Andy Williams of Moon River fame has cancer

The Tri-Lakes News of Branson Missouri reported that the silver-haired "Moon River" singer Andy Williams appeared the Moon River Theatre Saturday night and told the audience "I do have cancer of the bladder," Williams said. "But that is no longer a death sentence. People with cancer are getting through this thing. They're kicking it, and they're winning more and more every year. And I'm going to be one of them."

The singer had missed performances this fall due to the previously undisclosed medical condition. He said that he would likely miss his holiday schedule as well, and vowed to return next year to celebrate his 75th year in show business.
 
Williams had a string of hits in the 1950s and '60s, including "Can't Get Used to Losing You" and "Butterfly, but he is best known for his version of "Moon River." He earned 18 gold and three platinum albums in his career.

Williams hosted annual Christmas specials on television and performed Christmas shows on the road for many years. His 1963 recording, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," is a Christmas standard.

The Iowa native also hosted an Emmy-winning variety television program "The Andy Williams Show," from 1962-71. He published an autobiography, "Moon River and Me: A Memoir," in 2009.

Artie Shaw Orchestra concert in New Jersey November 19

The Artie Shaw Orchestra, one of the most compelling big-bands ever, returns to Centenary Stage Company (CSC) in Hackettstown, NJ for a one-night-only concert on Saturday, November 19^th  at 8 PM in The Whitney Chapel on campus of Centenary College. 

Dubbed “the king of swing” after his hit, Begin the Beguine, Artie Shaw (Photo above) was thereafter renown for his innovative combination of instruments.  This power-house big band has accompanied the likes of Tony Bennett, Jack Jones and Buddy DeFranco.   The band was featured at the Newport Jazz Festival, and they have toured worldwide.  The orchestra is currently under the direction of clarinetist Matt Koza  and will play many of the original arrangements that made the orchestra so popular in the 40’s and 50’s. On the eve of America's entry into World War II, TIME magazine reported that to the German masses the United States meant "sky-scrapers, Clark Gable, and Artie Shaw."  Some 42 years after that, in December  l983, Artie Shaw made a brief return to the bandstand, after thirty years away from music, to launch this latest (and still touring) orchestra at the newly refurbished Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, New York.

 “There's nothing like it,” said Matt Koza, director of the orchestra said,“…to stand in front of the band, to play the music, to be surrounded by the full sound of the brass and the rhythm section, it’s an unparalleled experience.”

Tickets for the Artie Shaw Orchestra can be purchased at www.centenarystageco.org or by calling the CSC Box Office at (908)979-0900. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 day of show. 

The Nov 19^th  performance of the Artie Shaw Orchestra is made possible in part through the support of the Hackettstown Trading Post.   Jazz events at CSC are spearheaded by CSC Board Chairman Ed Coyne and Coyne Enterprises.   

The Centenary Stage Company is a not-for-profit performing arts series, in residence at Centenary College, dedicated to serving as a cultural resource for audiences of the Skylands region with professional music, theatre and dance events and arts education programs throughout the year.    All programs at the Centenary Stage Company are made possible in part through the visionary support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, and CSC members and sponsors, including CSC Premiere Sponsors Heath Village and Fulton Bank (formerly Skylands Community Bank), as well as Hackettstown Regional Medical Center and Mama’s and Café Baci. ##

Diana Krall moves Florida concert date

Attention Diana Krall concert ticket holders in Florida;

Van Wezel reports that Diana Krall has moved all of her Florida dates, including her Wed. Feb. 15th date at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. The new date will be Tuesday, March 27 @ 8:00 PM.


The pop-jazz songstress was recently invited by the legendary Paul McCartney to collaborate on a project for the upcoming Grammys! For Diana Krall to participate this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and she still will be able to be at the Hall in March.

If you have already purchased/received tickets to Diana Krall, you may use the same ticket (dated 2/15) for entrance into the 3/27 performance. YOUR TICKET WILL BE VALID.

Please contact the Van Wezel Box Office at 941-953-3368 for more details regarding ticketing, and if you cannot attend on the new date you can receive an online credit or refund.

If you haven't purchased tickets yet, a limited number of seats are still available. Ticket prices range from $30 to $115. Contact the Van Wezel Box office at or log onto http://www.vanwezel.org/.

Who wrote the Nat Cole hit Route 66?

Q. I know that Nat Cole got his kicks on "Route 66," Did he write the song?
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A. Nat "King" Cole had a number one hit in 1946 with his Capitol 78 rpm recording of "Route 66." The composer is listed as musician Bobby Troup, but he did not compose it alone. Read on.

First here are the lyrics;

Well if you ever plan to motor west,
Just take my way , that's the highway that's the best.
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six.
Well it winds from Chicago to LA
More than two-thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six.
Well it goes through St. Louie down to Missouri
Oklahoma City looks oh so pretty.
You'll see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff, Arizona, don't forget Winona,
Kingsman, Barstow, San Bernardino.
Won't you get hip to this timely tip
And think you'll take that California trip.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.

Here is the story behind the song:

At a party in Hollywood in the 1970's I was introduced to Mrs. Bobby Troup. I was very surprised with the introduction because I knew that Bobby Troup was married to a magnificent singer (and beauty) by the name of Julie London... and this lady was clearly not Julie London. First name Cynthia.

This Mrs. Bobby Troup told me this tale about when she was the first wife of Troup: They were living modestly in Lancaster, Pennsylvania at the end of World War II and Bobby Troup had decided that 'if I'm going to make it in the music business I've got to go to LA.' So they drive cross country to Los Angeles and while they motor on a long boring stretch of US Route 66, they play word games coming up with the lyrics to a song ('I get my kicks on route 66')... which, of course, was the classic 'Route Sixty-Six.'
When they arrived in Los Angeles and rented a small apartment they were almost penniless. Bobby Troup set their lyrics to music, peddled it around and eventually convinced Johnny Mercer's new record company Capitol to record it with their top star, Nat Cole.

Within weeks after its release the song was a nationwide hit - in fact it reached #1. AND the royalties from this one song provided enough money to buy a house.

Now an all too familiar story; A few years later, Troup produced Julie London's million selling hit record 'Cry Me A River.' He divorced Cynthia and married Julie five years later."

Here is a video of my Memory Lane Presentations "lecture" about the birth of the song aboard a cruise ship (Celebrity's Constellation), It is part of a "lecture" on the "Great American Songbook." For more about the lecture service, please visit www.memory-lane.org

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Whatever happened to Glenn Miller's wife?

Glenn and Helen

Q. Whatever happened to Glenn Miller's wife?

A. For the first few years after Glenn's disappearance she was actively involved in the corporations he had set up, primarily Glenn Miller Productions, and in working with his estate to re-launch the orchestra under the direction of lead saxophonist and vocalist Tex Beneke.

She was also faced with raising their two adopted children alone, so as relations with the Beneke-led band deteriorated during the late 1940s she moved away from direct involvement with Glenn's music. In 1953 and 1954 she assisted with aspects of the biopic The Glenn Miller Story, starring Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson.

There is speculation that her disagreements with Tex Beneke over the band's musical direction were in part responsible for the fact that he was entirely written out of the script.

During the 1950s and early 60s Helen Miller was almost completely uninvolved with her late husband's music, except for giving occasional interviews to close friends such as biographer (and former Miller musician and confidant) George T. Simon. Notably, Simon refused to either deny or confirm the heartbreaking rumor that Helen had kept many of Glenn's personal effects in their bedroom and even prepared his bed every evening, just in case he should miraculously return ...

Helen Burger Miller died in 1966 at age 64. Her passing was mentioned in some newspapers but received little other notice.