Customer Reviews

Music in the Miller Mood

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After the Air Force plane carrying big band legend Glenn Miller was lost over the English Channel, leadership of his crackerjack dance band fell on the shoulders of saxophonist Tex Beneke, who kept the organization humming at a fast clip for many years afterwards. These postwar radio transcription recordings show Beneke keeping the Miller tradition very much alive, with smooth, formidable and familiar charts, as well as a few new, modern touches that showed the band was more than just a museum piece. A nice 2-CD set that Miller (and Beneke!) fans will definitely want to check out.

Soundies should be commended for making these rare radio transcription music library recordings of Tex Beneke's Orchestra available, but I wish they had taken more care with the "restoration." These recordings were made for use by radio stations and delivered on 16-inch vinyl records. When good condition transcriptions are transferred and restored properly, they can produce marvelous sound, often superior to contemporary commercial 78 rpm pressings. Unfortunately, many of the selections here are marred by distortion and severe digital "over-processing" which has left harsh-sounding digital artifacts mixed in with the music. It sounds to me like they used well-worn copies of the transcriptions and processed them rather sloppily. I find many of the tracks to be almost unlistenable; the quality would have been better had they not attempted any "restoration" at all and left the surface noise and crackle in.

Technical flaws aside, the music here is quite good. The Beneke band is modeled on Glenn Miller's Orchestra (Beneke was a former Miller sideman and many members of this band also played with Miller). Some of Miller's biggest hits are recreated here--and I'll admit, in some cases I prefer the Beneke-led performances! There also quite a few tunes never recorded by the Miller band but interpreted in true Miller style. Also of note are the voice tracks by Tex Beneke that Soundies has left intact: short 5-10 second introductions intended for the radio stations' use.

There's some very nice material here, but it screams for a better-quality release. Until something else comes along, I suppose we're stuck with this Soundies set. As I understand it, Soundies is getting out of the reissue business and this CD is now "out-of-print." Maybe that will open the door for another reissue label to have a crack at this material. In the meantime, Miller completists may want to have this set, but otherwise, because of the poor sound, I'd pass on this one.

Tenor saxophonist/vocalist Tex Beneke carries on Glenn Miller's musical legacy with 41 great recordings chosen from 1949-1952. Some of these Thesaurus transcriptions are previously unissued to the public. These postwar radio transcription recordings show Beneke keeping the Miller tradition very much alive with smooth, formidable and familiar charts as well as a few new, modern touches that showed the band was more than just a museum piece. Five former Miller/Beneke sidemen--Johnny Best, Art Depew, Paul Tanner, Sal Libero and Gene Cipriano--were contacted by big band historian Christopher Popa for the liner notes. As an added bonus, Tex's voice is heard introducing 8 of the selections. A nice 2-CD set that Miller (and Beneke!) fans will definitely want to check out.