Any big band fans on here

Well my late dad did enjoyed both the big bands & dixieland bands!! He died back on April 8, 1986 at 55 years old of lupus disease.
 
Yes, big band music is very entertaining! Talented people like Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and others made amazing contributions. Unfortunately the recording equipment was not up to the task of capturing their sound in a quality way. I have a CD done by the modern Glenn Miller Orchestra with more recent sound technology, and it is one of my most treasured albums.
 
The Late Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers did a song called "Swingin'" (from 1999 "Echo") which Tom pays tribute.
 
Yes, big band music is very entertaining! Talented people like Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and others made amazing contributions. Unfortunately the recording equipment was not up to the task of capturing their sound in a quality way. I have a CD done by the modern Glenn Miller Orchestra with more recent sound technology, and it is one of my most treasured albums.
Capital records brought back many of the big bands to re-record their hits on LP. The albums were called "In Hi-Fi" and I have to think they have been reissued on CD. The Harry James and Stan Kenton ones were especially good.
 
My idea of big band is more along the lines of Stan Kenton, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, the Roulette era of Maynard Ferguson, Don Ellis, Shorty Rogers, etc.

Capital records brought back many of the big bands to re-record their hits on LP. The albums were called "In Hi-Fi" and I have to think they have been reissued on CD. The Harry James and Stan Kenton ones were especially good.
Kenton in Hi-Fi is a good one and the CD release is in mono (except for "Minor Riff" which adds the stereo version since it was a different, shorter take with a different trumpet solo and no tenor solo). The stereo LP version is not good--that was one of Capitol's earliest stereo records and the balance between sections is way out of whack, the bass being nearly buried in the mix, with a big helping of reverb on top of it.
 
Here's an excellent "comp" from 1957, gorgeously recorded in shimmering, point-blank monaural as it were.

From left-to-right you'll see Stan, Les Brown, Harry James, Billy May, Woody, and Ray Anthony. The big bands were well past their heyday by that time -- which may suggest how one record company could have 6 top bands on their roster at one time. Of course Stan, May and Ray recorded for lengthy periods at Capitol.

At least three of the four Kenton selections from this 2-LP set were issued as bonus selections to his run of CDs. The Woody selections I've not seen anywhere except Square Circle (by Shorty Rogers) which turned up on a Curb comp many years ago. None of the 4 Billy May selections were issued on his subsequent Capitol LPs. Don't know about the other artists.

The price tag indicates $6.59 -- which would set you back about $63 in 2021.

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Billy May always had that mischievous look about him. 😁
 
Billy May always had that mischievous look about him. 😁
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Of all the big bands, May surely injected the most humour into his music. This piece nearly approaches cartoon music (who else but May would include a calliope in a big band arrangement).

 
Thanks, Rudy!! That was very funny and quite informative -- seeing the Scranton pressing plant in action was a treat. I like when Billy points to the recording mixing console and asks? "What's all this junk here for?".
 
There's some great european big bands as well such as Clark-Boland Big Band, Vienna Art Orchestra.
 
Thanks, Rudy!! That was very funny and quite informative -- seeing the Scranton pressing plant in action was a treat. I like when Billy points to the recording mixing console and asks? "What's all this junk here for?".
Funny thing is, RCA had a similar film from a couple of decades earlier, and aside from records being shellac back then rather than vinyl, the process they used way back then is still the same process they use today.
 
Funny thing is, RCA had a similar film from a couple of decades earlier, and aside from records being shellac back then rather than vinyl, the process they used way back then is still the same process they use today.
Man, after watching all that rigmarole I surmise the RtR process had to be less involved. (I kinda wish I did the RtR thing. A friend of mine went that route years ago and many of those original 7½ ips titles he's played blow the lights clean out of the socket. Separation and definition is par excellence relative to the LP.)
 
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