Repertory Ensemble to get 'In the Mood' with Glenn Miller

The Lab Jazz Band will join the ensemble to salute the swing era and Miller, who had a parade of chart-topping hits such as "In the Mood" from 1939-42. Admission to the concert is free.

The concert represents a debut of sorts for the American Music Repertory Ensemble whose parent group, the American Music Review, was created by Bill Kisinger in 1968.

Under Kisinger's guidance, the group evolved from a theme-park style show band to a swing era big band. When Kisinger retired in the spring, M.T. "Mo" Trout took over the group and decided to push its definition one step further - to performing music by the greatest jazz composers of the 20th century and presenting it exactly as it was created.

"When you look at all the big bands, Glenn Miller was easily the most popular," Trout said. "He had the most hits and is still the best known today."

Kisinger's group had a vocal tradition of singers with the big band, and Miller's big band also used a lot of different vocals, so it's a nice transition from American Music Review into this new concept, Trout said.

It was Miller's distinctive sound along with the fact that his band was so well rehearsed and polished that set him apart, he said.

Miller, who suffered through less than successful band experiences, realized that he needed a unique sound and dedicated himself to finding it, Trout said. After a lot of work, he decided to make the clarinet play a melodic line with a tenor saxophone on the same note, while three saxophones harmonized. The idea clicked with the band and the public loved the sound, Trout said.

Before him, Count Basie had used layered rhythmic riffs behind his instrumental soloists, but Trout said "Glenn Miller had more imaginative uses that didn't rely on soloists."

He described Miller's sound as "a good balance between the sweet sound of the time - relying less on pure and more on the melody - and pure swing. Most bands of the day were known as either 'hot' swing bands or sweet bands. Miller could do both."

Featured Miller works on the concert, performed by American Music Repertory Ensemble, include his famed "In the Mood," "Moonlight Serenade," "Pennsylvania 6-5000" and "Little Brown Jug."

Trout said another great showcase of Miller's style is "Caribbean Clipper."

He said Miller's use of trumpets in the piece "creates a really unique sound that was not heard in other big bands. It's a very fast, swing jump tune with lots of high trumpet parts."

The Jerry Gray tune "Sun Valley Jump," also on the program, layers melodies and patterns in the same way as "In the Mood."

"Surprisingly, it's not as well known as 'In the Mood,' but I think it's the better piece," Trout said.

Representing the sweet vein of Miller's jazz is "Serenade in Blue," which was written for the movie "Orchestra Wives" in 1942 and has a symphonic beginning, he said.

As was common in the swing era, Trout said "this piece starts out with a long instrumental introduction before the vocalists come in."

Alex Woods, a senior in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics from Coos Bay, Ore., is the featured singer on the piece.

Three female singers - Rachel Kirkpatrick, a sophomore in the College of Liberal Arts from West Lafayette, Ind., Darby Brignac, a sophomore in the College of Science from Jasper, Ind., and Erica Bourdage, a freshman in the College of Engineering from Carmel, Ind., - bring the Andrews Sisters to life performing "Rum and Coca-Cola," dominated by calypso rhythms, and "Apple Blossom Time."

One of the American Music Repertory Ensemble's trombonists, Bryant Gilliam, a sophomore in the School of Management from Indianapolis, shifts to the vocal spotlight for "I Got a Gal From Kalamazoo." Trout said Gilliam re-creates the amiable singing style of Tex Beneke that made Miller's novelty numbers big hits.

Trout said the band, in keeping with its mandate, will perform the full concert version of the tune instead of the condensed version.

To open the concert, the Lab Jazz Band will perform an array of jazz standards including "Take the A Train," "Perdido," "Moonlight in Vermont" and a Latin jazz piece "I Let the Songo Out of My Heart."

All three of Purdue's jazz groups, the American Music Repertory Ensemble, the Purdue Jazz Band and Lab Jazz Band, will next be featured in concert at 8 p.m. on Nov. 17 in Loeb Playhouse. For information on upcoming concerts at Purdue, including orchestra and symphonic band events.

Writer: Kathy Matter, Purdue Bands public relations director, (765) 496-6785, kcmatter@purdue.edu

Related Web site:
Purdue University Bands

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