Battle of the Big Bands

May 9, 2025

(From 2/14/2020)  I posted these 2 videos right after coming back from a Battle of the Big Bands concert in Melbourne.  If you ever get a chance to attend an event at the Maxwell C. King Center there, definitely go.  It’s a great sounding venue and easy to get in and out of.  Here’s a couple of songs from that night’s battle between the Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller bands — and not their “typical” hits.  Big Band music has been a favorite of mine for years.

The first is from the movie ‘The Fabulous Dorseys‘ (1947), with Janet Blair and singer Stuart Foster.  Many of you probably knew that Frank Sinatra was the lead singer of Tommy Dorsey’s band for many years.  As a matter of fact, he supposedly said of Dorsey’s trombone playing – “the sob never takes a breath”.  But did you also know that Ken Curtis (Festus from Gunsmoke) succeeded Sinatra?  Check out this post I made back in 2018.


And this one is from the film “Sun Valley Serenade” (1941) with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Paula Kelly & The Modernaires.  You’ll notice John Payne faking it on the piano and may also pick out Sonja Henie.  But keep an eye out for old Miltie with the cigar-:)


Reminder… You can click in the lower right of a YouTube video to make it full screen. Also, you can use the Posts menu item to filter news posts to a specific category – e.g. Music Videos – to just show those. Enjoy!


 

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