Glenn miller in Jazz Instrumental Music

"The Best of the Big Bands [1997 Sony Special Products]" (1997) Jazz Instrument Miller, Glenn, Sony Music Distribution (USA)Personnel: Peg LaCentra (vocals). Splitting ten tracks evenly between Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw, this volume in the Best of the Big Bands series includes Miller hits like "Sleepy Time Gal" and "Dipper Mouth Blues," plus Shaw favorites "Nightmare" and "I Surrender, Dear." ~ Keith Farley

"Platinum Glenn Miller [RCA]" (03/04/2003) Jazz Instrument Miller, Glenn, RCA Victor Records (USA)Personnel: Glenn Miller (arranger, trombone); Tex Beneke (vocals, tenor saxophone); Marion Hutton, Jack Lathrop, The Modernaires, Ray Eberle (vocals); Wilbur Schwartz (alto saxophone); Al Klink (tenor saxophone); Dale McMickle, Clyde Hurley (trumpet). Recorded between 1939 & 1942. Includes liner notes by Andrew Velez. Personnel: Tex Beneke (vocals, tenor saxophone); Jerry Gray, Jack Lathrop, Marion Hutton, Ray Eberle, The Modernaires (vocals); Wilbur Schwartz (alto saxophone); Al Klink (tenor saxophone); Clyde Hurley, Dale McMickle (trumpet). Recording information: Chicagi, IL (1939-1942); Hollywood, CA (1939-1942); New York, NY (1939-1942). Arrangers: Chummy MacGregor; Glenn Miller; Jerry Gray; Bill Finegan; Billy May. After a long period of neglect, in 2001 RCA began doing right by Glenn Miller (via its rejuvenated jazz and swing arm Bluebird) with a four-disc set of 1943-44 performances by Glenn Miller & the Army Air Force Band. The 2002 compilation America's Bandleader was short and idiosyncratic but the following year, Platinum Glenn Miller offered the perfect summation of the war era's number one bandleader. With 40 tracks spread over two CDs, it's slightly shorter than 1995's The Essential Glenn Miller, but excellent sound and thoughtful compiling make up for any shortcomings. The Miller Orchestra was a perennial on the charts from 1939 until 1943, not only soundtracking the war years but exerting a sizable influence on pop music until the '50s via its heavy reed sound, feature soloists like Bobby Hackett and Tex Beneke, and the arrangements of Bill Finegan and Jerry Gray. They were bright and bouncy (as on "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," "Chattanooga Choo-Choo," "[I've Got a Gal In] Kalamazoo," "Pennsylvania 6-5000"), or calm and reflective ("Stairway to the Stars," "In the Mood," "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square"), and always clear, melodic, and unabashedly emotional (none of which made them any friends with jazz crowds). Yes, the mellow Miller did have plenty to offer his pop audience, but as Platinum Glenn Miller illustrates, his was one of the most talented groups of the '40s. ~ John Bush

"In the Mood with Glenn Miller [Collectables]" (03/14/2006) Jazz Instrument Miller, Glenn, Collectables RecordsThis Collectables reissue of BMG's budget-friendly In the Mood with Glenn Miller: Best of the Big Band Era collects ten cuts from the legendary bandleader's humongous repertoire, including "Rhapsody in Blue," "That Old Black Magic," and "The Nearness of You." ~ James Christopher Monger

"Unforgettable Glenn Miller & His Orchestra" (08/07/2001) Jazz Instrument Miller, Glenn, RCA Victor Records (USA)Personnel includes: Glenn Miller (leader, trombone); Ray Eberle, Marion Hutton, Tex Benecke, Dorothy Claire, The Modernaires (vocals); The Army Air Force Band. This is part of RCA's 100 Years Of Music series.

"Secret Broadcasts" (10/29/1996) Jazz Instrument Miller, Glenn, RCA Victor Records (USA)The Army Air Forces Training Command Band includes: Glenn Miller (conductor); Johnny Desmond, Crew Chiefs, Glee club (vocals); Hank Freeman, Freddy Guerra (alto saxophone); Jack Ferrier, Vince Carbone (tenor saxophone); Chuck Gentry (baritone saxophone); Whitey Thomas, Bobby Nichols, Bernie Privin, Jack Steele (trumpet); Jimmy Priddy, James Harwood, Johnny Halliburton, Larry Hall (trombone); Addison Collins Jr. (French horn); Peanuts Hucko (clarinet, alto saxophone); George Ockner, Harry Katzman, Richard Motylinski, Carl Swanson, Nathan Kaproff, Milton Edelson, Dave Herman (violin); Dave Scwartz, Mannie Wishnow (viola); Morris Bailkin, Robert Ripley (cello); Mel Powell (piano); Carmen Mastren (guitar); Trigger Alpert (bass); Ray McKinley, Frank Ippolito (drums). Recorded in 1944. Includes liner notes by Geoffrey Butcher, Ted Kendall, Philip Farlow and Hugh Palmer. This has been digitally remastered. This superb three-CD set has highlights of the many radio broadcasts made by Glenn Miller & the Army Air Force Band while in Great Britain. Miller had a dream orchestra that had a hard-swinging rhythm section (which included pianist Mel Powell and drummer Ray McKinley), top soloists in clarinetist Peanuts Hucko, trumpeters Bobby Nichols and Bernie Privin and some lesser-known saxophonists, plus singer Johnny Desmond & the Crew Chiefs and a full string section arranged by Jerry Gray. Glenn Miller completists will prefer the first two volumes of the English Avid label's Miller series for that duplicates these three CDs while adding another full disc of material, but listeners wanting one definitive set are advised to pick up this release. The music ranges from heated swing (including some remakes of Miller's earlier hits) to mood music, ballad vocals and adventurous performances that hint at what Glenn Miller might have performed during the postwar years if he had lived. ~ Scott Yanow

"Masterpieces [Dutton Vocalion]" (09/16/2004) Jazz Instrument Miller, Glenn, Dutton Laboratories/Vocalion (UK)Audio Remasterer: Michael J. Dutton. Liner Note Author: Oliver Lomax.

"Best of Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller" (2000) Jazz Instrument Goodman, Benny, Madacy Distribution

"Max Greger Plays Glenn Miller" (07/24/1997) Jazz Instrument Max Greger, Polydor (USA)

"In the Digital Mood: Gold Limited Edition" (04/30/1991) Jazz Instrument Miller, Glenn, GRP Records (USA)Includes a 44-page booklet with photos and historic notes. Glenn Miller Orchestra includes: Mel Torme, Marlene Ver Planck (vocals); Larry O 'Brien (conductor); Walt Levinsky, Phil Bodner (saxophone); Marvin Stamm, Markie Markowitz (trumpet); Dave Grusin (piano); Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar); Jay Leonhart (bass); Ronnie Zito (drums). Recorded at A-1, Sear Sound Studios, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Chip Deffaa. Remastered from the original first generation source, produced on 24 karat gold compact discs. Personnel: Marlene VerPlanck, Michael Mark, Julius LaRosa, Mel Torm?, Marty Nelson (vocals); Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar); Walter Levinsky (clarinet, saxophone); Morty Lewis, Phil Bodner, Sol Schlinger, Billy Slapin (saxophone); Irwin "Marky" Markowitz, Marvin Stamm, Jimmy Maxwell, John Frosk (trumpet); Sonny Russo, George Masso, Urbie Green, Wayne Andre, Paul Faulise (trombone); Dave Grusin, Bernie Leighton (piano); Ronald Zito (drums). Audio Mixers: Dave Grusin; Josiah Gluck; Larry Rosen. Recording information: A&R Studios, New York, NY; Sear Sound, New York, NY; Studio A-1, NY. Photographers: Frank Driggs; Andy Baltimore; Mike Dacek. Unknown Contributor Role: Michael Abene. Arranger: Glenn Miller. This CD may be scoffed at by serious jazz listeners, and even by big-band devotees wary of modern "ghost band" performances, but the fact is that it sold over 100,000 pieces when it first appeared in 1983, and its CD version was among the very earliest compact discs ever released commercially in the United States (indeed, so early that the actual CDs had to be imported from Japan). The second-ever release by GRP Records, it put the label on the map, and it also stood as testimony to how good those original arrangements of the Glenn Miller Orchestra were. So how is it as music? At worst entertaining, and at best revealing, and also at times a little frustrating -- on the plus side, even heard in 2007, twenty-four years after the fact, the sound here is damned impressive; you can safely rank this release as one of the very earliest, if not the very first audiophile CDs to be released. The fact that it features 18 top-flight musicians under the baton of Larry O'Brien, then the leader of the touring Glenn Miller Orchestra, only makes it more impressive. What's more, with the quality of the playing, one will be able to make out minuscule elements of the original arrangements that were long obscured on the classic late-'30s/early-'40s Glenn Miller sides. Musicians with an appreciation of these arrangements will probably love this recording, and casual fans should embrace it heartily: these boys swing in 1983 about as well as their predecessors from 41 years earlier did. And the vocal numbers are no exception -- in contrast to Columbia Records' mid-'60s efforts to revive the Miller orchestra as a recording unit (which failed not just because of the timing of the project but also the uneven quality of the resulting albums), numbers like "Pennsylvania 6-5000" and "(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo" are as hot here as there were four decades before. And the singers include Mel Torm? and Julius LaRosa (doing a solo) in their ranks. Still, it's the instrumentals that make up the bulk of this album, and on that level it's similarly unimpeachable, at least most of the way through -- "Tuxedo Junction" (which includes Dave Grusin sitting in on piano) is so close to the original that it's easy to forget who you're listening to and when they put this track down; and serious listeners should probably hold out for the "Gold Disc" edition or the Japanese version of this CD, which contain a bonus track, "At Last," featuring a trombone solo by Urbie Green that is worth the price of the CD by itself. Now, all of that said, there are a couple of quibbles: the absence of the cowbell on "In the Mood," and the "clever" notion on "Pennsylvania 6-5000" of ending the number with -- well, you can guess. This is still one cool, swinging release and, with its virtuoso musicianship, offers many of the same appealing qualities as the original Miller record