While Don McLean’s “American Pie” laments the day “the music died” with the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper, the wartime plane crash death of Glenn Miller in December, 1944 had a similar effect to fans of the Swing Era. How are the m usical piece to be picked up when a major musical star disappears?
Texas tenor sax player and vocalist Tex Benecke (1914-2000) was one of the stars of Miller’s orchestra, playing famous solos as on “In The Mood” or singing with his avuncular voice “Chattanooga Choo Choo” among others. He was the logical choice to lead Miller’s orchestra, and as this two disc, 48 song collection shows, he carried it on through to the next generation.
Even casual jazz fans of the Swing Era will recognize many of these pieces, as Benecke and the band had a number of big hits, all in a lighthearted mood. America needed something get its mind off the war and beyond, and optimism was the mode of Benecke, with pieces like the danceable “Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop” and choruses such as “Give Me Five Minutes More” and “The Wiffenpoof Song”. The band also kept the collection of background singers namaed either The Crew Chiefs or Moonlight Serenaders, serving up a nice rapport with Tex on “A Gal In Calico”.
The band still was able to swing, with a snappy step on “St. Louis Blues M arch” while the patented reeds glow on “Sunrise Serenade” and “Java Junction”. Benecke also shared the microphone with Ray Eberle, Lillian Lane, Artie Mann, Garry Stevens, Glenn Douglas and Gwen Bari, all given one chorus with most of the men in the Crosby/Sinatra tradition and the ladies in the Forrest/Ward mode. The band had quit a few more hits on the airwaves including “I Know”, “Passe” and “Anniversary Song” and with greater recording fidelity available, you get a revisit of “Chattanooga Choo Choo”. While the band didn’t dwell on nostalgia, the rich arrangements, sentimental singing journeys and winsome lyrics make for a musical reflection of an era when , believe it or not, the best music in the country (jazz) was also the most popular. Who thinks they’ll tell their grandkids that one?