Wednesday, July 30, 2008

In the mood

In honor of Southern California's recent earthquake I'd like to present this video of Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Orchestra performing In the Mood. You're right, there's no logical connection between the two.



Watch for two wonderful moments.

The one - an aerial trick by the trombones. I wish the french horn player would do it too.

The other - a textbook example of how not to overuse a full string section.

Yes.

Here's another video of In the mood which impresses me a lot more. (Even if they do occasionally move their hands in the wrong direction when imitating a trombone slide.)

Mood Tags: . . . . . .

7 comments :

Pasadena Adjacent said...

My mother has a battery operated flower pot with four daisies in it. When you press the "on" button a computer chip plays "In The Mood" while the daisies move up and down like pistons. I do believe I was conceived during the playing of that tune.

ericnp said...

Wasn't this cat's radio show sponsored by Chesterfield cigarettes? Is that the deal with all the smoke? Or maybe dis be hemp jazz?

Got me swingin' baby, almost flung my Lucy girl through the ceiling.

Peter (the other) said...

Considering that a class of some 40 freshman types at UCLA,just this summer, proved ignorant of Rossini's Overture to William Tell (how is that possible?) and even The Lone Ranger, I have found what is sticking around, and what isn't, an interesting subject. In The Mood is still here at some 70 years.

David Ocker said...

Thanks for the comments guys.

P.A.: Your last sentence might have been a tad too much information.

R.Z.: The Tex Beneke clip looks like it's from a movie - judging by the way it's cut and the crummy solos in the saxophone trio. But a Google search for "tex beneke" and "chesterfield" turned up a lot of hits. You're probably right. (People might want to know that Lucy is your cat.)

P. (t.o.): One of the Baristas at my local Starbucks (where you were once) always asks me what I'm listening to on my iPod. Recently I've been listening to tunes from this amazing collection. I told him that I had downloaded a bunch of "78s". He said "What are 78s?".

Pasadena Adjacent said...

Does the title "The Real JeJune Vasectomy"? fall under the same category? We are both "a tad too informative".

I'm enjoying your music. I've passed your blog onto the composer and "jack of all trades" George Zelenz. He lives in Joshua Tree. Maybe you know him, a good guy.

David Ocker said...

Does the title "The Real JeJune Vasectomy"? fall under the same category?


I don't think that title is anything except maybe a little bit suggestive. It actually arose from KUSC announcer Jim Svedja's attempt to help people spell his name mnemonically (which I still can't do) using lines like "v for vasectomy" and "j for jejune".

Personally I've only ever had one operation on that particular part of my anatomy - when I was 8 days old. (Oooh, yes, more information than you probably wanted.)

Thanks for the complement. I'll finally be posting Poof, You're A Pimp -it's 12 minutes long - very soon now. I'll understand if you want to retract your comment after hearing that.

I don't remember ever meeting George (which doesn't mean it never happened. My memory is not what it used to be.)

Peter (the other) said...

Wow! Cool collection. Speakin' of William Tell, that is a swingin' rendition by Alvino Ray.

Some day, if I ever phinish the phd, I look forward to visiting again!