Las Peliculas de Glenn Miller

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This CD from the Barcelona-based Blue Moon label restores an important part of the Glenn Miller library to the catalog, almost a decade after Polygram deleted its CD version (which, itself, was a conversion from an LP original). There's no shortage of archival material on the Miller band -- indeed, one of the problems with their work is selecting from an array of high-quality performances that number in the hundreds. But the performances for the two feature films represented here, Sun Valley Serenade (1941) and Orchestra Wives (1942), are important for technical reasons -- for one thing, they capture performances of key parts of the Miller repertory by a version of the band different from the one represented on the hit renditions; additionally, they're recorded in a setting and environment that wasn't restricted by the running time of 78 rpm records, so that 'At Last,' 'I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo,' 'Moonlight Sonata,' 'Serenade in Blue,' and 'Chattanooga Choo-Choo' (where the vocals don't even come in until more than two minutes into the song) all run considerably longer than any official release of the period would have allowed. 'Moonlight Serenade,' although not very long, has a harp arpeggio opening that's captured very crisply, and that brings up the other virtue of these recordings. As it happens, the recording process for feature films during the early '40s -- Sun Valley Serenade was shot in the late winter of 1941, and Orchestra Wives in the spring of 1942 -- was considerably more advanced on a technical level than that for commercial records, and this went double at 20th Century-Fox where these sides were recorded, and where state-of-the-art technology was employed on a routine basis. The film recording process was more expensive as well, and had some technical drawbacks that made it generally unsuitable for use in commercial recording studios, but the virtues help to make these recordings particularly alluring, even if just for the fidelity. Fans who appreciate the rhythm section will be especially pleased by the resolution accorded the bass and percussion on most of these sides, which is considerably more vivid than on all but the most high-tech audiophile releases of Miller's official RCA Victor recordings. What's more, the sound of the Modernaires and also the Six Hits and a Miss are considerably more vivid here than they are on the band's commercial sides. Otherwise, the package is nicely put together, with notes in English as well as Spanish, and quite informative, as well. Oh, and the featured singers at various points are Tex Beneke Marion Hutton, Pat Friday, John Payne, and Lorraine Elliot.