Glenn Miller Band Brings Down The House At UTC Fine Arts Center

The world famous Glenn Miller Orchestra brought the audience to its feet Friday night when they played the “Chattanooga Choo Choo” to a packed UTC Fine Arts Center auditorium.

The two-hour concert began with Mr. Miller’s famous theme “Moonlight Serenade.” The orchestra performed one number one song after the other along with a few standards from the “Great American Songbook.”

The applause meter would have gone to a 10 when the orchestra performed “In the Mood,” Mr. Miller’s number one song in 1939–40.

The orchestra’s stellar performances of “String of Pearls,” “American Patrol,” ”I know why and so do you,” “Pennsylvania 6-5000,” and “I’ve got a gal in Kalamazoo,” also brought a rousing response from the Miller fans.

But it was Mack Gordon and Harry Warren’s famous song “Chattanooga Choo Choo” that brought the crowd to their feet. With the audience wanting one more song, music director Erik Stabnau led the band in a rousing encore of the tune that the scenic city is known for. “Chattanooga Choo Choo” was the first gold record in music history. In 1941, it was number one on the billboard chart for nine consecutive weeks. The song is from one of two Glenn Miller movies, “Sun Valley Serenade.”

An audience favorite was the vocals of Miss Jenny Swoish, a beautiful and talented young singer from Nashville. Ms. Swoish performs over 200 concerts every year with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. She said she loves singing with the Miller Orchestra, saying, “It excites me when thousands of Miller fans express their thanks at hearing the sounds that bring back memories.”

Music City’s Swoish, who met fans at intermission and after the concert. stood at the product table greeting and autographing dozens of programs and her latest compact disc. The 12 songs in this project “Tonight in Dreamland” include, “Meet me tonight in Dreamland,” “The Very Thought of you,” “Over the Rainbow,” and a vocal version of the Glenn Miller theme, “Moonlight Serenade.”

Retired City Court Judge Russell Bean learned that Ms. Swoish was marrying drummer Dean Schweiger in a few months. Jokingly, the judge offered to perform the ceremony right then in the foyer of the fine arts center auditorium.

The original Miller Orchestra featured vocals by the Modernaires with Ray Eberle and Paula Kelly. Music director Stabnau recreates their harmonies with the fresh sound of the Moonlight Serenaders. They are front and center on “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”

The Glenn Miller Orchestra is on a tour of the United States that brought the band to Nashville last Thursday. The Miller orchestra recorded a segment of Mike Huckabee’s national TBN television program that airs this weekend. Their 80^th anniversary CD featured a vocal with the Miller Orchestra backing up country singer Crystal Gayle singing, “Sentimental Journey.”

The current orchestra is made up of members from all over including a young saxophone player from Tokyo, Japan and a pianist from Kenya.

At the age of 102, trumpeter Ray Anthony is the last member of an early Glenn Miller Orchestra that’s still alive.

Listening to this fine orchestra brought back memories of growing up listening to Luther Masingill every morning on WDEF radio. Luther enjoyed every Glenn Miller song but his favorite was “In the Mood.” The “Voice of Chattanooga” would have smiled every minute of Friday’s concert listening to the songs again that he played many many times on the radio. Luther once described Glenn Miller as the best of the big bands.

Glenn Miller performed over 500 shows on Armed Forces radio, later known as the American Forces Network, Europe.

Mr. Miller was said to have been very excited about an upcoming concert in Paris. Although Mr. Miller’s career ended unexpectedly in December, 1944, when he boarded a plane that was lost over the English Channel, his music has stood the test of time over 80 years later.