôrrangements available Íor the nlw singer yet, so he sang two D-orsey standarás, one oÍ them'Marie'" It brought the house down and a star wae born. ShortlY beÍore Sinatra joined up, another importanl addition was made to the band*SY Oliver' ÍormerlY arranqerwith the iimmie LunceÍórd Band' Oliverwas to do more Íor ihe Dorsey sound than anyone else t"f.t" him, and his inÍluence on musical orchestraüon can't be overestimated' Dorsey hired Oiiver by olÍering him $5,000 more PerYearthan he-was qetting Írom LunceÍord and Oliver ác"epied, without tellinq Tommy that fráU ãft.uav leÍt the LunceÍord band and stealing him wasn't necessarY! Ihe combination oÍ Sinatra and Oliver was unbeatable and produced a new, excitingly Íresh sound irom the Dorsey Band' Oliver's early charis lor Dorsey included "Stomp it Ofi," "Yes Indeed," "EasY Does It," "Chicago," "Swing High," and a gorg"oü, reading oÍ "Swanee River"' a átirinq, yet slow-paced tour deJorce with gáod solos bY DorseY and ZiggY Elman. Suddenly the band was swinging as it never had beÍore'

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singer o{ them altr' One hit Íollowed urráh"t' "This Love oÍ Mine," "Violets Íor Your Fur§," "Everything HaPPens t9 úL," with The Pled PiPers, "Oh Look At Mà'No*," 'There Are Such Things"' i'Sir""t oÍ Dreams"*and the bigqest hit oittt"* all, "I'11Never Smile Again'"

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1941, the DorseY Bend had outscored all others according iothe polls, as the most populql in lhe cluntry*ineluding Glenn lr{iller' Later thut y"àr, Sinatra leÍt to go out on his ã*". ffr. war iook Ziqqy Elman into the ÀÀv, BuddY Hich into the Marines' lo Si"ffàra home to her husband beÍore he i"" i"ft Íor ihe battleÍields, and a qoo$ãá"v oth.rs. A string section was added in 1942, which to some ears was like O1iver óitaitrE the lily, but nevertheless The scores' exciiing out was stitt turning awhile' Íor oÍÍ relording ban cut aciivity t"1ã""" itwas liÍied, Dorsey produced two hit sides: "On the Sunny SideoÍ the Streef,' and "OPus #f ," both bY Ohver' DesPite the Íact that the oÍ war wôs drasiically cutting the supply band qood *,rsiciêns, the quality oÍ the iemained hiqh. BuddY DeFranco and Charlie Shavers were Íeatured Íor a *frii", and in 1944, Buddy Rich returned Írom ihe Marines. DorseY, meanwhile'

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was becoming increasingly invoived business. He bought the Casino nãifroo* in Los Angeles, tried his hand at a music magazine, and was considering starting a record-company' The Dorsey Band conThat Year couid 1946. tinued until accurately be called the end o{ ihe Biq Band Era. DorseY, along with Jack Teagarden, Les Brown, BennY Goodmar',, WoodY Herman, BennY Cafer' and Harry Iames, all disbanded their qroups. In 1949, TommY tried aoain with the help o{ ]ackie Gleason' in TV u Íeatured sPot on Gleason's earlY more Íew a records, shows. A Íew more dates, and then the DorseY Brothers teamed up again. It lasted Íor two Years' ó" tfr. niôht oÍ November 26, 1956' thein §entimen[al Gent]eman oÍ Swing died his sleep.

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Duke Ellington and his son, composerarrcrnger Mercer Ellington, who took over band aÍter the death oÍ his Ídther.

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Though Duke Ellington's career paralleled that oÍ other Big Band leaders oÍ his time, it is impossible to evaluate him in the same context. Albert McCarthy said it beautifully in his book Biq Band Iazz (Putnam , 197 4): "lf one had to deÍend the biq band era, the Íact that it produced Duke Ellinqton would alone make further justiÍication unnecessary. "

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ianist, arranger, composer, song writer, bandleader, the musical careeroÍ this wann, urbane, genius oÍ a man spans over halÍ a century. It is a clear and simple Íact that Edward Kennedy Ellinqton is one oÍ the three or Íour most important Íigures in the history oÍ American music. Ín1924, after gigging around New York Íor a year or two, Ellington took over the direction oÍ The Washingtonians, a band led up until then by Elmer Snowden. Ellington was somewhqt reluctant to become a band leader: his ambition was to compose. Nevertheless, he accepted the job as a temporary commitment. It was to last Íor over 50 years! Despite a Íull career as a bandleader, Duke Ellinqton still managed to compose a body oÍ work egual in size to that oÍ the most proliÍic composêrs oÍ his time.ln 1923, working as a substitute pianist at the Poodle Dog CaÍe in Washington D.C., Ellinqton wrote his Íirst piece oÍ music, "Soda Fountain Rô9." It was to be Íollowed over the years 38

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by compositions and songs too numerous to list. Here is just a sampling: "l'm Begging To See the Light" "Satin Doll" "Perdido" "Jack the Beay'' "All Too Soon" "lust a-Settin' and a Rockin' t' "Rocks in My Bed" "ln a Mellowtoné" "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" "(ln My) Solitude" "Mood Indigo" "Azure" "Warm Valley" "The Gal From Joes" "The Flaming Sword" "Creole love Call" "l Let a Song Go Out oÍ My Heart' "Diminuendoin Blue" "Crescendo in Blue" "Reminiscing in Tempo" "Jump Íorloy" "C. Jam Blues" "Cotton Tail" "Squeeze Me" "lt Don't Mean a Thing, IÍ You Ain't Got That Swinç

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::-< Brown and Beige," I -:: SweetThunder," and r:::ast Suite." Ellington's bandspent :r ::s: Íour years working niqht clubs, :,r- :l,3ms and theaters in the New York r.:?3 socasionally playing gigs elseiM *.::e in the Northeast. The band's Íirst 'ç,-'::Ced sides durinq that period were "::": :nginal composiüons "Rainy Nights" :.- : lhoo-Choo," Then, on December ! '-127, ihe Duke Ellington Band

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.CMPLETE HISTORY OFTHE BIGBANDS

opened ai Harlem's Íamous Cotton Club. It was the real beginning, a residency that would last Íor three-and-a-halÍ years and launch him as an international celebrity. The Cottórr Club's magniÍicent all-black revues, with scores writien by well-known songwriters like Iimmy McHugh and DorothY Fields, made the Harlem sppakeasy Íàe place to be. Chic blue-bloods drove uptown in their Packard limos and Pierce Aruow coupes and mingled with tourisis, to see and be seen. Best oÍ all, it Íeatured Duke Ellington and his Orchestra. Suave, sophisticated and witty, the Duke would rise Írom behind his pure white grand piano as impeccably and expensively dressed as any oÍ the society patrons wildly applauding him. The ultimate musician was the consummate showman as well. The band, which PlaYed Íor shows and dancing, Íeatured exoüc music that reÍlected the pseudo-AÍrican motiÍ oÍ the club. "lungle Nights in Harlêm," "Arabian Lover," and Elling39

Ellinqton leÍt the Coüon

Clubin February, 193I, spending most oÍ ihe nexi two years in Boston and

CaliÍornia.In 1933, ihe band appeared at the Paramount Theater in New York, and shortly aÍter took oÍÍ Íor its Íirst

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Duke Ellington ton's other Cotton Club eÍÍorts remain today brilliant examples oÍ sophisticated, biq band iazz.They were unegualed in theirtime by anyone, with ihe possible exception oÍ the Fletcher Henderson Band.

R. L)ulexotica was not all the band was laying down at that time. The, Duke was playing and recording a wide variety oÍ music, much oÍ which would become part oÍ his standard repertoire, played and recorded down throuEh the years with ever-clianging orchestrations. "East St. Louis ToodleOo" and "Mood Indigo" are two early examples. 40

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European tour. The audiences in Londor and Paris were Ínore than enthusiastic and the critics lavish with their praise. It was ihe ÍirsioÍ many such triumphs. As the swing era dawned, Ellinqton continued touring the couniry by train. Though he'd been around Íor a Íull decade, it was Benny Goodman who ushered in ihe Biq Band sound. Restrictions imposed upon black bands were certainly pari oÍ the reason Íor Ellington's lack oÍ mainstream popularity, but there was anoiher reason: The Duke Ellington Orchestra was unique. Ii stood apart Írom other bands oÍ the time in that it was the instrument oÍ a composer, music that made demands upon the attention oÍ the listener-and often bewildered the people who showed up to dance to it" Not that Ellington's band was incapable oÍ playing a more convenüonal set. . , they could, and on many occasions did, oÍÍering danceable ballads and swing pieces written by Ellinqion, Billy Strayhorn and others. (Ellingion, however, hardly ever Íeatured the popular tunes oÍ the day as all the other Big Bands did, rarely playing Porter, Gershwin, eic.) Ellington was an awesome Íigure io most musicians and bandleaders, many oÍ whom he inÍluenced. No orchesha, however, has ever successÍuly imitated the Ellington Band-itwould be impossible even with the scores in Íront oÍ them! Albert McCaflhy guotes Freddy Jenkins in Big Band lazz:"Did you know that Duke developed his own technique and siyle mainly by utilizing the band? He used to set us on the stand and pay us union scale, maybe Íor Íive hours, just to help him Íormulaie chords. He'd assign diÍÍerent notes to every instrument in the band and say-'Play that, B-a-a-am!'-and it miqht produce a bic C-13th, what we call a Christmas Chord. Then he'd take ihose same notes

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added: hours ,4:;::er time we worked Íive l.Hmq seven diÍÍerent relaüve keys' We 'r!* 1a : know what thai was all about at 1rÉ rrê, but }ater it was the intro to "St' ;,--s 3.ues," and it worked!" George Simon, inThe 3ç 3,:rds (Macmillan, 1967), quoies rtrffi,Lri rrôD AI Sears: "lt's not like any ::f:e: band where you just sit down and ,e,e:'ie parts. Here You sit down and ,e*: pay'ts and suddenlY Íind You're =e 1,r*l-= g something entirely diÍÍerent :rç:r- -*"hat ihe rest oÍ the band is playing. .'l i :.:: -oqical. You start at the beginning r: ::ã arrangement at letter'A' and go to me: 3' and then suddenlY, Íor no rrcÉÉ:a at all, when you get to letter'C' nrÊ :es: oÍ the band's playing something e;r*e '*rhich you Íind oui later on isn't rrír:3: s writien at'C' but what's written at '"" .:-read. And then on the next number, xs,:.aad oÍ starting at the ioP oÍ the rÍT3:gement at'4,'the entire band starts r ! -üat is, everYbodY excePt me. 3cç - nn the newesi man in the band and , :,-ren'i caught on to the system yet!" The Eilinqton band was ":rigue Íreedom and particihe in u,s: §Ê-:::l enjoyed bY its musicians. I:e -::ke listened to comments and F;i;jestions and no orchestration was :r=p-ete until everyone had their say ii*r::: possible changes. Ellington noi :::-l ieatured soloists, but actually built :rr:p,osiüons around them, as in -,*a-:ng Íor Love" (Lawrence Brown's r:r.b,cne), "Boy Meeis Horn" (Rex 3ns"*art's irumpet), "Clarinet Lament" 3-r::ey Bigard), and "Echoes oÍ F,::-err" (Cootie William' s trumpet). I:e:e were unÍorgettable solos bY :::::y Hodges, Billy StraYhorn, Ben 'rr,rri3r"1"r, Freddy Jenkins, and practically €.rÊt-r'oÍl€ else, including the Duke :r*.selÍ. Once heard, how can anYone :rrget Ray Nance's violin in "Black Er:-*-n and Beige?" OrJohnnY Hodges'

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§

COMPLETE HISTOBY OFTHE BIG BANDS

exguisite alto on the same recording? French critic Andre 20 devotetd Hodeir Pages to one Ellington recording, "Concerto For Cootie," in his book, Jazz,lts Evolution and Essenee (Grove Press, 1966), and had this io say: "'Concerto For Cootie' is a masterpiece because everything in it is pure; because it doesn't have ihat sliqht touch oÍ soÍtness which is enough to make so manY other deàerving records insipid. 'Concerto For Cootie' is a masterpiece because the musical substance oÍ it is so rich that not Íor one instant does the listener have an impression oÍ monotony.'Concerto For Cootie'is a masterPiece because it shows the game being played Íor all it is worth, withoui anYthing beinq held back, and because the game is won. We here a reo-/ concerto in which the orchestra is not a simple background, in which the soloist does not waste his time in technical acrobatics or in gratuitous eÍÍects. Both have something to say, they say it well, and what ihey say is beautilul. Finally, 'Concerto For Cootie' is a masierpiece because what the orchestra says is the indispensable complemeni to what ihe soloist says; because nothing is out oÍ place, or superÍluous in ii; and because the composition thus attains unity."

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oÍ what the particularly produced, Band Ellington Duke years 1939-1942, golden oÍ during its was beyond the talents and capaciües oÍ any other biq band' It was during this period ihat Jimmy Blanton, the Íirst oÍ the modem bass players, joined up, and Ben Websiey's tenor was added' But the most important new addition oÍ that period was Billy Strayhorn. Ellington and Strayhorn together, as collaborators and Íriends, sent the Ellinqion sound soaring to new heiqhts. - StraYhorn's orchestrations were some oÍ the loveliest music the band ever PlaYed' As a musician, one only has io listen to Strayhorn's duet with Ellinqton on "Drawing Room Blues" . . . As a composer, his "Lotus Blossom,"

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o "Passion Flower," "lnümacy oÍ the Blues," "AfterAll," "Day Dream," "Chelsea Bridge," and countless others speak Íor themselves . . . As a songwriter, his music and lyrics rivaled those oÍ Cole Porter. The big hit, oÍ course, wês "Take the A Train," but take time to listen again to ihe melodic line and lyrics to"Lush LiÍe" and "Something To Live For." Strayhorn, in an interview ÍorDown Beotmagazine, said: "lnspiration comes Írom the simplest kind oÍ thing, like watehing a bird Íly. Thaf s only the beginning. Then the work. Then you have to eit down and work, and it's hord." Despite the Íact that the band business Íell apart in the late Íorties, Ellinqton kept his group intactand, it is generally believed, covered the band's Íinancial losses during that period wiih his own personal ASCAP royalties. In later, and better, times, he was asked why, in the liqht oÍ his enormous composer's royalties, he bothered with the complex and strenuous activities involved in maintaining a big band. The Duke replied that he needed a band in order to hear how his compositions sounded! Another addition to the Ellington band was trumpeter Mercer Ellington, Duke's talented son, and a composer in his own right who over the years has coniributed many seores. Upon his Íathey's death in 1974, Mercer took over the responsibilities oÍ what is probably the most superb musical aggregation in America's history. His coniributions have been immense, Edward Kennedy Ellinqton, in his day, was received by Íour British sovereigns, embraced by a President oÍ the United States, and has received countless awards and honors Írom all parts oÍ the Íree world. He was America's Íoremost composer, his music the best portrait oÍ how we were and how we hope to be. fl 42

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he "Let's Dance" show nevertheless brought Goodman con. siderable recognition-and a date at the Grill Room oÍ the Hotel Roosevelt in Ne'rr, York. Both John Harnmond and Goodman's agent Willard Àlexander, were conÍident it would be a sure bet after the success oÍ the radio show. It wasn't. Patrons oÍ the Roosevelt stayed away in droves. The Grill Room was Guy Lombardo country-he'd been its resident bandieader since the year One-and Goodman's sound was a long way Írom "The Sweetest Musio This Side oÍ Heaven." On opening night, Benny Goodman was handed his two-weeks notice. The Roosevelt booking was not only a disasier Íor Goodman, but created problems Íor Willard Alexander with his bosses at MCÃ as well, MCA had decided a year or so earlier that they wanted a band to compete with the successÍul Casa Loma, and as Íar as they were concerned, this wasn't it. But with a golden ear and a vision oÍ the Íuture, Alexander hung in there, booking Goodman on a coast-to-coast series oí one-nighters and short engagements. By the üme the Goodman Band got to Los Angeles, its morale problem was severe. On the night oÍ August 2I, 1935, Benny Goodman opened at the PalomarBallroom in Hollywood, CaliÍomia. Itwas the end oÍ a iong, long road. For a halÍ hour or so, the band 44

played the kind oÍ musie that the bosses had insisted the public wanted to dance to. Then the boys said to hell with it and slid oui, Írom the bottom oÍ the stack, some dusty Fletcher Henderson charts. "lÍ we had to flop," said Benny Goodman, "at least I'd do it my own way, playing the music I wanted to!" The band busted loose and the swing era was launched. For the very Íirst time, the dancers crowded up to the bandstand and cheered, a phenomenon repeated night aÍter night in CaliÍornia, and later attheCongress Hotel in Goodman's hometown Chicago. The band, signed there Íor three weeks, was held over Íor eight months. The Kinq oÍ Swing marched triumphantly into New York in the Íall oÍ 1936, to play the Manhattan Room oÍ the Hotel Pennsylvania. He and his band gave a new Eeneration, sick io death oÍ the drab depression years, something they'd never had beÍore. They craved excitement, stimulation, and Goodman and his excellent musicians oÍÍered it with enihusiasm to spare. Benny Goodrnan was there-in the right place at the riqht time-swinging, hopeÍul, unpretentious and real.

Euai*, Metronome magazine's swing band poll had rated Benny Goodman the most popular band in the country. Willand Alexander had been vindicated: Goodman outclassed Casa Loma by more than two to one. When Goodman open the ed at Pennsylvania, Gordon GriÍÍin and Ziggy Elman were already in the trumpet section. They were joined a Íew weeks later by tall, handsome Harry James, and the most outsianding trumpet team in the band business was born. It was perÍection-precise and graceÍul- with a strong, hard-driving lead shared by all three men on a rotation basis. It was this, the Benny Goodman Brass, that made the band instantly recognizable to any swing Ían. From the Hotel Pennsylvania, Goodman went into the

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Paramount Theater Íor the Íirst time' The kids lined up at dawn Íor tickets and danced wildlY in the aisles, cheering their heads oÍÍ. The band cooked, responding to the joYÍul hysteria oÍ their young, swing-crazed Íans. it was to be like that Íor a long time. The Kinq oÍ Swing was born in Chicago, in 1909' At 12 he began io study clarinet under Franz SchoepP, a Íamous teacher who had also worked with Buster BaileY and many others who were to become memorable on this insirument' Goodman joined the Chicago Local oÍ the musicians' union a short time after his bar-miizvah at 13. His Íamily was poor and he needed to turn his musical talents into cash. BeÍore he turned I5, he met Bix Beiderbecke while working on a Riverboat, and Íor the next two years or so, gigged around with the bands of Arnold Johnson and Art Kassel.

COMPLETE HISTORY OFTHE BIG BANDS

In Hear Me Talkin To Ya,by Nat HentoÍÍ and Nat Shapiro, jazz trumpeterlimmy McPartland is quoted: "lt was during Prohibition . .. I went to work at Tancil's and ihe guY says, 'l got a little kid clarinet player coming out tomorrow night to sit in with the band. He's too young to hire. Well, it turned out the little kid was Benny Goodman-age ÍiÍteen at most. And I thouqhi to myselÍ, 'This lütle punk plays clarinet? He's too small to blow it.'The little punk chmbed up on the stand and got his horn ready' Then he played "Rose oÍthe Rio Grande," which is a hard tune-l mean the changes Íor those days were diÍÍicult. This little monkey played aboui sixteen choruses oÍ "Rose" and I just sat there with my mouth open. Benny blew the hell out oÍ that clarinet and I almost died hearing him do it, ..." In Aususi oÍ 1925, Goodman leÍt Chicaqo and ioined the great Ben Pollack Band at the Venice Ballroom in Los Angeles. He was 16 years old. He worked intermittantly with Pollack until 1927, when he Íinally joined on a permanent basis' Goodman guit Pollack in 1929 to spend a Íew months with Red Nichols. From there it was Íreelancing in New York, record sessions, BroadwaY Pit bands and radio shows.ln 1932, he put together his Íirst band, a group to accompany singer Russ Columbo. What he really wanted was to organize and ]ead a biq band, an unümelY venture riqht at the heigh't oÍ the depression. Less than a year and a halÍ later, at the age oÍ25, he had it.

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record sessions Íor Columbia in 1934, produced little oÍ noie. The band hadn't Íound its own style yet and there was little oÍ what we now associate with the Goodman sound in such recordings as "Cokey" and "Lonesome Nights." During the "Let's Dance" radio show, Goodman spent time, eÍÍort and money honing the band to a Íine edge and, most importantly, commissioned Fletcher Henderson to write arrangements Íor it. 45

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Henderson, credited by many critics Íor having "invênted,, swing, was responsible Íor setting the Goodman style, a sound that was to sustain the band throuqh the decade. Àn RCA Victor recording contract was signed soon aÍter, and that initial session produced the first magniÍicent sides thatwould propel Benny Goodman to stardom: "King porter Stomp," "Sometimes I'm Happy," and "Blue Skies." They were solid, uncomplicated, swinging Henderson arrangements with beauüÍul solos by Goodman and Bunny Berigan, propelled nicely by Gene Krupa. Àt a New york pady beÍore the band's Íirst tour, Gooà*un met a young black pianist named Teddy Wilson. That meeting resulted in the Íirst oÍ the Goodman small-group recordings oÍ The Benny Goodman Trio-Goodman, Krupa, and Wilson. That first session produced these classics oÍ pure, perÍectly artióulated jazz: "Body and Soul," "After you,ve Gone," "Someday Sweetheart," and "'Who." Teddy Wilson didn't go on the road with the band, but joined them later at the Congress Hotel date in Chicago. It was the first instance oÍ a black musician playing publicly with a white name band and the public reacted enthusiastically. Teddy Wilson became a Goodman regular. in 1936, acting on a suggestion by lohn Hammond, Goodman wentto heara drummer named Lionel Hampton, then working with the Les Hite Band. Hampton also played vibraharp, and aÍter listening to him íor just a Íew minutes, Goodman signed him on the spot. The trio became a quartette, its initial recordings "Moonglow," "Vibraharp Blues," and "Dinah." Guitarist Charlie Christian, one oÍ the greatest oÍ all jazz artists, made it a guintette in 1940, and with the addition oÍ trumpeter Cootie Williams, it was a sextette.

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The Benny Goodman small groups were an integral part oÍ any perÍormance, alternaüng with the Íull band and usually accounting Íor about a third ol the program. There were Íans who appreciated these groups more than the larger aggregation and critics whc took them more seriously. There is no doubt that the small groups wêre lnore than an adjunct to the Benny Goodman Band. They stood on thàir own and produced some oÍ the Íinest jazz ever recorded.

The Benny Goodmar Band was Íeatured in its Íirst movie, The Big Brcadcost oí lg3Z, and was subseguenily rewarded with its own sponsored coast-to-coast radio show, "The Camel Caravan," until 1940 when Bob Crosby's band replaced them. Atg:30 pM, Sunday, January 16, 1938, Sol Hurok p."r.ri.. to a Íull house at New York's Carnegie Hall, the Íirsl jazzconcert that had ever graced iis disünguished auditorium. The concert, billed as "Bênny Goodman and his Swinq Orchestra," is history. George Simon, reviewing the coneert Íot Metronome magazine, had this to say in his long and ecstatic review about the band's perÍormance oÍ "Sing Sing Sing:"

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"... Gene, hanging on Íor dear liÍe by now, that tom-tom-tomming the began started'Sing Sing Sing.'Iiwas the occasion Íor a wild outburst Írom the audience' AÍter manY choruses, the band began to build to a climax' As it did so, one kid aÍter another commenced to create a hew dance, trucking and shagging while sitting down. Older, penguin-looking men, in traditional boxes on the sides went them one better and proceeded to shag standing up' Finally Benny and Gene alone-just clarinet and drums-hit the musical highliqht oÍ the concert with both oÍ them playing stupendous siuÍÍ' Came the Íull band, and then suddenly soÍt, church music lrom ]ess Stacy at the piano.Itwas a wonderÍul contrast' BennY started to laugh. EverybodY started to lauqh! And then everybody started to applaud, stamp, cheer, yell, as the band went into the number's Íinal outburst. And long aÍter it was comPleted, ihey kePt on Yelling'" BennY Goodman's Íirst important vocalist was Helen Ward, a sexY ladY and a Íine musician who sang with a warm iazz style' When she leÍt to get married, BennY borrowed Ella Fitzqerald lrom Chick Webb Íor a short time. Ella made a Íew records with the band, the most ouistanding being "Goodnight MY Love'" AÍter a Íew try-outs, BennY Íound Martha Tilton. "Liltin" Martha Tilton, a beautiÍul blonde singer with a disposition as charming as her voice, Íii the band like a glove' She staYed on until the summer oÍ 1939, when she was replaced by Louise Tobin, Harry ]ames' wiÍe. AÍter her departure and a short THE COMPLETE HISTORY OFTHE BIGBANDS

interlude during which the band Íeatured the marvelous ialents oÍ Mildred Bailey, the great Helen Forrest stepped into the picture, translerred Írom Artie Shaw's band. One oÍ the mosi proÍessional oÍ the band singers, she ieft late in 194I, A Young, radianf and very neÍvous newcomer named Pessy Lee was hired to replace her' Any description oÍ Miss Lee's talents would be redundant at this point, but during her Íirst engagemeni with the band, no one heard her! She wa§ so shaken with her good Íortune that when she oPened her mouth to sing, nothing came out-not a sound!

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Goodman qood Íeatured He was a star maker. the within them, musicians and allowed chosen musical Íormat, considerable Íreedom. There was Harry lames, whose hard, Ílying solos carried him to Íame " ' Ziqqy Elman, whose liltinq jazz style drawn Írom his Yiddish background broughi the house down .. ' Gene KruPa, a wildlY swinging showman who drove the Íans up the wall and made his name sYnonYmous with drums . . . Teddy Wilson, whose lyricism and chording on the piano inlluenced counfless more musicians '.. Lionel Hampton, an energetic swinger still knocking them dead "'Peqgy Lee, one oÍ the best voices in the business . " and many others. In addition to his band career, BennY Goodman was notable as a concert musician. He was Íeatured Íor many years with the BudaPest String Quartette, and he played with a number oÍ symphonY orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic' The Goodman sound transition in complete a underwent in 194I, brought about Part bY the addition oÍ arranger Eddie Sauter. It . was a Íresh, new approach that made use oÍ harmonic and contraPuntal ideas practically no one, including Benny, had ever used beÍore' The Biq Band Era would ne\rer have been.big without Benny Goodman. He remains the King oÍ Swinq' E 47

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voealíst he ever hired, sãng on many oÍ the sides and his voeals were to become an integral Part oÍ all the I{erman bands, The Íirst two Years were rougi:.ln Houston, Texas, the manager oÍ the Rice Hotel sent a note that said, "You will kindly stop singing and playing those nigger blues!" At Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook, the PaY Íor 16 men was $600 a week. But Herrnan, tough and stubborn, staYed with it, using his brilliant brass section as a Íiring sguad Íor any harrassment that came his way. Then, in 1939, Woody recorded a Joe Bishop original called "Woodchoppers' Ball" and all hell broke loose!Based on a simple blues riÍÍ, the rollicking record ]anded on all the charts, right up ihere in the rareÍied reaches oÍ Big Band Heaven along with six or seven oihers' From that point on, the band really cookedatThe Glen Island Casino, The New Yorker, The Sherman's Panther Room, and at 52nd Street's Famous Door. 49

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had a smash hit on their hands' The band was Íeatured in a number oÍ movies with Sonia Henie and The Àndrews Sisters, Whatts Cookin? and Summer HolidoY among them' When musicians became a scarce commodity during the wêryears, Herman usuallY had Íirst pickings. Always Ílexible, willing to ride with the mood oÍ the band, he is thought oÍ aÍÍecüonately bv just about everyone who ever worked Íor him' George Simon guotes drummer iack Hanna inThe Big Bands: "" ' It's always interesting and exciting Íor us' I{ a man's reallY blo.wing, WoodY doesn't stoP him after eight bars because the arrangement says so' He lets him keeP on wailing'" During the recording early 1944, Herman and 1943 oÍ strike GI's, earlY the Íor Discs made V solid numbers rousing, versions oÍ such "Your Father's as "Northwest Passage," "CaleMustache," "APPle HoneY," donia" and "Goosey Gander." It wasn't until 1945 that Columbia got around to recording them commercially' They were all hiis. The Herman Band recording ban wiih a the Írom emerged name-The new a new sound and called The to be Herman Herd, later First Herd. Gone were the blues and the Dixieland inÍluence. There was a new, gutsy rhythm section composed oÍ Dave Touqh on drums, ChubbY Iackson on bass, Billy Bauer on guitar, and Ralph Bums on Piano. in terms oÍ talent, a better secüon couldn't be Íound in the industry; in terms oÍ beat, it was massive! The Herman Herd landed a radio show sPonsored bY Wildroot and the band was winning an impressive number oÍ popularity polls ín Down BeaL Metronome and Esguire magazines. 50

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impressed him more than any other' At onã point he even hired some Ellington sidemen Íor a recording date-iohnny Hodges, Ray Nance, Ben Webster and Iuan Tizol. The session produced some great sides, including "Basie's Éasement" and "Perdido." In the Íorües, Herman commissioned Dave Matthews, who wrote in ihe Ellinqton mode, to do some arranging. And in 1955, Herman recorded "I Remember Duke'" Thouqh a good deal oÍ the Herman sound has obviously been Ellington inÍluenced, the Herman bands have always retained their own distinctive styles. Arrangers Ralph ' Burns, Neal HeÍti, Nat Pierce, Bob Hammer, Urbie Green, and even DizzY Gillespie made their contributions over the years. One oÍ the most notable writers was composer Igor Stravinsky, who wrote "EbonY Concetto" speciÍically Íor Herman. It was perÍormed bY ihe WoodY Herman Órchestra, Stravinsky conducting, at Carnegie Hall in the spring oÍ 1946' The First Herd disbanded along with so manY oiher big bands in 1946. WoodY Herman, well oÍÍ now, bought the Bogart Home in Hollywood, and tried to settle down to a liÍe oÍ ease and golÍ' No soap. He was back with another herd less than a year later. It swung, but with a diÍÍerent beat and an incredible new reed section, including Iimmy GuiÍÍre, Stan Gelz,ZoolSims, Herbie Steward and Serge ChalolÍ. A third herd Íollowed' Its bop overtones inÍluenced bY DizzY Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Lester Young, and we're still countinq' Woody Herman's clarinei was and still is, lyrical and swinging' He has always managed to adapt his solo playing to the era and the stYle oÍ his band, a soaring, straight Íorward sound that's still qoing strong' fl

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D JJ..,r,y Goodman hired Harry James oui oÍ the old Ben Pollack Orchestra in December, 1936. Harry was a iall, handsome youngster oÍ 20 and had been gigging around with dance bands Íor just about seven years. Alonq with Ziqqy Ehnan and

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Sugar Food StomP" constitute an ::nportant part oÍ jazz history. In IanuarY oÍ 1939, :{arry ]ames set out on his own with 'loth a blessing and a cash investment :rcm the King oÍ Swing. The Íollowing nonth the brand-new HarrY ]ames 3and opened at the Benjamin Franklin :{otel in Philadelphia. The transition :rcm sideman to bandleader was quite :apid, with llttle time Íor rehearsal' lhouqh the band sounded a bit rough around the edges, Íine arrangements by Andy Gibson, solid drumming bY Ralph Hawkins, and the gorgeous, Cisciplined lead sax oÍ Dave Matthews helped to hold it all together-with, oÍ 3ourse, the brilliant Harry Iames :rumpet. Both the critics and the public were enthusiastic. The band swung liqhtly in Philly, as reguested bv the :nanagement. (ManY hotels were :lervous about "loud," Íast-tempoed :nusic, maintaining that their sophisticated clientele was too conservative Íor such low-brow goings-on.) The ]ames aggregation, on some nighis, managed to bust loose during the last Íew sets anyway! As time went on, the balance swung to more ballads and less jazz, The Harry Iames philosophy was to play Íor the dancers. "VÍe're emphasizinq middle tempos, they can swing just as much and theY're certainly morê danceable." HarrY's :ormula worked well Íor him. By L942, àe band was getting as much as $12,500 Íor a one-night stand, and its :ecord sales were soaring. One night in June 1939, Mrs. Louise James (vocalist Louise Tobin), relaxing with her nusband Harry in their hotel room aÍter àe last show at the Paramount, Cirected Harry's attention to a boY singer at that moment vocalizing with i{arold Arden's band on a WNEW :adio remote Írom The Rustic Cabin in Englewood, New lersey. Harry listened, '*as impressed, but missed the boY's name. Late the Íollowing night, aÍter his iast show, Harry scooted out to

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COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE BIG BANDS

Englewood to hear the kid in person. It was Frank Sinatra. He was working as the MC Íorthe club, and crooning a Íew ballads durinE the course oÍ the evening. Harry lisiened one more üme and signed him up. His one suEgestion was to get the Younger singerto change his name, maintaininq that no one could possibly remember "Sinatra." Frank what's-hisname pointed outthat he had a cousin named Ray Sinatra whose name wa§ quite well-known in Boston as a bandIeader, and what worked Íor Ray would work Íor him.

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i.rutru', Íirsi recording as the band's new vocalist was made in Iuly. "From The Bottom OÍ Mv Heart" was a sweet ballad, but there was little oÍ the Íuture Sinatra in evidence. The taste was there, as was the grace and delicacy oÍ tone, but the young §inger had yet to develop the zestÍul precision and superb timing that would rocket him to Íame with TommY DorseY. James and Sinatra got along Íamously and became Íast Íriends. Iames was supportive, Íor in those Íirst days Frank needed encouragement. Within a Íew short weeks, Sinatra became one oÍ the mainsiays oÍ the band. SPecial arrangements were written Íorhim by Jack Matthias and Harry's straightÍorward horn contrasted nicely with Frank s soÍledged phrasing' The Íirst hit was "On A Little Street In Singapore." Two other recordings, probably the best that Sinatra and James cut together, were not to be hits until they were re-released during the war years: "She's Funny That WaY" and "All Or Nothins At All." Though instrumentals didn't make up the bulk oÍ the James book, they were nevertheiess very much in evidence. When the band swungr it swung well, with good musicianship and solid ensemble work. It cooked on "Feet Draggin Blues," "King Porter Stomp," "Flôsh," and "Two O'Clocklump," a version oÍ Basie's 53

and Goodman's "One O'ClockJump" with the addition of a Íinal descending brass riÍí that could shatter the champasn" nnrillour rinsside tabte.

I lurrv Iames was, along with many oÍ his peers in the band business, an inveterate baseball Ían. The James band Íielded one of the best teams in the Biq Band league, and it was rumored that before he'd hire a musician, he'd Íirst check him out as a ball player. Whether or not that was true, a goodly number oÍ James sidemen always looked as iÍ they spent most oÍ their time working out at the Y. The band began to Íall on hard times. At a Los Angeles restaurant called Victor Hugo's, the management complained oÍ their loudness and reÍused to pay them. Nancy Sinatra spent many a night cooking spaghetti Íor a large number oÍ hungry, broke musicians. It was in Chicago, where Tommy Dorsey was working at the Palmer House, and James at the Sherman, that Dorsey heard about the skinny singer with Harry James. He made an oÍÍer, Sinatra talked itover with his Íriend and employer, and with almost six months still to go on his contract, James released him. It was a true act oÍ Íriendship. James is guoted by "Frank George Simon: still kids about honoring our deal. He'll drop in to hear the band and say something like, 'O'k boss'-he still calls me'boss'-'l'm ready any time. Just call me, and I'll be right there on the stand.' " The Íuture looked grim Íor the James band. Sinatra was replaced with Dick Haymes, one oÍ the best male vocalists oÍ the Biq Band days. James took him into Roseland, and things started to pick up again. The James band by early 1940 was swinging a lütle more than usual, when HarryJames began thinking about sirings. 54

A high-swinging band, he maintained, just couidn't make it in the hotels, and James wanted to do more than just ballroom dates. A string section was added in the Íall oÍ lg4l, and in May oÍ that year, Harry Iames, a Judy Garland Ían, recorded "You Made Me Love You." It was beautiÍul, wideopen schmaltz and it sold a million. Harry James's Íinancial troubles were over. The band was a hit. A little later, James added something even more important-singer Helen Forrest, who had just leÍt Benny Goodman. From then on, unül 1946, it was one best-selling record aÍter another, the best dates and the best money. Though the swing Íans were deserting him, Harry James was breaking attendance records coast to coast. A parüal listing oÍ hit records should suÍÍice: "He's My Guy," "But Not For Me," "He's 1-A in the Army and A-1 in My Hea4" "i Had the Craziest Dream," "Make Love To Me," "Skylark," "l Cried For You," "I've Heard That Sonq BeÍore," and the biggest hit oÍ all, "l Don't Want To Walk

WithoutYou." Harry James made a Íew movies in Hollywood, w}ere he met and married Betty Grable in 1943. Things continued going well until late L946, when the death knell was sounded Íor the band business. Harry James, along with Goodman and many others, disbanded. Then, surprise oÍ surprises, Harry James was back less than six months laterwith a new, swinging band. This time itwas jazz, and Harry cut his prices and even took on one-nighters. Later, there were arrangements by Neal HeÍti, which gave the band a Basie orientation. HarryJames was wailing again and so was his band. It continues. Harry ]ames has been committed to the Big Band sound since the ÍiÍties and is one oÍ the very íew who have managed to keep the swing tradition alive. EI

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0EilE rrnuPl Gene Krupa was a perfect symbol oÍ the Biq Band Era. Even today his name is, Íor many people, synonymous with Swing. For Krupa was the handsome, young, gum-chewing showman-jet black hair wildly disheveled, bow tie askew, perspiration staining through hÍs heavy white dress iacket-grinning, pleaseel with what he was doing and pleased with the hiqh spirits he elicited Írom his audÍence. He always seemed exhilerated, always intensely qlad to be there. He was not the greatest drummer in the world, but he was, beyond any doubt, the most enthusiastic.

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