Description:

Whether you remember the big band era yourself or appreciate the timeless music of the war years and beyond, you'll find many treasures in this collection, offering twenty half-hour broadcasts dating from 1943 to 1952 and featuring twenty of the top bands and musical groups so popular at the time. In addition to performances by orchestras that are still well remembered today - Jimmy Dorsey, Harry James, Stan Kenton, Ray Anthony, Louis Prima - this collection also features broadcasts by several lesser-known but equally talented ensembles. In rare wartime broadcasts, Charlie Spivak, Lee Castle, and Sonny Dunham demonstrate their individually unique trumpet styles; the hotel-based bands of Gay Claridge and Leighton Noble display their knack for gentle but effective dance music, as was so often featured in stylish high-end nightspots like New York's Waldorf Astoria and Astor Hotels; Jan Savitt, originally a classical violinist, integrates smooth strings with jump tunes in arrangements as danceable as they are exc