Big Band Bash

This week we are going to continue listening to the many theme songs used by the big bands. Theme songs were usually the first song played by a band when they were appearing or broadcasting live. It let the audience know whose band they were listening to. I tried to find all the original recordings of the bands. I hope you enjoy this look at the Big Band's theme songs. Please visit this podcast at...

This week I am going to start a two part look at the theme songs of the big bands. Each band had a song or a theme with which they would open and close their performances. I tried to find all the original recordings of the bands. I hope you enjoy this look at the Big Band's theme songs. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

This week we pay a tribute to the late arranger and tenor saxophonist Bill Holman. Bill got his start as a saxophonist in the Stan Kenton orchestra and then proved to be a great arranger as well. He went on to write arrangements for many bands and artists. He passed away at the age of 94. So I hope you enjoy this tribute to the late Bill Holman. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.bl...

Hello as we celebrate the Fourth of July this week. I tried to find as many Patriotic songs from the Big Band Era as I could. I hope you will help me celebrate this special holiday as we listen to some patriotic music. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

As I am back from vacation, I am going to try and catch up with the podcasts. We continue this week with a program I did a few years ago on the Summer season of the year. I am looking at songs that have the words summer, june, July or Hot or anything that deals with summer. I hope you enjoy this Big Band salute to summer. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Summer is a special time of year. It means many different things to people all over the world. Today's program is a look at the many different songs of Summer recorded by the Big Bands. I have included the word Summer in the title and also the months of June, July and August and a few with the word hot. I hope you enjoy this program of assorted songs about the Summer season. Please visit this podc...

Hello everyone. We lost a very special vocalist this past March. Steve Lawrence passed away at the age of 88. He had been ill with Alzheimer's Disease for the last few years. I usually play big bands and vocalists associated with the Big Bands but Steve came up during the last years of the Big band era so I wanted to do a tribute to this great vocalist. Most of the songs on the show today are from...

Hello and welcome to another program of Big Band Remotes as we remember the many men and women who took part in the invasion of France called D-Day. Today we feature Les Brown, Bob Chester, Jan Savitt and Gene Krupa. These bands all appeared on a show called the Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands. This show was sponsored by Coca Cola. I hope you enjoy this repeat of a show I produced a few years ag...

In memory of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, I have pulled out a show I produced about ten years ago that has three remotes from World War Two. Two are from the Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands program. Big Bands always seemed to perform better in front of an audience. The solos are more exciting and the tempos are a little quicker. I hope you hear some of exciting sounds from these live performan...

May 13th is the birthday of Woody Herman and if he were alive today that would have been his 111th birthday. We continue our celebration of his birthday with some of his hits from the 1940's. These are some of my favorite recordings from the Herman Herd, songs like Caldonia, Early Autumn, Four Brothers, Northwest Passage and more. Plus, in this episode I have a few segments from an interview that...

May 13th is the birthday of Woody Herman and if he were alive today that would have been his 111th birthday. To celebrate this milestone we will be playing some of his early recordings made between the years of 1939 and 1946 on the show today which is part one of two. I was fortunate enough to see the Herman band in person not once but twice. They were a very exciting band and I have been a fan ev...

This week I am continuing with part two of Big Band Remotes from World War 2 with two remotes from the Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands series. At the same time, however, I am having a birthday salute to a favorite bandleader of mine, the late Artie Shaw. Artie was born on May 23, 1910 and he also appeared on the Spotlight band program for five consecutive weeks in 1945. So to honor Artie I would...

On this week's show I would like to honor a request. A listener asked for some big band remotes that took place during World War 2. Most of the remotes I have during that era are from the Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands program. I found four 15 minute shows so on the program today we will be listening to the bands of Tommy Dorsey, Bob Chester, Benny Goodman, and Les Brown. Three of the shows are...

Lionel Hampton was born on April 20, 1908 in Louisville, Kentucky. I first discovered the great playing of Lionel when he was a member of the Benny Goodman Quartet. Join me as we celebrate the birthday of this true jazz master. I have lots of different recordings that Lionel is featured on as well as a look at his career. So get ready to tap your feet as we listen to and celebrate the amazing vibr...

Duke Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 so to remember his birthday and to listen to some of his amazing music, I am repeating this show from 2013. There is lots of Ellington originals in this show as well as some information on his amazing life. I hope you will join me in celebrating the birthday of one of music's greatest composers, Duke Ellington. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandba...

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have produced their third series about World War Two called Masters of the Air. It is a nine part series about the pilots who flew the B-17 Bombers into Germany during WW2. There are several big band songs played throughout the series so I researched what songs were played and put together this show. There were only a couple of songs that I did not have so I don't th...

Copilot is the name of an artificial intelligence engine that is now included in Microsoft's Edge web browser. I posed this question to Copilot: could it pick out 16 songs from the 1930's and 1940's that were representative of the big bands of that era. After a couple minutes had gone by, Copilot displayed this list. It is a very interesting list and I had most of the songs in my collection and if...

Well, hello everyone and welcome to part four of our Glenn Miller Birthday salute. On today's show, as on the other three parts, we will be looking at the Band of the Allied Training Command. I have two radio remotes from the I Sustain the Wings series. That was a show of most patriotic music by the Army Air Force Orchestra. So I hope you will sit back and relax and listen to Glenn announce the nu...

Hello and welcome to this week's Big Band Bash. We are continuing our Glenn Miller Birthday Salute with a look at the Army Air Force Orchestra. Today's show features a live broadcast by that orchestra with Glenn doing the announcing. It is a great broadcast and is sure to stir up some patriotic feelings. Glenn was born on March 01, 1904 and it is his bands and orchestra we think of when we had so...

Hello everyone. I am a little late with this week's program. This week I am going to continue with our birthday salute to the late Glenn Miller. This is part two of a four part series I produced back in 2022. To celebrate Glenn's birthday that year I decided to put together a look at his Army Air Force Orchestra. The recordings come from a four disc set that I have in my collection. We will be lea...

Greetings everyone. March first is the birthday of the late Glenn Miller. To celebrate his birthday, I am running a repeat of a four part series looking at Glenn's Army Air Force Orchestra. This comes from a four record set that i have in my collection. There is a lot of great songs in this set and I hope you enjoy the music. I apologize for being late. The radio statio where I work and produce Bi...

This past week we observed a leap day, February 29th. Born on February 29, 1904 was Jimmy Dorsey. To observe his birthday and pay tribute, I went through my cds and came across two that were recorded in the years of 1939 and 1940. There are some nice recordings in this set. I wanted to do something different rather than play all his hits which I have done on other programs. So we will learn about...

We wind up our celebration of Black History Month with a look at some of the many vocalists recording during the big band era. Some of the singers on the show today include Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Billy Eckstein, Helen Humes and many more. I hope you enjoy this selection of the many talented African-American vocalists as we conclude Black History Month. Please visit this podcast at http:/...

Duke Ellington's band and music holds an important place among my musical heroes. I have been collecting records and cds by Ellington for many years. So I have decided to include him in our list of bands as we continue our celebration of Black History Month. I have narrowed our focus on Duke to the years of 1940 through 1941. This was a very productive period for Ellington and I am sure to play so...

We start our celebration of Black History Month with a look at the big band of Earl Fatha Hines. Earl was a very influential pianist in whose big band he had players such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Count Basie called him the greatest pianist in the world. He made a lot of recordings with small groups but we are going to focus in on his big band. I hope you enjoy this look at the career...