SCRATCHY old recordings of Glenn Miller Orchestra hits from the 1940s don’t generally help to attract young audiences to the orchestra’s shows these days.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But they have helped to develop what Rick Gerber describes as the “wow moment” that occurs when young people do hear the band perform live.
Gerber is musical director of the Glenn Miller Orchestra which is celebrating 80 years of performing the world’s favourite swing music.
The group is gearing up for its fourth tour of Australia, and Gerber and his 24-member tour party are excited.
“What’s especially gratifying is that we’re getting a lot of younger people to our shows,” Gerber said from his US home in Missouri.
It’s a phenomenon Gerber has observed at the orchestra’s sell-out concerts all around the world: 20-something and 30-something punters take their older relatives along to a gig and, against the odds, become big band fans themselves.
“We see young adults bringing their grandparents to our shows, and it rubs off on them,” Gerber said.
“They tell us that they’ve never seen or heard a big band live, and all they’d heard were old recordings from 1939 or 1940.
“And, of course, the sound recording techniques in those days don’t sound as good to a lot of modern ears that are used to the latest electronic stuff.
“But when they hear our band live, it’s like a moment of enlightenment.”
It’s evident to Gerber that timeless tunes such as Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Tuxedo Junction, A String of Pearls, Moonlight Serenade, Little Brown Jug, Pennsylvania 6-5000 and, of course, In the Mood, continue to not only resonate with older audiences who know and love the tunes, but still impress young punters, some of whom are hearing them for the first time.
Gerber was contracted by the Glenn Miller estate in 2001 to lead the orchestra.
It’s an honour and responsibility that he takes very seriously.
“We play the authentic, original arrangements of the songs from the Glenn Miller Library, and the personnel we have is an exact replication of the original Miller band which is five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones, bass, drums and both a male and female singer,” Gerber said.
“Then we have also added three university girls who do an excellent recreation of some of the hits of the Andrews Sisters and the McGuire Sisters.”
As musical director, Gerber said he had been spoiled for choice when it came to selecting musicians for the orchestra.
“Pardon my boasting, but I have some of LA’s best guys, and Los Angeles is one of the big magnates for live music, including for films and TV,” he said.
“There’s at least 50 well-qualified guys for every chair in the band, and I’m happy to say I have a waiting list for just about every position in the band.”
Gerber said it was no coincidence that “older guys” dominated his line-up.
“Some of the older guys I have selected because they really understand the style and how to play it correctly. It’s much more than just sight reading black notes on white paper,” he said.
“I’ve seen several university-type bands where they have excellent musicians that can sit down and sight read anything, and any difficult part. But it sounds very sterile. It does not have the really welded-together warmth of sound of the original band.”
Serious fans of Glenn Miller’s music, and the author and Miller researcher Ed Polic have declared Gerber’s line-up as the most authentic-sounding Miller orchestra on the planet.
The band will arrive in Sydney on September 6 to begin a national tour of 40-odd shows.
The tour will take in some major metropolitan venues such as the State Theatre in Sydney, and Adelaide Entertainment Centre, but the first show of the tour will be performed at The Art House, in Wyong, on Friday, September 8.
“This will be a new stop for us,” Gerber said.
“I love maps, so I got my Australian maps out and it looks like Wyong is about an hour’s drive north-east of Sydney,” he said.
“We enjoy new stops. Everyone’s looking forward to it.”
- Tickets start at $84.90. Book at thearthouse.com.au