Jan Garber was the ‘The Idol of the Airwaves’. He broadcast from the 1920s into the 1960s (you heard him on The Phantom Dancer from Las Vegas on CBS in 1965 two weeks back 2ser.com).

His band is still playing after 100 years. He’s this week’s Phantom Dancer featured band leader.

THE PHANTOM DANCER

Swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio in a non-stop mix by Greg Poppleton.

Mixed live-to-air on radio 2SER 107.3 Sydney since 1985.

The Phantom Dancer is re-broadcast on 22 radio stations of the Community Radio Network and online at 2ser.com. That’s where you can hear lots of past Phantom Dancers, too.

IN THIS WEEK’S PHANTOM DANCER MIX?

The Jan Garber feature and a whole mix of swing and jazz from live 1930s-50s radio. Read the full play list below.

The last hour of the mix is ALL VINYL.

JAN GARBER

Now playing as the Howard Schneider Big Band, violinist Jan Garber formed his first band, a quartet, in 1918. He was straight out of Combs Conservatory Of Music Philadelphia and World War 1 army service.

So Jan Garber’s music is now in its 100th year, though Jan himself left for the big ballroom in the sky in 1977.

He was an early regular radio broadcaster, starting at WLW Cincinnati in 1922, a high power station with a huge listening area, especially at night.

He had a ‘hot’ band in the 1920s, adopted the ‘sweet’ style in the 1930s, then changed to swing between 1941 and 1945 before his long term fans persuaded him back to the sweet style he was famous for.

BREAK

Jan’s break into top band popularity occured in early 1933 when he took over leadership of the ‘Little Freddie Large Orchestra’ from Canada.

The drawcard was Freddie Large’s lyrical lead alto saxophone. It was the Pied Piper to radio listeners, The band also had that important distinctive band necessary for any band to rise from the pack through the imaginative arrangements by band pianist, Doug Roe.

The new Garber Band sounded like Lombardo but with more bounce. It became an overnight sensation through network radio broadcasts from Chicago’s Trianon Ballroom.

It was during this time that the diminutive maestro was dubbed, ‘The Mighty Little Maestro of Modern Melody’.

SWING

In 1941, Garber switched to swing. This is the band we’ll mostly hear on this week’s Phantom Dancer.

Despite some distinctive and sometimes haunting arrangements that were signature Garber, the swing band was a financial disaster.

In late 1945 he returned to his tight, well-rehearsed and nonetheless swinging sweet style.

IDOL

During Garber’s swing period he became known as ‘The Idol of The Airlanes.’ WGN Radio Chicago announcer, Pierre Andre, spontaneously came up with that title during a live band broadcast.

Garber featured good singers in his band, many of whom went on to solo recording careers such as Alan Copeland and Tommy Traynor.

His daughter, Janis, was also an excellent singer with the band (you can hear her great voice on 1965 radio with Jan Garber as mixed in the 7 Aug Phantom Dancer, now online at 2ser.com).

HORSE SHOWS

In the 1950s, Garber music became a permanent fixture at gala horse shows in the U.S South and Southwest.

His final-year engagements in the Lady Luck Lounge of the Desert Inn, broadcast over CBS, made his band one of the most popular attractions in the emerging Las Vegas of the 1960s.

JANIS

When Jan retired in the 1970s, his vocalist daughter, Janis, took over the band as leader. The band has remained active ever since, and under different batons since Janis. It has dance gigs booked for 2019 in Arizona.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Jan Garber in a corny 1940s soundie (precursor of the video). Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2vZ-G51UQ0

28 AUGUST PLAY LIST