JULY 2020 NEWS by JAY and CHRISTOPHER POPA

THE LAST SIX WEEKS

While the world continues to suffer from the coronavirus

pandemic (and many people disregarding medical advice to

wear facial masks to protect themselves and others), our

family had to deal with the passing of our Mother, Mildred

Popa, on May 21st. She was in her 90s and still looking pretty

when the photo above was taken, and she would have been

97 on June 11th.

We were also saddened about a month later, on Father’s

Day which was June 21st, while continuing to cherish the

memory of our Father, Howard Popa, who died more than 25

years ago. The photo above is one of our favorite photos of

our Dad, taken when he served in the military during World

War II.

Our parents encouraged our enjoyment of big band music,

and not a day goes by that we don’t miss each of them and

keep them in our hearts and on our minds. Elsewhere on our

website, we’ve written more about them.

BIG BAND Alliance

MOM ESPECIALLY WOULD

HAVE ENJOYED THIS!

While our Dad seemed to go for the sweet songs like

Once in a While and My Reverie, our Mom’s favorite band was

Harry James. We think she would have enjoyed a James

session with this new book, Harry James: Trumpet Icon, by

Chuck Par-Due.

Par-Due was very qualified to write it, since he not only

knew Harry James (he always called him “Mr. James,” Harry

always called him “kid”), is a trumpet player himself who often

plays songs associated with Harry and sounds much like him,

is the administrator of the Harry James Music Appreciation

Group on Facebook, and is the husband of former James

band vocalist Cheryl Morris. Did we make the point that he’s a

big fan of Harry James?

Par-Due dedicated his book to longtime James band

secretary and friend Viola Monte (1924-2020), who was the

wife of band manager “Pee Wee” Monte, and official James

historian and collector and friend Dick Maher (1930-2017).

One of Harry’s children, Harry James, Jr., wrote the book’s

foreword.

There are 281 pages, 41 short chapters and about the

same number of photographs or illustrations.

What sets this apart from the 1999 James biography

trumpet blues: The Life of Harry James by Peter J. Levinson is

a much more personal approach, with Par-Due recalling how

he first met Harry, the times he saw James in-person, and

including comments by a variety of musicians who worked for

James from the ‘30s to the ‘80s.

Par-Due briefly covers James’ childhood (he doesn’t even

mention Harry’s birthdate), but those tales and facts are

available elsewhere. He almost completely avoids writing

about Harry’s life off the bandstand, such as his marriage to

actress and pin-up girl Betty Grable, or delving into Harry’s

private thoughts.

Instead, we learn about the musical matters that affected

James, including which brands of trumpet and trumpet

mouthpieces he played, who his favorite trumpeters were (in

1938 he named Armstrong, Spanier, Berigan, and

Beiderbecke and later admired Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis,

Fats Navarro, and Clifford Brown), his embouchure (his

“chops,” as musicians say), and the dental problems which

James had later in his career and threatened his livelihood.

Par-Due also writes at length about James’ recordings for

various labels, namely Brunswick, Columbia, Capitol, MGM,

Dot, London, Reader’s Digest, and Sheffield Lab.

Par-Due identifies both what he considers the

quintessential James, including such tunes as Flight of the

Bumblebee, Trumpet Blues, Ultra, Brazilian Sleigh Bells, and

Tango Blues, and his talented sidemen like (to name a few)

Claude Lakey, Dave Matthews, Nick Buono, Corky Corcoran,

Buddy Rich, Willie Smith, and Rob Turk.

Par-Due also makes notes of James’ appearances in

motion pictures and on television, including WGN-TV’s “The

Big Bands” in 1965 and a satisfying reunion with Helen

Forrest and Dick Haymes on “The Merv Griffin Show” in 1977,

as well as a nostalgic, live stage show from 1979-1981, “The

Big Broadcast of 1944.”

In our opinions, one of the best parts of Par-Due’s book are

the chapters toward the end titled “Harry James and Me-

1970,” “Harry and Me-1971-73,” and “Harry and Me-1979.” In

the first portion, Par-Due recalls his own upbringing, the

influence and love of his father, and how he got to meet for the

very first time and be James’ special guest on January 30,

1970.

The book is also quite compelling when Par-Due pays a

fond tribute to Viola Monte, and invites former James band

members to share stories about their time with Harry—there

are contributions from Les DeMerle, Bill Hicks, Tony Crapis,

Dave Stone, Bill Barrett, Hal Espinosa, Marty Harrell, Mike

Butera, Rita Graham, Tommy Porrello, Tony Scodwell, and

others.

Naturally, Chuck’s wife, Cheryl Monteiro Par-Due, tells

first-hand of her experiences as one of Harry’s vocalists, too.

This photo, taken in 1979, chronicles her tenure singing with

Harry, with saxophonist Mike Butera and bassist Ira Westley

shown as well.

As Harry said, “There’s only two kinds of music. If you like

it, it’s good. If you don’t like it, it’s bad!”

Thanks to Chuck Par-Due’s book, which he wrote with

care, personal knowledge, and enthusiasm, we are all

reminded that Harry James made a lot of good music.

LIVE BIG BAND MUSIC

The Coronavirus has also played havoc with the schedules

of the name big bands on the road. Until things can start to get

back to normal, please keep checking these and other bands’

websites for any updates about their performances.

COUNT BASIE: thecountbasieorchestra.com

JIMMY DORSEY: thejimmydorseyrchestra.com

TOMMY DORSEY: buddymorrowproductions.com

DUKE ELLINGTON: dukeellington.com

JAN GARBER: jangarber.com

HARRY JAMES: harryjamesband.com

GLENN MILLER: glennmillerorchestra.com

ARTIE SHAW: artieshaworchestra.com

NEW COMPACT DISC RELEASES

ARTIE SHAW AND HIS ORCHESTRA

“It Had to Be You: ‘Live’ Radio Broadcasts From 1938”

Sounds of YesterYear SOY 2193

GLENN MILLER AND HIS ORCHESTRA

“Moondreams”

Sounds of YesterYear SOY 2191

VARIOUS ARTISTS

“Juke Box Stars”

Sounds of YesterYear SOY 2195

FATS WALLER

“Rare Home Recordings”

Sounds of YesterYear SOY 2196

RALPH MARTERIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA

“The Ralph Marterie Singles Collection 1950-52”

Acrobat ADDCD3338

VARIOUS ARTISTS

“The 75th Anniversary VE Day Collection”

Acrobat ADDCD3335

THE STAN KENTON ORCHESTRA

“The Last Band: Final Concerts / Last Dance”

2-CD set produced by Roger Homefield and Jim Farrelly

VAUGHN MONROE

“Selected Singles 1934 - 1947”

and “Selected Singles 1948 - 1965”

My Fantastic Music 4-CD sets

EDDY HOWARD

“Selected Singles 1940 - 1947” and

“Selected Singles 1948 - 1957”

My Fantastic Music 4-CD sets

KAY KYSER

“Gloria Wood & Kay Kyser: The Complete Singles”

My Fantastic Music CD

VARIOUS

“Gentlemen of the 1940’s Sing Rarities” and

“Ladies of the 1940’s Sing Rarities”

My Fantastic Music 2-CD sets

NEW BLU-RAY DVD

PAUL WHITEMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA

“Strike Up the Band”

Warner Archives Blu-Ray

TIGHAR TALES

Recently, there have been at least three similar stories

published by the U.K. Express about the fate of Glenn Miller.

One of them, “Glenn Miller mystery: Real reason VE-day era

musician exposed,” quoted Ric Gillespie, an investigator with

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery

(TIGHAR), as saying that the December 15, 1944 flight with

Miller was “entirely illegal, unauthorised, unnecessary and

tragic.” Gillespie said that he believes the claims of a fisherman

who said he accidentally retrieved the Miller aircraft from the

bottom of the English Channel almost 25 years ago. The

un-named fisherman, “to his astonishment,” pulled out a plane

with its “nose facing upwards, landing gear, an engine and a

wing that had a white star” which matched the description of

Miller’s plane. TIGHAR provided this drawing of what it looked

like:

When the fisherman alerted the Coast Guard, he was told, “It

may be a war grave. You shouldn’t disturb it. Get rid of it. Cut

it loose and let go of it.” Gillespie says that he has

narrowed the area where the plane is now believed to be to

about a three square mile radius and TIGHAR is currently

trying to raise $30,000 to continue exploring there. As Dennis

Spragg of The Glenn Miller Archives at the University of

Colorado-Boulder has responded, “TIGHAR is not reporting the

discovery of the airplane but rather a possible (if we believe

improbable) location of the debris.” Spragg explains that since

no debris confirmed to be from C-64 44-70285 ever washed

ashore, the location of the wreckage is more likely to be

mid-Channel.

FROM THE FILES

SHEP FIELDS

JULY 1942 MACCAFERRI REEDS AD

with Bob Lawson, Babe Fresk, Berg Vaughn,

Thomas Lucas, Ray Eckstrand, Ben Glassman,

George Ford, Romero Penque, and Al Freistat

JIMMY DORSEY

JULY 1942 CONN INSTRUMENTS AD

LES BROWN

JULY 1942 MCA PROMOTIONAL AD

VARIOUS ARTISTS

including T Dorsey, Norvo, Butterfield,

Armstrong, and Hampton

JULY 1957 RCA VICTOR JAZZ LPS AD

NECROLOGY

DONN R. TRENNER, 93, d.5/16/2020. Pianist with Fio Rito

‘43-’45; Morrow ‘47; Barnet 51; J Gray; Auld; Brown.

LENNIE NIEHAUS, 90, d.5/28/2020. Alto saxophonist and / or

arranger with Kenton ‘51-’52 / ‘54-’59 / ‘60-’64.

ART HOYLE, 90, d.6/4/2020. Trumpeter who with jazz scholar

Dick Wang co-founded the so-called “Fletcher Basington

Orchestra” which featured the music of Fletcher Henderson,

Count Basie, and Duke Ellington.

VERA LYNN, 103, d.6/18/2020. Singer best known for World

War II ballads including We’ll Meet Again, (There’ll Be Bluebirds

Over) The White Cliffs of Dover, and There’ll Always Be An

England. Guest vocalist with Miller AAF.