1. In the Mood
2. Pennsylvania 6-5000
3. Don't Sit under the Apple Tree
4. Moonlight Serenade
5. American Patrol
6. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
7. String of Pearls
8. Chattanooga Choo-Choo
9. Little Brown Jug
10. Tuxedo Junction
11. At Last
12. St Louis Blues March
13. Song of the Volga Boatmen
14. Adios
The review copy I received came without any sleeve-note, number or personnel details; perhaps they are military secrets!
Most of these tracks are faithful copies of the original Miller recordings made by a nice precise band in ideal recording conditions. If you listen to the Syd Lawrence Band doing the same thing, they follow a similar pattern, but the rhythm section uses more modern, lighter rhythms, which I think improves the overall sound. The voices used in Don't Sit under the Apple Tree and Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy are very good indeed: that style of vocal is usually quite difficult to achieve. The saxes are not so well balanced in String of Pearls, but the solos are well played and the dynamics are good.
Chattanooga is very well performed by orchestra and vocalists alike and the mood of the original is caught very well. Little Brown Jug is a more difficult piece than most musicians will acknowledge and the band plays it well. The Song of the Volga Boatmen is another of the more difficult Miller charts and the band is well up to the challenge!
I presume that one of the purposes of this disc was that it could be sold at concerts played by the band and at RAF Central Band performances and it will achieve that end adequately. Audiences never tire of Glenn Miller!
Don Mather
CD Reviews
Decca 2736453
