New Stamps Pay Tribute to Stars of the Big Band Era

Big bands defined jazz, swing and other popular music in the 1930s and 40s. The music carried folks through the Great Depression and World War II.

To help ensure that the music is not forgotten, the U.S. Postal Service has added some of the most influential musicians from the era to its Legends of American Music stamp series and unveiled the big band stamps at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson on Thursday.

Eight new stamps were added to the music stamp series, which began with a commemorative Elvis Presley stamp in 1993.

“We’re proud to put these performers back on stage,” said Joe Wilson, a postal official with the Long Beach office who unveiled the stamp. “The music appeals to just about everyone and we’re sure the stamps will be just as popular.”

The bandleaders portrayed on the new stamps include Count Basie, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey and Benny Goodman. The four songwriters on the stamps are Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael, Dorothy Fields and Johnny Mercer.

Many of the legendary musicians’ family members attended the unveiling, which followed a national unveiling at Carnegie Hall in New York on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Cal State Dominguez Hills music professor Hansonia Caldwell, author of “African American Music, A Chronology: 1916-1995,” discussed the impact that the legends had on music. She said Glenn Miller’s “Moonlight Serenade” and “In the Mood” are still widely played, and Ray Charles still performs Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia,” which was written in 1931.

“These musicians were all friendly competitors who had a great respect for each other’s music, difference in style,” Caldwell said. “They performed in the same nightclubs and it is wonderful that they will be together in this stamp gallery.”