Harry James: 'The Man with The Horn' Billy Strayhorn: 'Portrait of a Silk Thread' The troubled genius of Stan Getz Who was Glenn Miller? 'Let Me Off Uptown': The life of Gene Krupa
Jazz Embers
Excerpts featuring Duke Ellington, Gerry Mulligan, Buddy Rich, Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, Anita O'Day, Terry Gibbs, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, and Glenn Miller.
Interview: Clarinetist Dan Levinson talks about the great Rosy McHargue, dinner with Artie Shaw, and how a life-threatening illness revived his own career.
Benny Goodman and I walked across the parking lot of the Valley Forge Music Fair after a performance in October, 1974. He was tall, and wore a long light brown camelhair coat. He examined the book I had asked him to sign, holding it under the single lightbulb over the stage door exit so he could read the title. I asked him why one of his records (Popcorn Man) was pulled from the shelves of record stores on its release date in 1937, a fact noted on an album I owned. While walking, he looked at me and asked "What was on the other side of that disc?" I said I had no idea. The tune had been released only in LP format 20 years later. He said, "Well, it was the other side of the record. Something was wrong with that".
Drummer/Bandleader John Twomey leads the Jazzsight Big Band in New York City.