Whitey is fond of playing the valve trombone, and he played a little for me. Don't be too critical," he said before launching into a few songs. Here's what Whitey remembers of his two years with Miller while the band was stationed in New Haven and then Bedford, England:
It was clean work. We did mostly concerts and played while marching in parades and things. Then we started doing half-hour radio broadcasts from New Haven for CBS. My family listened to the broadcasts. Were they proud of me? They were a little bit proud, I suppose [laughs]. My older brother Charlie was a good tenor saxophonist. He played with Red Norvo and other good bands. I had a chance to have him sub in Glenn's band for a couple of days. He loved it.
Glenn was a nice man. He was a gentleman. There wasn't a nasty side to him that I could tell. And it was a pleasure playing those arrangements. I really loved listening to the Air Force Band while we played. All the guys did. There was something so uplifting about the music, and everyone was a joy to play with. I never missed a radio show or broadcast.
We played for troops, and they really loved the sound. They didn't applaud; they shouted and screamed. We were always polite, and the music reminded them of home. The boys appreciated it, and that was a good feeling.
Late that evening, he walked to the door to go back to where he was staying and said to us, See you tomorrow." He never told us where he was going. You kept that stuff kind of quiet then. Don Haynes, the band's manager, saw him off the next mornng at the airfield.
The Air Force Band was solid. We had some pretty good blowers and some great arrangers. But it wasn't simple music, as some people think [laughs]. Those arrangements were tough to play with just the right feel. That's why no one ever played them the same way.
JazzWax clip: Here's Johnny Desmond singing Long Ago and Far Away with Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band. Whitey Thomas is in the trumpet section. The arrangement is by Norman Leyden. Dig how the chart shifts smartly between peppy brass and sentimental strings...
Here's Whitey Thomas blowing up a storm recently with son Scott on drums...
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This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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