Originally published in Jersey Jazz - Reprinted by permission of the New Jersey Jazz Society
In 1935, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra recorded "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" on the Victor record label. Written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, it had become a hit in 1934 when Eddie Cantor sang it on his radio show. The Dorsey version featured vocals by Cliff Weston and Edythe Wright, and the current Tommy Dorsey Orchestra will perform it at the band's "Sentimental for the Season" holiday show on Sunday, December 15, 2024, at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts in Toms River, NJ.
"It was one of the first recordings Tommy did as leader of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra," said trombonist Jeff Bush, current Director of the TD Orchestra. "I'm transcribing it off the record because, to my knowledge, it has been lost. It has that '30s kind of sound."
In addition, there will be a new version of Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song" and today's edition of Dorsey's Clambake Seven doing its interpretation of Johnny Marks' "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." There will also be a rendition of "We Three Kings" in "the 'Sing, Sing Sing' vein."
The Clambake Seven was a small group within the main Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, which gave its members solo freedom and the ability to play more jazz-flavored arrangements. The original Clambake Seven included such well-known jazz musicians as tenor saxophonist Bud Freeman, trumpeter Pee Wee Erwin, clarinetist Johnny Mince, and drummer Dave Tough.
Non-holiday music, Bush added, will include "a lot of big band arrangements staying close to the style of the swing era of big bands and a couple of things Ernie Wilkins did for Tommy Dorsey in the 1950s. And, of course, all the hits such as 'Opus One', 'Song of India', Boogie Woogie', and 'Sunny Side of the Street'."
The song, "Opus One", composed by Sy Oliver, was a hit for the Dorsey Orchestra when it was released after the American Federation of Musicians' recording ban ended in 1944. It was recorded and rearranged for the band's return to RCA studios. The rearrangement was notable for the solo by clarinetist Buddy DeFranco.
"Boogie Woogie" was composed and recorded by pianist Clarence "Pinetop" Smith in 1928. It became a hit for the Dorsey Orchestra in the early 1940s and is considered the second most popular song of the swing era, surpassed only by Glenn Miller's "In the Mood".
Bush, who joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in 2000 when trombonist Buddy Morrow was the leader, has played with the band on and off for 24 years. He was named its leader in August of this year. Growing up in Vandergrift, PA, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Bush started his music education playing banjo and piano but switched to trombone in the fifth grade, "because I was tall, and the band director said, 'You can reach out to these positions.'"
Over the years as a freelance musician, Bush has played with the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band, the Count Basie Orchestra, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and the Harry Connick Big Band, among others. He also got to perform twice with the late saxophonist/composer Benny Golson, who passed away in September at the age of 95 (Jersey Jazz, October 2024). "It was a great honor," he said. "They were both big band dates -- one was at Cleveland State University in 2008. The other time was in Pittsburgh with the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra within the last 10 years."
Bush's one album as a leader is Ain't So Bad to Swing (Beezwax Records: 2010). Reviewing it for Pittsburgh Magazine, Gordon Spencer wrote that Bush "has a mellow tone with touches of Jack Teagarden, Vic Dickenson, and Bill Harris and lopes and jumps with fundamental joy, keeping the sextet's variations concise and lighthearted." Other members of the album's sextet are multireedist Scott Robinson, guitarist James Chirillo, pianist John Colianni, drummer Kevin Dorn, and bassist Matt Hughes.
In his book, The Big Bands (Collier Books: 1974), George Simon described the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra as "the greatest all around dance band, and nobody could come close when it came to playing ballads." To Bush, "When you listen to Tommy's band as a dance band, he really could do it all. He was an innovator when it came to that sweet trombone sound, setting the mood. In the late 1930s, he hired Sy Oliver away from Jimmy Lunceford to add a little of the swing era flavor. And, there are a couple of things that Tadd Dameron did for Tommy in the '50s, which you wouldn't expect."
The Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts is located on College Drive in Toms River, NJ. The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra concert begins at 3 p.m. on the Main Stage. For tickets and information, visit GruninCenter.org, email grunincenter@ocean.edu or call (732) 255-0500.
The New Jersey Jazz Society is a non-profit organization of business and professional people, musicians, teachers, students and listeners working together for the purpose of advancing jazz music. Their mission is to promote and preserve America’s original art form – jazz. The Society seeks to ensure continuity of the jazz art form through its commitment to nurture and champion local talent, along with showcasing outstanding national and international artists providing for the younger generation via arts education programs.
TOP PHOTO: The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in a recent concert at the Blue Gate Performing Arts Center in Shipshewana, IN.
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