Les Brown Band to Join in City of Hope’s Miller Salute

Les Brown and His Band of Renown will present a musical tribute to Glenn Miller at the second annual City of Hope Glenn Miller Salute Benefit Ball Saturday at the Hilton Inn at the Park in Anaheim.

Proceeds from the ball, which is sponsored by the Glenn Miller Memorial chapter of the City of Hope, will go to the City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte.

Tax deductible donations for tickets are $50 per person and may be obtained by mail by writing to Glenn Miller Chapter, City Of Hope, 49 Oaktree Lane, Irvine, 92715, or by calling (714) 786-7741.

Festivities will begin with no-host cocktails at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. and the dance from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Featured vocalists with Les Brown and his band are Jo Ann Greer, Stumpy Brown and Butch Stone.

“No big band--none--spanning the fabled Swing Era of the ‘30s and ‘40s up to the present, has been more popular and enduring than the Les Brown Band of Renown,” said Margaret Gaffey, president of the Glenn Miller chapter. “No band has recorded more hit records and backed up more outstanding celebrity vocalists such as Doris Day (“Sentimental Journey”), Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mercer, Bob Hope and many others. And following the Glenn Miller tradition of contributing to the morale of American servicemen abroad, Les Brown since 1947 accompanied Bob Hope on 18 overseas Christmas shows.”

Thus, said Gaffey, “Les Brown and His Band of Renown makes our annual tribute to the immortal Glenn Miller all the more meaningful and auspicious.”

Of interest to Orange County music lovers, Gaffey said, is the chapter’s selection of Henry Brandon to be the recipient of the annual Glenn Miller Memorial Award for his contributions to the perpetuation of Big Band Music in this area and throughout the nation.

For the past 18 years Brandon conducted and produced the popular Fashion Island Summer Concerts--they’ve now moved to the UC Irvine campus--featuring nearly all the surviving Big Bands in the country, including Les Brown, Tex Beneke, Woody Herman and many others. Vocalists such as Helen O’Connell, Helen Forrest and the late Johnny Desmond also have performed for Brandon at these concerts.

Brandon, a Corona del Mar resident, also initiated the Youth Concert Series sponsored by the Orange County Philharmonic Orchestra, and for several years he was music conductor for the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater.

“All Orange County music aficionados owe Henry Brandon a very special ovation for his contributions to the world of music and his development of young musicians,” Gaffey said. “The Glenn Miller Award is the City of Hope’s way of saying, ‘Thank you, Henry.”’

The Glenn Miller chapter of the City of Hope has the “official blessing” of the Miller family and estate, according to Gaffey. Miller served as leader of the official Army Air Corps Band during World War II and lost his life during an ill-fated flight across the English Channel on Dec. 16, 1944.