![]() His year-long association with the radio concert orchestra led by Andre’ Koztelanetz (1936-1937) as an arranger/orchestrator created in him an awareness of blends of musical instruments and musical sonorities that were quite outside the norm of swing era dance bands. It was this experience that gave him a feeling for jazz. He worked his way through a number of dance bands in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It was at the end of this engagement, that the Thornhill band recorded “Snowfall.”ĭespite assertions to the contrary, Claude Thornhill not was a conservatory trained musician. The Thornhill name was built substantially by its many broadcasts from Glen Island Casino. It was at this same venue two years earlier that Miller had taken his first giant step toward success. These factors undoubtedly led to the Thornhill band being booked into Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, New York, with a two-month engagement there, including many radio broadcasts, starting on March 20, 1941. Although the exact financial relationship between Miller and Thornhill has never been explained in detail, (indeed much of Thornhill’s career remains shrouded in uncertainty), it appears that Miller probably loaned money to Thornhill to keep his band operating during its early existence, and definitely was involved in the management of the Thornhill band, at least by 1941. He was long-time friends with Glenn Miller, and during this same time, Miller’s success as a bandleader was skyrocketing. The Thornhill band also suffered a number of setbacks in its first year, including long engagements being suddenly shortened, a ballroom fire, and other debacles. This was because the Thornhill name was not then recognizable in the dance band business. From then until well into 1941, the band had only modest success because, despite Claude’s own substantial and high-level professional experience, and the high quality of the music he and his band produced. The first Thornhill band (shown in 1940 at right outside the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, California), broke-in in southern California in the summer of 1940. You can get so many more and better musical effects if you pay attention to these little, shall I say, niceties.” (1) Claude Thornhill’s piano playing and the music his bands played was always oriented in the direction of “more and better musical effects.” Here are his thoughts on that: “It seems to me that touch and tone are pretty much overlooked by pianists who are leading bands nowadays. Although he had extensive technique at the keyboard, he never used it in a gaudy, exhibitionistic way. Thornhill’s piano was a central feature in his band’s music, but he played it so tastefully and integrated it so cleverly into what his band was playing that it rarely stood out as a solo instrument. Instead, he used the clarinets, brass, and his elegant piano playing as the often discrete building blocks of his music, and frequently employed them in subtle, contrasting ways. Unlike almost all other swing era bands, Thornhill eschewed riffing, and the antiphonal use of instruments. His five man brass section sounded larger than it was due to the presence of the extraordinary lead trumpeter Conrad Gozzo, whose power, range and brilliant sound could be heard no matter what else was going on in the Thornhill ensemble. That section is led in this classic recording by Irving Fazola, who was also a fine jazz soloist. From his earliest time as a bandleader (1940), he built his band around a six-man reed section that very often played clarinets. His musical ideas were unconventional when compared with what almost all other swing era bands did. Pianist/arranger Claude Thornhill (1909-1965), … shown at left in 1940), led some of the most exquisite bands of the swing era. “Fazola” Prestopnik, Dale Brown, Ted Goddard, George Paulsen, John Nelson, Hammond Russom, clarinets and saxophones Alan Hanlon, guitar Harvey Sell, bass Gene Leman, drums. “Rusty” Dedrick, Bob Sprentall, trumpets Tasso Harris and Bob Jenney, trombones Irving H. Recorded for Columbia by Claude Thornhill and His Orchestra on in New York.Ĭlaude Thornhill, piano, directing: Conrad Gozzo, first trumpet Lyle F. “Snowfall” Composed and arranged by Claude Thornhill.
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