Dillinger but big bands too in the 1930s!

See the little arrow in the photo below, part of the promotional billing? The arrow points to Ralph E. Williams when he was a vibrant young guy in college. "Most popular dance orchestra on the University of Minnesota campus." 
Wouldn't it be wonderful to go back in time and listen? The big band concept was really blossoming. It would provide a backdrop for the WWII years in America. My father Ralph got his undergraduate degree from the U of M in 1939. He went on to be a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy in WWII, serving in the Pacific theater. 
The U of M never drifted far from him. He spent the 1950s teaching music at the U's St. Paul School of Agriculture. Then, as the schools of ag were fading into obsolescence, he came out to Morris for the most significant chapter in his life: launching the University of Minnesota-Morris music department, serving as the only music faculty in the first year here, directing a kaleidoscope of ensembles, and being active faculty through 1978. 
Please continue reading below the poster image.

 
The 1930s were the time of John Dillinger but also the "big bands" with their exciting and full sound. Liz Morrison quoted my father reflecting on the adventurous college period of his life.
 
My father died of cancer when I was 16 years old, so I earned my way through college by playing trumpet in dance bands. During the school year, I played with "Swifty" Ellickson, a well-known Twin Cities band leader in the 1930s. At one of our dance jobs, Glenn Miller stopped by, and I had a chance to visit with him. His band was playing at the old Nicollet Hotel in Minneapolis.

Liz got background from Dad on the summer phase of that chapter:

Montana musician: During the summers, I worked in dance bands at hotels in Glacier Park, Montana. I played trumpet and doubled on saxophone, clarinet, and violin. During dinner, I played piano concerts. I performed at Glacier for four years. In the summer of 1940, I led the band. We were Ralph Williams and his Campus Nighthawks. The reason we were the Campus Nighthawks was, I had bought some used music stands from another band leader, and the stands all had "CN" on them.
Trail guide, too: In addition to performing every night at Glacier Park, during the day I guided horseback trips in the Rocky Mountains. I had practically grown up on horseback.
Clothes make the man: The real Montana cowboys used to give me their castoff riding clothes and boots, so I really did look like a cowboy. Then every night, I would get all dressed up in a tuxedo. I didn't usually tell people I guided up the mountain that I was also in the orchestra, and vice versa.
The cost of an education: As a musician and trail guide at Glacier, I earned my train fare, room, board, and $35 a month. Tuition at the University then was $21 a quarter. So I was able to earn all my tuition during the summers. In the winter, I earned my room and board playing in bands and slinging hash. Some months, I even made a little extra.

Saxes, trumpets weave melodies
I'd wager that "Swifty's" group came pretty close to approximating the sound of the Miller band.
The war would sweep Mr. Miller into its vortex. He plied his music overseas as we all learned in the movie story of his life starring Jimmy Stewart. Oh, and June Allyson as Glenn's squeeze. The movie was emotionally moving. (Harry Morgan was at the piano!)
My father was very much at risk in the Pacific but survived. Tragically, Glenn Miller did not. The plane he was riding in did not arrive as scheduled in France. The exact details of his demise have never been known. Many theories have floated around. The most likely story? Perhaps that his plane was struck by discharged ordnance from Allied aircraft, in other words a friendly fire accident.
The Miller band's music was showcased wonderfully in movies like "Orchestra Wives" and "Sun Valley Serenade." His classic "In the Mood" was fresh in 1941 when showcased in "Sun Valley Serenade." The scene can be enjoyed music video-style today. I'm amused by the bass player who was really "into it" in a manner that suggests, well, being high? Very likely he was not but his persona was probably a little edgy for the time.
I have read, and my own listening confirms, that Miller's was not a "jazz band." That's because everything was planned so tightly, there was no improvisation. Listen to the trumpet solo on "String of Pearls." It's played note-for-note the same every time. Naturally a musician playing these charts today can take some license. But Miller wanted everything "just so" to create the most appealing sound for the purpose of record sales. And Miller truly had his heyday for record sales.
My, how would his career have progressed post-war? Economics ended up working against the big bands. Economics always influences pop music. I have read the criticism that the Miller band was over-rehearsed. Well fine, if the objective is to produce a "packaged" sound. If that was Miller's intent, what he truly wanted, well fine, it's his prerogative.
The thing is, the type of band he led, or you see being led by Ellickson, has the makeup that suggests a more loose presentation. Let the musicians loose sometimes with their spontaneous instincts, the raw talent.
I must confess I read a chapter in a book once by a guy who had been turned off by Miller. Apparently the bandleader sometimes liked to fire a band member almost at random, just to scare all the others, keeping them in line. It's a turn-off for me too, but it's a free country.

An enduring tune
The "West Central All-Stars," featured so many years with our UMM Jazz Festival, played "In the Mood" a number of times. I smile as I remember Cal Schmidt playing the trumpet solo once. He was the Morris High School band director. I thought Cal was really headed into an avant garde approach with the solo, really "hip" or whatever, like in cool jazz? Oh, but it seems the guy really just got one note off the beat! If anyone got fooled, what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

Ralph E. Williams, 1960-61

My father certainly had the background to introduce jazz at UMM. He did everything else. But in 1960, "jazz" had connotations that were at the margins of polite society, eh? Looking at the Ellickson poster, I'm intrigued as I wonder if Dad could have made jazz fly at UMM. It's hindsight now. It's easy to think the taboo could have been broken, that our musicians could have "sold" jazz in the more Puritanical time! Easy to think now, probably not practical at all then.
I believe women's sports didn't exist at all in 1960. Imagine a world with no women's sports.
The world was ready for jazz in colleges by the mid-1970s. So one of Dad's former students, Jim Carlson - he's in the 1962 photo of the UMM men's chorus - really got the wave going for jazz here. Man, what an institution the UMM Jazz Festival became! Today, jazz at UMM is a little more understated, a little more proportional with the other music phases. Recently I attended the UMM concert that showcased works by women composers. The concert closed with UMM Jazz Ensemble I directed by Jonathan Campbell.
Campbell is always so relaxed and on top of things - I enjoy his demeanor. He acts like he's never in a big hurry and this is a compliment. Erin Christensen of the UMM staff called me the other day and in the course of that conversation, I told her that the Jazz I performance was as deep, rich and impressive as I've ever heard here. Too bad it was just one tune.
If the "Swifty" Ellickson orchestra sounded anything like that, it surely was boffo!
The Ralph and Martha Williams Fund does its part to keep UMM music as strong and exciting as possible. We just need to get through this troubling pandemic thing. Such an unfortunate bump in the road. So sad the UMM choir could not visit Peru. Their send-off concert was boffo.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Ralph E. Williams leads UMM orchestra rehearsal, 1960-61