The Glenn Miller Orchestra Appreciation Society Christmas Edition

Transcription

1 The Glenn Miller Orchestra Appreciation Society Christmas Edition

2 Contents Ray s Message 3 Jersey Bounce 4 Tommy Whittle 5 The New String Section! 6-7 The Glenn Miller Orchestra 8-9 accompanied by Youth Brass 2000! Madrid and Barcelona Spotlight on one of the Band Members - Loren Hignell 12 Members Page 13 Forthcoming Concert Dates Ray s Message Hi De Hi, big band lovers! Where has the year gone? It really worries me how quickly time seems to fly the older you get!! It seems like only yesterday I was welcoming you to our Jubilee Edition. Since then, the Orchestra s been south to Jersey, then into the midlands in Leicester, Fareham in the home counties and west to Shrewsbury. It was so upsetting to see the floods around Shrewsbury barely a couple of weeks after we played there. It was unrecognisable on the news clips, from the beautiful town we played in. Our best wishes for a swift recovery go out to those affected. Our travels have also taken us to North London, Aldershot, Dudley and Manchester - where we were honoured to have a special guest join us on stage - none other than the great Tommy Whittle who grew to fame in the Ted Heath Orchestra. More inside about this musical treat! But for me, the high spot of the past three months has been the introduction - for certain shows only - of a string section! The first concert with Glenn s AAF line-up was at the Derngate in Northampton, where we were also joined by Youth Brass St. Louis Blues March has never sounded so good! Read all about it in this issue. Ray with Bobby Dave Ford & Bruce Douglas As I write this, we re on the plane returning from two shows in Spain. We have lots of snaps of the guys and gals to share with you. For those of you I don t have the chance of greeting personally before Christmas, may I offer best wishes for the festive season and, of course, a very happy and prosperous New Year! Enjoy the magazine! Ray 3

3 Jersey Bounce Last September, we were booked for two shows at the Opera House in Jersey in the Channel Islands. It was a super three days there. The Band flew over on the morning of the first show - all except Danny Hammerton who decided to go over a day early and spent the evening chatting to the RAF Red Arrows team in the bar! Ray and Sue took the ferry so they could bring the music pads and a few of the bulkier instruments in the car. On the way, Sue offered to help a lady with a guide dog who was trying to find her way from the car deck to the restaurant. It turned out that the lady was a guide-dog trainer, she wasn t blind at all! Of course, we thought that was hilarious. Who did Sue think was driving the car? The dog? The weekend was an RAF reunion and featured a spectacular air display. As well as Danny s new friends, the Red Arrows, there was a fly-past by a massive period Boeing B29 Superfortress which had flown in from America and, after the show, flew on to Scotland looking for a runway long enough to land on! Boys meet outside the hotel before going off to see the air display. Left to right... Simon Andy Daniel Alan Dave Bobby Bunny and Martin Tommy Whittle Over a period of nearly 70 years, Tommy Whittle has earned himself the reputation of being the greatest British tenor sax player of all time, playing alongside Ted Heath, Cyril Stapleton, Jack Parnell as well as a number of small bands of his own. So it was a genuine thrill for audience and musicians alike when Tommy, now aged 86, travelled to Manchester with us on the band bus, stepped up onto the stage to join the Glenn Miller Orchestra for a number. Tommy displayed his outstanding musicianship and playing technique as he led the band on How High the Moon. Tommy also enjoyed it so much that Ray invited him to come back and join us again in Wolverhampton! 4 As there were more than a few veterans in the audiences for the concerts, Ray included the Dambusters March in the programme. We felt honoured that a surviving member of the Dambusters squadron was in the audience on the second night. 5

4 The New String Section! Ray always tries to keep the shows fresh while not forgetting there are huge hits that regular patrons demand be performed year after year. So, blended in with In the Mood, Tuxedo Junction, Chattanooga Choo Choo and many other favourites, the Orchestra, in the past, has brought along stars like Patti Andrews of the Andrew s Sisters, Joan Regan and the late Eric Delaney, not forgetting more recent favourites like Britain s Got Talent winners: Irresistible. short while until it was decided that it was too expensive. Since then, fans of Glenn Miller have been denied the opportunity to hear the orchestra in concert with a string section......until now! So, what s new for 2013? Most people associate big band music with line-ups that include 5 saxes, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, 3 rhythm and lots of noise! However, Glenn Miller - while admittedly using the above lineup most of the time - did have a mellow side to his character too. And while the version of Moonlight Serenade that we all know and love demonstrated Glenn Miller s incredible arranging ability with clarinet and saxes, there is also a lesserknown version using strings which is equally beautiful, if not more so. Strings in Miller s lineup were most apparent in his Army Air-Force band which he brought to Europe in Following Miller s disappearance in 1944, and the end of the war a year later, the band returned to the States and continued with a string section for a Ray decided that the fans deserve a chance to hear, live, some of Glenn s finer arrangements. So he s presenting a limited number of shows with the Glenn Miller Strings. The first of those shows was the concert at the Royal and Derngate in Northampton. And what a hit it was. The audience were thrilled to hear the band playing the augmented versions of Miller standards like Moonlight Serenade, Story of a Starry Night, Rhapsody in Blue, Danny Boy and Cherokee. In addition, a local young people s brass band - they re called Youth Brass joined the Orchestra to form a considerably enhanced brass section for the second-act opening playing St. Louis Blues March. Check our schedule of forthcoming concert dates (pp.14-15) to see when the Strings are performing! 6 7

5 Accompanied by Youth Brass 2000! The Orchestra considerably augmented by Youth Brass made up of school children and youths from around Wilbarston Village in Northamptonshire - all playing St. Louis Blues March. 8 9

6 Madrid and Barcelona It s nice to be able to say we are building a fan base in Spain. We make two or three visits there a year and we were there just last month. This trip we took the Jiving Lindy Hoppers and vocal group Irresistible along with us. We played the Auditorio Nacional de Madrid and Palau de la Música, Barcelona Jiving Lindy Hoppers... Moonlight Serenaders Jreena of Jiving Lindy Hoppers... We are looking forward to our next visit at the beginning of January to Malaga and then off to the Canaries!...Running Wild with the Orchestra Colin & Catherine The pictures are very casual ones but we hope you like them! Irresistible Sound Check Alan & Danny Dan, Simon & Brucevv...with her bodyguards! 10 Bob in a pot! 11

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8 Concert Dates Those shown in blue include the new String Section December 2012 SHOW TIMES Sun 16th The Sage, Gateshead NE8 2JR 7.30pm With guest artists Irresistible Box Office: Sun 23rd The Queens Theatre, Hornchurch RM11 1QT 3.30pm & 7.30pm Two Christmas shows Box Office: Thurs 27th Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool L1 9BP 2.30pm Box Office: Fri 28th Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow G2 3NY 3.00pm Box Office: Sat 29th Symphony Hall, Birmingham B1 2EA 2.30pm Box Office: Sun 30th Barbican, London EC2Y 8DS 2.30pm Box Office: JANUARY 2013 FEBRUARY 2013 SHOW TIMES Sun 10th Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea SS0 7RA 3.00pm Box Office: Fri 22nd Sat 23rd Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain If you want information on this concert please contact the office. Las Palmas, Canary Islands If you want information on this concert please contact the office. Thurs 28th Malvern Theatres WR14 3HB 7.45pm Box office: MARCH 2013 Sat 2nd Civic Hall, Bedworth CV12 8NF 7.30pm Box Office: Sun 3rd Wyllyotts Centre, Potters Bar EN6 2HN 5.00pm Box Office: Sun 17th The Anvil, Basingstoke RG21 7QR 7.30pm Box Office: APRIL 2013 Sun 14th Theatre Royal, Brighton BN1 1SD 5.00pm Box Office: Thurs 3rd Malaga, Spain If you want information on this concert please contact the office. Sun 28th The Mill at Sonning, Reading RG4 6TY 8.00pm Box Office: Fri 4th Gran Canaria If you want information on this concert please contact the office. Sun 6th Bridgewater Hall, Manchester M2 3WS 3.00pm Box Office: Sun 13th The Orchard Theatre, Dartford DA1 1ED 5.00pm Box Office: Sat 19th Palace Theatre, Redditch B98 8AE 7.30pm Box Office: Sun 20th Civic Hall, Chelsmford CM1 1JG 6.00pm Box Office: Sat 26th The Castle, Wellingborough NN8 1XA 7.30pm Box Office: Sun 27th Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton WV1 1DE 4.00pm Box Office: Thurs 31st Assembly Rooms, Derby DE1 3AH 7.45pm Box Office: MAY 2013 Wed 1st Octagon Theatre,Yeovil BA20 1UX 7.30pm Box Office: Sun 12th Churchill Theatre, Bromley BR1 1HA 3.00pm & 7.30pm Box Office: Sun 19th Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa CV32 4HN 5.00pm Box Office: Thurs 23rd Dorking Halls, Surrey RH4 1SG 7.30pm Box Office: JUNE 2013 Sat 8th Shanklin Theatre, I.O.W PO37 6AJ 7.30pm Box Office: Sun 9th Bournemouth Pavillion, BH1 2BU 5.00pm Box Office: Sun 30th Embassy Theatre, Skegness PE25 2UG 5.00pm Box Office:

9 Please feel free to write or any ideas, photo s or comments for future editions. We would love to be able to keep the new members page going! Which one is Andy Potts? Contact details: Glenn Miller Orchestra Appreciation Society 6a Furzehill Parade, Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire WD6 1DX + 44 (0) suemcvay@btconnect.com