This week's Night Lights show looks at Glenn Miller's amazing 1943-1945 Army Air Force band, which included musicians such as pianist Mel Powell, clarinetist Peanuts Hucko, drummer Ray McKinley, and singer Johnny Desmond. The show includes excerpts from an interview I did several years ago with AAF trombonist Nat Peck (who was 19 when he joined Miller's group in 1943) and historian Michael McGerr, as well as music that represents the varied aspects of the AAF--the Uptown Hall Gang (performing one of the earliest versions of "A Night In Tunisia"), Strings With Wings, and the full AAF, including a rare 1944 broadcast with Bing Crosby. Up for online listening on Veterans' Day:
Glenn Miller Goes To War With The Army Air Force Band
(Note: there is an expanded "director's cut" version of this show, which is derived from a previous program that I did for WFIU, embedded in the program post. It includes more music and more remarks from Nat Peck--who passed away not long ago, and may have been the last surviving member of the band.)