Glenn Miller Orchestra and Chattanooga Choo Choo

Vocalist Jenny Swoish from Nashville

Vocalist Jenny Swoish and her fiancé Dean Schweiger

Judge Russell Bean offers to marry the couple

Frontman Eric Stabnau, vocalist Jenny Swoish, drummer Dean Schweiger and Judge Russell Bean

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The world-famous Glenn Miller Orchestra brought audiences to their feet Friday night when they played “Chattanooga Choo Choo” to a packed auditorium at the UTC Fine Arts Center.

The two-hour concert began with Mr. Miller’s famous song “Moonlight Serenade.” The orchestra performed one number one song after another along with some standards from the “Great American Songbook.”

The applause meter would have reached 10 when the orchestra performed “In the Mood,” Mr. Miller’s No. 1 song of 1939-1940.

The orchestra’s stellar performances of “String of Pearls,” “American Patrol,” “I knowWhy and you too,” “Pennsylvania 6-5000,” and “I’ve got a gal in Kalamazoo” also generated an enthusiastic response. from Miller fans.

But it was Mack Gordon and Harry Warren’s famous song, “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” that brought the crowd to its feet. While the audience wanted one more song, musical director Erik Stabnau led the band in a passionate encore of the tune for which the picturesque town is known. “Chattanooga Choo Choo” was the first gold record in music history. In 1941, it was number one on the billboard charts for nine consecutive weeks. The song is from one of Glenn Miller’s two films, “Sun Valley Serenade.”

A crowd favorite was the voice of Miss Jenny Swoish, a beautiful and talented young singer from Nashville. Ms. Swoish performs more than 200 concerts each year with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He said he loves singing with the Miller Orchestra and said, “I get excited when thousands of Miller fans express their gratitude as they hear the sounds that bring back memories.”

Music City’s Swoish, who met with fans at intermission and after the concert. He stood at the merchandise table greeting and autographing dozens of programs and his latest CD. The 12 songs on this “Tonight in Dreamland” project include “Meet me tonight in Dreamland,” “The Very Thought of You,” “Over the Rainbow” and a vocal version of the Glenn Miller song “Moonlight Serenade.”

Retired Municipal Court Judge Russell Bean learned that Ms. Swoish would marry drummer Dean Schweiger in a few months. Jokingly, the judge offered to perform the ceremony right then and there in the lobby of the fine arts center’s auditorium.

The original Miller Orchestra featured the voices of the Modernaires with Ray Eberle and Paula Kelly. Musical director Stabnau recreates his harmonies with the fresh sound of Moonlight Serenaders. They are front and center in “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”

The Glenn Miller Orchestra is on a US tour that brought the band to Nashville last Thursday. The Miller Orchestra recorded a segment for Mike Huckabee’s national TBN television show that airs this weekend. his 80s^th The anniversary CD included a vocal with the Miller Orchestra backing country singer Crystal Gayle singing “Sentimental Journey.”

The current orchestra is made up of members from all over, including a young saxophonist from Tokyo, Japan, and a pianist from Kenya.

At the age of 102, trumpeter Ray Anthony is the last member of one of Glenn Miller’s early orchestras still alive.

Listening to this excellent orchestra brought back memories of growing up listening to Luther Masingill every morning on WDEF radio. Luther enjoyed every Glenn Miller song, but his favorite was “In the Mood.” The “Voice of Chattanooga” would have smiled every minute of Friday’s concert listening again to the songs he played many times on the radio. Luther once described Glenn Miller as the best of the great bands.

Glenn Miller did more than 500 shows on Armed Forces Radio, later known as American Forces Network, Europe.

Mr. Miller was said to be very excited about the upcoming concert in Paris. Although Mr. Miller’s career ended unexpectedly in December 1944, when he boarded a plane that was lost in the English Channel, his music has stood the test of time more than 80 years later.