For those who were born before 1990

happyfilmluvguy said:

I wanted to know if there is anyone in the lounge who has actually attended a concert for one of the esteemed jazz and big band artists of the Golden Age?

Those who have been to a Benny Goodman concert, or Frank Sinatra, or Artie Shaw or Danny Kaye, or Glenn Miller, etc.

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I was stationed in Hawaii from 1990-94. Every Sunday one of the hotels just down from the Hale Koa had big band music playing in an outdoor lounge setting. It was awesome. It didn't take much mental meandering to imagine what it must have been like in the 30s and the 40s during the war.

Not jazz or big band but I have seen mother Smothers' favorite son... and the other one... The Smothers Bros.! Even got their autographs.

Aside from that I've been able to see the Beach Boys, Lou Christie, Leslie Gore, Bobby V., the Vogues and few others. It makes me mad that I could have picked up a pair of tickets to go see the Woody Herman Orchestra last year and I missed out. I had to work late that day. :rage: :rage:

I saw The Glenn Miller Orchestra last year at Benaroya Hall in Seattle.

Count Basie
Sinatra
Sammy Davis Jr
Maynard Ferguson
Miles Davis
Dizzy Gillespie
Ray Charles (many many times)
The Glenn Miller Orchestra
The Benny Goodman Orchestra
Sonny Rollins

scotrace said:

Saw Count Basie at such an advanced age he was wheeled to the piano and mainly just smiled and plinked out the last few topper notes at the end of each song.
Also saw Woody Herman and even got to dance at that one. He was also quite old - back on the road to pay back taxes. The crowd shouted all night for "Caledonia." He finally gave in and played it but said "OK, but you're not gonna be able to dance to it..."

Is it just me, or do the modern orchestras who play swing (even the official bands like the Glenn Miller Orchestra) lack the amazing drive, tempo and passion of the stuff I hear on 78? It seldom seems up to tempo to me, and often a little too Bob Evans. Then there's the occasional clarinet squawk...

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You gotta remember, the audience for these bands aged with them, so not only did they lack some of the energy and drive they had in their youth. Who does? But their fans didn't either. OF course for the last ten years or so there have been a new audience of fast dancers.

For the record, Charles Brown, Tito Puente, Chuck Berry, Jerry lee Lewis, unfortunately, never saw any of the real old timers.

Is it just me, or do the modern orchestras who play swing (even the official bands like the Glenn Miller Orchestra) lack the amazing drive, tempo and passion of the stuff I hear on 78? It seldom seems up to tempo to me, and often a little too Bob Evans. Then there's the occasional clarinet squawk...[/QUOTE]

Of course, most music played back in the day was mid and slow tempo sweet stuff. Hot jazz was only what was worth remembering. Most people only wanted to be able to take their swetie into their arms and step around in a circle.

reetpleat said:

You gotta remember, the audience for these bands aged with them, so not only did they lack some of the energy and drive they had in their youth.

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Plus a lot of the memory. Thus they play only the top hits, and to fill out a night's program, everybody else's top hits. All at a friendly two-beat tempo.

Think of them as musical service organizations, out to bring a smile to the lips of a Generation who gave service and then some.

Bands I have seen and heard

Well, in my home town of Chautauqua, New York, at the Amphitheatre at the Chautauqua Institution, I saw in 1961 Count Basie, and got the autographs of the whole band, He was awesome. Likewise Duke Ellington about the same time and Benny Goodman and oh yes, Woody Herman, all tremendous experiences. I saw Cab Calloway at Carnegie Hall some years ago, and was on stage at Roseland in Manhattan when I got to introduce Illinois Jacquet. Now that band could SWING! I also heard Helen O'Connell , rear the end of her life at Roseland. She could absolutely still sing! I've heard The Miller Band when it was being by Ray McKinley. They had Tex Beneke and other members of the original band. Not too shabby. I've seen the new incarnation of the Miller Band with young players. A fine band, but not the genuine article. Likewise the new "Tommy Dorsey" band. Good band, but not the real thing. I saw Erskine Hawkins and Eddie Barefield play with small groups in New York in the late 80's. Barefield was the young 23 year old tenor sax hotshot that Benny Moten added to his band when he came east to Camden NJ in 1932 to do some recordings. He wanted that new sound. I heard him play the same mile a minute solo on the sax at the age of 80 that he played on that 1932 disk. Uncanny. I also heard the band that Buck Clayton put together in the early 90's. They could really play, also. Loren Schonberg has had an organization that really has carried the torch for the true highest level swing from the older generation to the new. Catch Loren Schonberg if you ever get the chance. His band can knock down walls if they really want to. With consummate elegance and musicianship.
The great swing musicins are like the WW2 veterans. There are still plenty among us, but their numbers are diminishing every day! Go out and find them and let them know that there are people who still appreciate what they did! I have a dear old friend, Dawn Hampton, who, as a child in the 20's and 30's played with her family's "Territory Band" (which included her big brother Slide Hampton.) (Dawn also played for a short time with the Sweethearts of Rhythm band in the early 50's.) This is another area where some appreciation could still applied.
You can still get a taste of the authentic experience! You just have to look for it!