In the early 1930’s, a new style of Jazz emerged that ultimately became known as the Swing Era. The Swing Era lasted from the early 1930’s to the late 1940’s, and was called the most popular kind of jazz music during the twentieth century. A main contributor during the Swing Era was trombonist and bandleader Glenn Miller. Miller had a reputation as the most popular bandleader in the United States. This reputation came relatively late in his career and only lasted about three and a half years, from the spring of 1939 to the fall of 1942. Miller began recording under his own name for Columbia Records on April 25, 1935. He had numerous top ten hits, including 17 in 1939, 31 in 1940, and 11 in 1941. The year 1942 marked the end of Miller’s dominance of popular music, being the first year of American participation in WWII. During the war, he organized a service band and began performing at military camps and war-bond rallies while hosting a weekly radio series named Sustain the Wings. While he was traveling to entertain U.S. troops in France during WWII, Glenn Miller disappeared in bad weather over the English Channel. Glenn Miller’s Album The Signature Series was released on May 1, 2001, and includes some of Miller’s top hits from the 1930’s and 1940’s.
The tracks on this album were recorded by Glenn Miller and the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Glenn Miller formed the Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1938. The orchestra was mainly arranged around a tenor saxophone and clarinet playing melody, while other saxophones played the harmony. After Glenn Miller disappeared in 1944, Tex Beneke, the band’s lead tenor saxophonist and singer, reconstructed the band. Al Klink was the other tenor saxophonist in the Glenn Miller Orchestra. The principal drummers in the Orchestra were Maurice "Moe" Purtill, who is best known today as the band’s featured drummer, and Ray McKinley, who was also the drummer in Miller’s Army Air Force band. Paul Tanner was the trombonist while Billy May and...