Glenn Miller

Glen Miller (1904-1944) was a famous American Jazz musician and band leader in the Swing era. One of his most famous pieces was In the Mood, probably the most well-known recording of the style.

During the 1930's, Miller worked as a trombonist in several big bands, before forming his first band in 1937, but it failed to distinguish itself from the many others of the era. Returning to New York after it broke up, at some point (Miller himself apparently could not recall exactly when) soon after he realised that his band's distinctive reed sound, formed by the clarinet and tenor saxophone playing the melody line with a number of other saxes harmonising, should be emphasised and that the sound might lift him above the crowd of other big bands of the era.

He formed a second band, the Glen Miller orchestra, in 1938, which immediately attracted attention and big crowds to venues, and a series of recordings followed. On February 11 1941 Glen Miller was presented with his 1st Gold record for Chattanooga Choo Choo.

His other popular hits included "Pennsylvania 6-5000", and "Moonlight Serenade".

In 1942 Miller joined the US Airforce to play for American troops overseas. On December 14, 1944, he was scheduled to fly from England to Paris to play for the soldiers that had recently liberated the city. His plane went down somewhere over the English Channel, and his remains were never recovered.

Miller's music is familiar to many born long after his death, after its use in a number movies (notably "Moonlight Serenade" in [[Tom Hanks]]' "Big"). In 1989, it was even used as the instrumental theme for Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers "Swing the Mood", a compilation mix that also included many early rock and roll tunes and was a number one single in Britain, Australia, and several other countries.