Down Memory Lane

Carol and I took a little trip down Memory Lane this evening when we went to a Glenn Miller Orchestra concert at the Alberta Bair Theatre. It was a sellout crowd. I'm sure we actually lowered the average age, although there were a fair number of grandkids there too. Major Glenn Miller cashed in his chips a little early on December 15, 1944 on a small plane flying from London to Paris that never made it. But his band idea and arrangements persisted from about 1956 on. The above is a well-worn ticket from WWII.

We sat in the balcony because we didn't buy seats until about a week ago. Not surprisingly, the sound was terrific, though we would have been disappointed if we were watching a play. I imagined many of these same people might have heard the original at some time in in 30s or 40s. My mother used to sing the words to all the songs when we were kids.

I had a flashback to my father going off to war by taking a bus to Hartford or maybe even Milwaukee. All I remember now is him waving out the back window as the bus turned the corner on Hwy 60 in Hustisford, right in front of my grandfather's house on the corner next to the Chevrolet garage. Gerry and I and Mom waved and smiled and cried all at the same time. I think my father did the same. It was probably 1943.

I didn't realize this big band has been successfully touring for over 50 years with the original arrangements plus the Army Air Force Band arrangements, and then some added stuff over the years. They were very tight and very talented: 5 Saxes (doubling on flutes, clarinets including a big old bass clarinet), 4 trombones and 4 trumpets, and 3 rhythm, plus the leader who also played trombone and two singers. The clarinet on top with one of the lower saxes also playing that same line produced a nice and distinctive sound. I had forgotten how nice it is for the 4th player to be as good as the 1st player and for everyone to play exactly together and exactly in tune. The sound was and is amazing. I even remembered why I thought that rock and roll was just a passing fad in the 50s.

In addition to taking us back to our very early days during the War (WWII that is) they also took me back to the 80s and 90s when I used to play bass trombone in the Al Bedoo Dance Band. We often played arrangements very similar to what these guys did, though not quite as well. History doesn't repeat itself, but it does sometimes rhyme according to Mark Twain or was that Kurt Vonnegut?