Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller was an American jazz trombonist, composer, and bandleader whose orchestra became one of the most popular big bands of the swing era.
Helen Miller: Helen Burger Miller was Glenn Miller’s wife and a steward of his musical legacy after his disappearance. She helped preserve his orchestra and music after his wartime disappearance.
Swing music: Swing is jazz built around a lilting rhythmic feel, syncopation, and ensemble improvisation. Miller’s orchestra was one of swing’s most commercially successful expressions.
Moonlight Serenade: “Moonlight Serenade” is a 1939 instrumental composition by Glenn Miller, recorded by his orchestra. Its clarinet-led melody became an emblem of Miller’s orchestral sound.
Jazz Age: The Jazz Age was the period when jazz gained broad popular influence, especially during the 1920s. Miller’s early career began amid the expanding popularity of jazz and dance bands.
American Forces Network: The American Forces Network is a radio and television service for U.S. military personnel and their families abroad. Miller’s military broadcasts carried his music to service members during World War II.
Tex Beneke: Tex Beneke was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader associated with Glenn Miller’s orchestra. His saxophone and vocals became central to Miller’s recordings, and he later led the postwar orchestra.
Big band: A big band is a large jazz ensemble organized around saxophone, brass, and rhythm sections. The big-band format supplied the sections and scale behind Miller’s arrangements.
In the Mood: “In the Mood” is a swing instrumental arranged by Joe Garland and recorded by Glenn Miller’s orchestra in 1939. The recording made Miller’s orchestra’s driving swing style widely recognizable.
Ben Pollack: Ben Pollack was an American jazz drummer and bandleader who led a prominent dance orchestra in the 1920s and 1930s. Miller played in Pollack’s band, gaining experience in a professional ensemble.
World War II: World War II was a global conflict fought from 1939 to 1945 between the Allied and Axis powers. Miller joined the U.S. Army Air Forces and disappeared during the war while traveling over the English Channel.