Hello everyone. This episode of Big Band Bash is a repeat of a show I produced in 2011 where we paid tribute to the men and women who lost their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Also, I pay tribute to Major Glenn Miller who dissappeared in the plane he was flying in across the English Channel on December 15, 1944. I always like to remember those events as they were very significant in American History. A lot of things changed in the music industry because of these...

Hello everyone. This week concludes our salute to the late Tommy Dorsey. We will be looking at his career and music from about 1939 to 1956 when he passed away. We will be listening to a lot of the Sinatra - Dorsey classics from that era. He really didn't have many hits after 1946 when many bandleaders disbanded, the result of effects from World War 2. So I hope you enjoy this tribute to the late Tommy Dorsey.

Hello everyone. November 19, 1905 is the birthday of the late bandleader and trombonist Tommy Dorsey. He also passed away on November 26, 1956. Since both these date occur in the month of November, I though I would like to revisit the music and career of the Sentimental Gentleman of Swing, Tommy Dorsey. I decided to play many of the classic Dorsey hits so I hope some of your favorites are on today's show which will conclude next week. We will also take a look at his amazing career so I hope...

Well, we're down to the last part of this series highlighting songs composed during the 1930's. We are highlighting the years of 1938 and 1939. There were some nice songs composed in these years and unfortunately I had to omit a few as there were more songs than I could fit in the amount of time. I have enjoyed researching and choosing songs for this series. As always, thank you for listening and supporting Big Band Bash.

There were some fantastic songs composed in the years of 1936 and 1937. Composers Gershwin, Rogers, Kern and Duke wrote many hit songs that are still being played today. Benny Goodman's big hit Sing, Sing, Sing was recorded in 1937 and I have included both parts. There was one song I didn't have time for but I only found one big band version. Someday My Prince Will Come is a popular jazz standard but was not recorded by many big bands. I hope you enjoy this potpourri of 1930's popular songs...

The 1930's was a time in popular music that saw many changes. Jazz standards are musical compositions that are widely known, performed and recorded by jazz artists as part of the genre's musical repertoire. In the 1930s, swing jazz emerged as a dominant form in American music. Today, we focus on the years of 1934 and 1935. The number of hit songs from these two years had dwindled down in part because of the Great Depressions. But nevertheless, there were some great songs composed then and...

The 1930's was a decade of great songs by great American composers. For the next five weeks we'll be listening to those great standards performed by different bands. This is part 2 in the series as we examine those catchy songs from 1932 and 1933. The Great Depression was gathering momentum and it affected the song writers of Tin Pan Alley. The number of hit songs started to decrease as we'll see in the next few parts in the series. There were some great songs composed during 1932 and 1933...

The 1930's was a decade of great songs by great American composers. For the next five weeks we'll be listening to those great standards performed by different bands. While putting this show together I tried to use recordings by bands that were not as popular as the ones who recorded the definitive version. On the show today we'll be listening to songs composed during the years of 1930 and 1931. There were some great songs composed then and I hope you'll join me as we listen to and learn about...

This week, I'm going to be playing the third and final record in this three record set that features many hits from the RCA Bluebird record label. When I was a youngster my dad bought a three record set called The Big Bands. In it were songs that went along with a book by George T. Simon. Each record was devoted to a particular record label. The three labels were Decca, Columbia, and RCA Bluebird. It was a nice set with a lot of the hits from the big band era. I came across this set the other...

This week, I'm going to be playing the second record in the three record set that features many hits from the Columbia record label. When I was a youngster, my dad bought a three record set called The Big Bands. In it were songs that went along with a book by George T. Simon. Each record was devoted to a particular record label. The three labels were Decca, Columbia, and RCA Bluebird. It was a nice set with a lot of the hits from the big band era. We'll be hearing from Harry James, Duke...

Hello everyone. When I was growing up, my father had purchased a 3 record set call The Big Bands. What was unique about this set was that each of the records had hits from one of the record labels issuing records back then. Record one had hits issued on the Decca label, record two had hits from Columbia and record three had hits from RCA Blurbird. So for the next three weeks I hope you will enjoy leaning about those record labels as I present a potpourri of songs issued from those great...

It has been awhile since I presented a program on the late Stan Kenton so I wanted to go back and revisit some of his music again. As a musician it was his band from the 1950's that I enjoyed listening to the most. However, on today's show I'm going back to those great Kenton classics from the 1940's. I have really come to enjoy the vocals of Anita O'day and June Christy when they were the vocalists with his band. I hope you will enjoy listening to this great music and learning about the...

This week we will be celebrating the birthday of bandleader Bob Crosby. He was born on August 23, 1913 and led one of the most popular big bands during the dance band era. He had some very exciting sidemen in the band. Musicians like Bob Haggart, Ray Bauduc, Eddie, Miller, Irving Fazola, and Yank Lawson were some of the people who passed through the band. Bob was not an instrumentalist but rather a very good vocalist and front man. I hope you enjoy our Bob Crosby birthday salute.

This week's show is a look at some of the Big Band Theme Songs. Just as today's television theme songs identify the show, a big band's theme song helped to identify the band that was on the radio. Some theme songs were originals and some were borrowed from others. We'll be hearing lots of theme songs today on our show so I hope some of these are your favorites.

August 24, 1904 is the birthday of the late bandleader William Count Basie. To celebrate his birthday, I have pulled out a program I produced back in 2013. I decided to focus on the year of 1939 and play many of the songs recorded by the Basie band during that year. I am a big fan of the Basie band as my father had a couple of his records and as I grew older I began to explore the history and recordings of the man known as Count Basie. In addition to Basie, there were those great sidemen of...

Hello everyone. The Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands was the Coca-Cola Company’s big band legacy and its contribution to the war effort. An outstanding collection of 25 of America’s most popular big bands broadcasting live from military bases and defense plants from coast-to-coast during World War II. This week we will listen to four of these live radio remotes featuring the bands of Les Brown, Bob Chester, Jan Savitt, and Gene Krupa This is a glimpse back in time to hear four great bands on...

Hello everyone. I am working on some new shows that are not quite finished. So here is a show i produced back in 2013 and it features the vocal groups from the big band era. Some of the groups were solo acts and others sang as part of the band. Who could forget groups like the Andrews Sisters, the Ink Spots, the Mills Brothers, the Pied Pipers and the Modernaires? In addition, I tried to give a little history of each group.

Hello everyone. August 10, 1908 is the birthday of the late bandleader Claude Thornhill. It has been awhile since I have played some of the great recordings made by the Thornhill orchestra, so to remember Claude on his birthday here is a show I produced about ten years ago remembering Claude on his birthday. I had never heard of Claude when a fellow Big Band lover asked me if I had ever listened to his music. I obtained a couple of his lp's (lp stood for long playing back then) and really...

Back during World War Two, it took a lot of money to produce the materials, grow the food and make all the things that the soldiers needed to use in combat. So to help raise money, the United States Government sold bonds. A simple example is that you bought a bond for $10 and waited until it matured and then the government would give you back $11. You made interest for loaning the government money. I know this is a simplistic example but during WW2 many cities would have bond rallies and...

Hello everyone. On July 21, 2023 the vocalist Tony Bennett passed away in his Manhattan apartment. He was 96 years old. Tony was a great singer and an interpreter of the Great American Songbook. He recorded in many genres and even made some recordings with big bands. On the program today, I would like to remember Tony with some of his early hits and some recordings with some big bands and some assorted songs. I will also take a look at Tony's career from Tony's New York Times' obituary. I...

Hello everyone. Today's program features the great big band of Harry James. The selections were taken from various radio broadcasts between the years of 1943 and 1953. There are a lot of great performances in this set from the James band. I don't do much talking on the show as all the songs are introduced by the announcer present at the broadcasts. So sit back, and relax and enjoy the sound of Harry James and His Music Makers, as he was billed, between the years of 1943 and 1953.

Hello everyone. This week's show is a potpourri show featuring songs about the summer season. I do this type of show on the jazz program I host at the radio station that I work part-time at. I haven't done too many seasonal song shows on this program. I tried to find songs that have the words summer, June, July, August, or hot in the song titles. There are lots of different bands on the show today so I hope you enjoy the songs of summer show.

Hello everyone. Today's show is a repeat of the Patriotic Show that I produced for last year. Since I didn't get to air it before the Fourth of July I decided to run it today. This was the first all patriotic show I ever produced and it has words like America, Patriot, liberty, freedom etc. in the titles. I also give a little history about the Fourth of July and it's importance. I hope you enjoy the music and I hope you had a great Fourth as I celebrate the Fourth of July one week late.

Hello everyone. This week we wrap up the four part imaginary assignment to create a four cd set of the Best of The Big Bands. This is the final part. I have picked out the final 16 numbers from the best of the big bands and I think you will recognize most of them. This was a fun series to put together and I hope I picked out several of your favorite bands and songs. Next week we will start some new programs with different subjects and bands.

Hello everyone. This week we are working on CD number three of our Best of the Big Bands four disk set. There are lots of good songs this week as I am trying to put together a set of songs that highlight many of the popular songs by the big bands from the 1930's, 40's and 50's. This is an imaginary project because if it was real we would have to license songs according to what record label they were on. We would also have to get clearance from the artist's estate since all of these great...