THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 22, 1995 TAG: 9510200208
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Staff Report
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
The Big Band sound is coming back to Willett Hall Oct. 29.
A single performance is scheduled at 2 p.m. next Sunday.
The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra will perform under the direction of Buddy Morrow, a trombonist who played with Dorsey and other famous bands before forming the Buddy Morrow Orchestra after World War II.
The program will feature vocals by Walt Andrus, a member of the Pied Pipes before he joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in 1988.
Both Morrow and Andrus are versatile musicians who are partial to music of the 1940s and '50s. The program here will include songs such as ``Marie,'' ``Song of India,'' ``Stardust,'' ``Opus No.1,'' ``I'll Never Smile Again,'' ``On the Sunny Side of the Street,'' ``One Mint Julep'' and ``Night Train.''
Morrow made his name with ``Night Train,'' a blues piece that sold a million copies and sent the Morrow orchestra on a whirlwind national tour that set attendance records in ballrooms and theaters from coast to coast.
Born in New Haven into a family of musicians, he joined the Yale Collegians at age 15 and played college dances on the East Coast. Morrow's improvisations won him a scholarship to Juilliard. Jazzman Bunny Berigan heard him sitting in a jam session and recommended Morrow to Artie Shaw who hired him for a new band.
Later, he played with Eddy Duchin and Paul Whiteman before signing on with Tommy Dorsey. Over the years, he worked as a staff musician at CBS and NBC.
In addition to leading the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, he works as a brass clinician and was featured recently at the Aspen Music Festival.
The late Tommy Dorsey was a legend in his own time. His dance band excelled at both swing and ballads. His musical sentimental moods were sustained by his arrangers, Paul Weston, Axel Stordahl and Sy Oliver.
Among the singers who traveled and recorded with the band were Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, the Pied Pipes and Jack Leonard.
The Pied Pipes and Sinatra recorded many hits, including ``I'll Never Smile Again,'' a recording that established vocal groups.
This was an era in which the Dorsey band in 1941 outranked every other group to finish first in Martin Block's ``Make Believe Ballroom'' contest.
In 1946, Tommy Dorsey along with Woody Herman, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Les Brown and Jack Teagarden all called it quits.
In less than two years, Dorsey was back in front of a band and fighting the cause of Big Bands.
Since Dorsey's death, Morrow has been leading the band that retains the sound and style of its founder.
The concert here is sponsored by Ports Events. Tickets are $10.50 in advance and $12 at the door. They are available at the Willett Hall Box Office and at all Ticketmaster outlets. They may be charged by telephone at 671-8100. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Buddy Morrow
Conductor
Walt Andrus
Vocalist
by CNB