Download Instrumental    Nothing says “Big Band” better than Glenn Miller.  Mr. Miller first recorded “Moonlight Serenade” as an instrumental, although lyrics had already been written for his melody.  It was released as the B-side to a song called “Sunrise Serenade” (do we detect a theme here?), but “Moonlight” was far more popular – proving to be The Glenn Miller Band’s breakout hit. In 1959, a doo-wop group called The Rivieras recorded it with vocals and it had modest success.  Then, Sinatra got the nod in ’66 and his version went straight to the top of the charts.  Personally, I preferred Carly Simon’s take on this song – which is what I used as a basis for this arrangement.

Glenn Miller was the best-selling recording artist from 1939 until 1944.  He had 23 number one hits in just four years – more than Elvis or The Beatles had in their entire careers.  His band churned out gems like “In the Mood”, “At Last”, “Chattanooga Choo Choo” and “A String of Pearls” like an assembly line of Big Band classics.  His secret to developing that signature “Glenn Miller” sound was to let a clarinet take the melody line with a tenor sax playing the same notes – then having three other saxophones providing harmony underneath it all.  This unique style differentiated him from all the other big bands playing the late 30’s.  That’s all it takes, folks – just be different from everybody else.  Hell, I should be a superstar!

In 1944 during World War II, Miller flew from the United Kingdom to France to make arrangements to move his entire band to Paris.  The plan was to entertain the troops there for a month, then head back to the United States for a much-needed rest.  It was foggy and cold (typical England) and the plane was flying low.  Suddenly, it just vanished – presumably plunging into The English Channel.  Glenn Miller was never seen again.  The mystery of his death takes many twists and turns and to this day nobody knows exactly what happened.  It could have been as simple as the engines freezing up – or Allied planes returning from a mission discarding their unused bombs over Miller’s plane – or even a dark theory that he was involved in espionage somehow.  We may never know for sure, but at least we’ve got “Moonlight Serenade”.  Unlike most of the trash passing for music today, the “Miller Sound” will last forever.