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Here are links to websites about some of our favorite artists: The Andrews Sisters began their music careers when they were still in their teens: their first trip to a recording studio produced a hit. In 1932, they began singing accompanied by the Larry Rich Orchestra. Together, they toured the Midwest and performed in vaudevilles. Their shows are best remembered for their enthusiasm and showmanship. From 1937 through the '40s they were queens of the radio and juke box.
Alton Glenn Miller was born in Clarinda, Iowa on March 1, 1904. But it was in North Platte, Nebraska, several years later that Glenn actually got his musical start when, one day, his father brought home a mandolin. Glenn promptly traded it for an old battered horn, which he practiced every chance he got. In fact his mother worried, "It got to where Pop and I used to wonder if he'd ever amount to anything."
Alive and well, these guys were kind enough to send us their
CD, "All The Things We Are." It's delightful, and you'll hear parts of it
on QX-FM. It's a Supper Club favorite.
Tommy was a hot player at heart, having recorded a few hot sides by 1927 and continuing to play with smaller ensembles throughout his career. During the 1930's after the break-up of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra Tommy formed his own group from the remnants of the old Joe Haymes' Orchestra. During this period Tommy also led a number of smaller hot groups that were formed with members of the big band. He also freelanced and played with a number of legendary jazzmen including Louis Armstrong, Mezz Mezzrow, George Wettling, Jack Teagarden, Red Allen, Eddie Condon and Pops Foster. The older of the two Dorsey brothers was a musical prodigy who began his musical career at the age seven playing the slide trumpet and cornet with his fathers brass band at local parties. His father was a working class man who wanted a better life for his children and made them study music, diligently.
Benny Goodman (born Benjamin David in Chicago in 1909) first started playing clarinet at a local Chicago synagogue when he was about ten. He learnt the clarinet with the help of a former musician of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. A year later he was playing in the pit band of a local theatre. He also played at school dances and other local events.
WOODY HERMAN was the last working leader of the Big Band Era, a nebulous time generally thought to have been between about 1936 and 1949. His bands, from 1944 on known as "Herds", were notable for the profusion of young soloists, and his life was dedicated to bringing forward his young men and, in later years, teaching even younger ones in colleges throughout America. Duke Ellington... composer, bandleader, piano player. A pioneer, an innovator and an inspiration to generations, Duke Ellington personified elegance and sophistication. More importantly, he was a workaholic creative genius who never stopped exploring new dimensions of his musical world.
Count Basie was an incredible figure in 20th century music. His decades of playing help define the words 'jazz' and 'swing.' His style of piano playing was to-the-point and focused on the blues, relying on simple melodic phrases. The Pied Pipers were formed in Hollywood in 1938 during the making of movie musical "Alexander's Ragtime Band". They are an octet consisting of the former vocal groups The Four Esquires, The Three Rhythm Kings and Jo Stafford, who used to be one of The Stafford Sisters. The original seven male members are Hal Hopper, Chuck Lowry, John Huddleston, Woody Newbury, Dick Whittinghill, Bud Hervey and George Tait. Over the years, the group changed personnel fairly regularly. The lady in the picture is June Hutton who joined after World War II. Follow the link for full details. Louis Armstrong was the greatest of all Jazz musicians. Armstrong defined what it was to play Jazz. His amazing technical abilities, the joy and spontaneity, and amazingly quick, inventive musical mind still dominate Jazz to this day. You might enjoy this site too: www.satchmo.net
Les Brown was playing music almost as soon as he could walk. His father, who taught music to all his sons as well as to other people in the neighborhood, introduced him first to the cornet. But Les preferred the smooth sound of his dad’s soprano sax, and it was on that instrument that he excelled. "I took to it right away," he said, "like fleas to a dog." By the age of nine, Les joined his pro band, hindered only by his lack of proper attire: "The only problem was that I didn’t have any long pants at the time," he recalled. "A guy who lived next door to us who was 16 and very short, and I borrowed his pants so I didn’t have to play in short pants."
Bing
Crosby More than two decades have passed since Peggy Lee sang with Benny Goodman’s swing band and made her first hit recording. Yet so inexhaustible is her talent and so intense her application to her work that, almost a generation later, she stands at the peak of her career. A product of the big-band era, she derived from that apprenticeship her ability to sing anything from jazz to blues, to sing it with a beat, and with enough volume to be heard above the band. Few vocalists have had her staying power. Peggy Lee was also a successful composer, lyricist, arranger, actress, and businesswoman. To all her careers she brought a perfectionism that leaves the stamp of professionalism on everything she touched. I remember clearly the first time I knew I was listening to Ella Fitzgerald. I was in a small shop, buying beads to make necklaces, and the guy that worked there had a CD of hers playing in the back. I was instantly taken with her voice, but had know idea who she was. I knew I had to find out, but I had a crush on the guy that worked there, and didn't want to ask, and sound stupid. While I was trying to figure out some way around having to ask, I got lucky, and someone else asked. Like most people do, he just said "That's Ella."
Alvino Rey and The King Sisters
If all you knew of Alvino Rey was seeing him on the King Family variety show--possibly the only show on television more whitebread than Lawrence Welk's, you'd never guess there was a hep cat's heart beating inside his stolid exterior. But Alvino Rey's is a name to be remembered by exotica fans. |
