Glen was just one of the sax players in the Casa Loma Orchestra, which was formed around 1929 as a cooperative group, but as time passed and bandleaders began to become big stars he was elected to be the front man. It turned into the best gig of his life. The band was successful for many years, with a solid and professional sound that yielded a number of hits, and Glen ended up as one of the big names in swing.
Many years after the group had ceased to exist as a
touring band, he reconstructed the group as a studio band, using some of the same guys and adding a few new ones. They then brought out some of their most successful albums, a series of records on the Capitol label that paid tribute to many of the bands of the Swing era, recreating their biggest hits almost note for note. The first of those, Sounds of the Great Bands, was the album Louie played for me that night in his basement.
To give you a taste of Glen's music, I'm going to start with a song from the re-issue of that original LP, which was renamed Swinging Sounds of the Great Bands. It's a tune with an infectious beat, made famous by Bobby Sherwood's band — "Elks' Parade". Then I'm going to fudge a little and pull a song from a different album because I wanted to include one of the Casa Loma Orchestra's own hits. It's their theme song, "Smoke Rings" (from Glen Gray's Greatest).
Enjoy the music of the reluctant bandleader!
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