Boyd Raeburn and His Orchestra – Live at Roosevelt Hotel, NYC – February 11, 1944 – Armed Forces Radio One Night Stand –
Diving into the vault this weekend for a big band remote featuring Boyd Raeburn and his band, live at Roosevelt Hotel in New York on February 11, 1944 and re-broadcast via Armed Forces Radio as part of their One Night Stand series.
Although Boyd Raeburn doesn’t have the “Household Name” cache of many of his contemporaries (i.e. Stan Kenton) have, he nonetheless represented what would become a sweeping wave towards Bop and Modern Jazz during the last months of World War Two and into the post-war world that saw the traditional Big Bands fade in popularity.
Still with the obligatory trappings of dance rhythms, vocal refrains and standards, Boyd Raeburn used this mass media outlet (broadcasts) as a means of edging into new territory, introducing the average radio listener to what the future might have in store.
Sadly, Boyd Raeburn didn’t benefit from support of a large record label – his initial recordings were on Savoy; at the time a small independent record company that specialized in Jump Blues and early R&B. By the time the late 40s rolled around, big bands were a tough sell, particularly on the touring circuit, which meant relying on record sales to sustain their activity. Many bands struggled, broke up or depended on local pickup musicians in order to cut costs of transportation and accommodations for a large organization. Compounding this was the frustration of getting a mass audience to take Progressive Jazz to their collective hearts. It was a slow process, one that eventually led to Boyd Raeburn packing it in and leaving music altogether in 1955.
What he left was a legacy and a direction that became a catalyst for others coming along, doing it in a small group setting. Unfortunately, his commercial output was a lot less than his live performances, which benefitted from outlets like Armed Forces Radio, who luckily pressed many of these performances on vinyl for distribution around Military bases. Otherwise, aside from hardcore enthusiasts who had their own equipment to record these “remotes” much of what Boyd Raeburn sought to get across would be lost forever.
So here’s your chance to dive into the music of Boyd Raeburn if you aren’t already. Seek out the many broadcast reissues currently available and become familiar with another branch on an amazing tree.
Enjoy.
