Blog #2 Swing!

Published on August 24, 2010 Allan Walsh

Blog #2   August 24, 2010

Hello Again;

So, to continue about the elements of jazz particularly ‘swing’ I want to talk about the Swing Era of the 1930’s & 1940’s when Big Bands reigned supreme. This era was just after the Great Depression when America was starting to recover from financial turmoil and people were looking to enjoy life again after extremely hard times. In the US as well as Canada the focus of entertainment was on dancing and many ballrooms and hotels featured big bands playing swing music. This was especially true in bigger cities that became more cosmopolitan and sophisticated.

Although Count Basie and Duke Ellington’s bands were probably the most musically genuine jazz bands at the time, the bands of Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller and others enjoyed most of the media attention due probably to the fact that they were white. They also sold more records than their black counterparts.  This is a topic in jazz that has been written about often over the years and certainly a contentious one worth exploring but perhaps in another blog.

When most people think about jazz music particularly swing music they are often most familiar with this big hit from Glenn Miller.  I’m sure some if not most of you have heard and recognize this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO9nzpZIoFk&feature=related

There were many, many big bands and orchestras during this period and it was a great time for musicians who could find work in the numerous bands in cities big and small across the country. Many notable musicians who made their mark playing with the more famous orchestras often started their own bands enjoying great success. Gene Krupa - drummer and Harry James - trumpeter for Benny Goodman both had great bands. Sinatra got his start with James band and Glenn Miller actually got his start playing in the Dorsey Brothers band before they split up to form their separate groups.

A saxophonist who played lead alto for Miller started his own band in 1941. Hal McIntyre came to Miller’s attention when he was gigging with the Benny Goodman Orchestra. After leaving Goodman he became  a founding member of the original Miller Orchestra. McIntyre’s band was known as ‘The Band America Loves’. During the war years they often performed overseas like the Miller band and were the backing orchestra for The Mills Brothers hit ‘Glow Worm’.  

When I was in second year college in Boston in the mid-seventies I was offered an audition through my teacher for the Hal McIntyre Orchestra. Hal Jr. had taken over the band and inherited all the music charts for the band through his father. The music arranging for these swing bands could make or break a band’s success. It is often said that the arrangers were the most important people of the era. So, here I am years later having a golden opportunity to play this original music of the big band era. The audition involved me sitting in with the band in a rehearsal. I was very nervous to say the least and I got through the first few charts and started to settle down when Hal Jr. called a particular chart and when I got it out on the stand I noticed I had a solo to improvise. But it was a shared solo with the first tenor player. I was playing second tenor, my teacher was the first tenor player. So, now I’m going to be duelling with my teacher on a shared solo with one of the most famous jazz bands of the swing era. Well, I passed the test and got the second tenor chair in the band. Some of the other guys were also young like me from other music schools, New England Conservatory and Boston University. The older cats in the band were fantastic musicians but great guys and made things very welcoming. The bari-saxophonist worked at Rayburns Music where I took my sax for repairs. There I met the famous Emilio who had worked on the instruments of great players like Stan Getz and John Coltrane. It was an honour to have my sax repaired under his care and to know and play with these other seasoned musicians.

The band often rehearsed at my school, The Berklee College of Music and I was proud to have my school friends check me out playing in this great sounding band.  You can check out more info on the McIntyre band here. http://www.halmcintyre.com/#

And if you go to the image gallery and click on The Original band picture #17 has a young Al Walsh on the end playing 2nd tenor.

So, that’s my connection to the ‘Swing Era’ even though it was many years later. Even before I chose to study jazz music I was listening to many big bands and in particular I liked Woody Herman and his great sax section known as the ‘Four Brothers’. Stan Getz was a featured tenor player in Herman’s band and became hugely popular in jazz especially Brazilian bossa nova jazz. I particularly liked the smooth swinging sound of tenor man Zoot Sims and I also thought his name was kinda cool too. I once saw him perform with Moe Kauffman the great Canadian saxist and flutist. Our own Reggie Schwager who performed at the festival last year has backed up Zoot Sims during his many performances in Toronto over the years. I will tell you in my next blog about my first time meeting and jamming with Reggie here in Sudbury years ago.

Until next time;

Al

 

Allan J. Walsh

Jazz Sudbury

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