Contents -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- PART ONE THE BANDLEADERS -- VAN ALEXANDER FROM HARLEM TO HOLLYWOOD -- BENNY GOODMAN LAUNCHES THE BIG BAND ERA -- HORACE HEIDT FIVE DECADES OF TOP SHOW BANDS -- JOHN KIRBY THE FORGOTTEN LEGEND -- KAY KYSER BANDLEADER, MOVIE STAR, RADIO AND TV HEADLINER, AND HUMANITARIAN -- BILLY MAY EIGHT DECADES IN SWING -- RAY McKINLEY 75 YEARS WITH THE BIG BANDS -- GLENN MILLER RALLIES ENGLAND DURING WORLD WAR II -- ALVINO REY AND THE KING SISTERS A BLOCkBUSTER COMBINATION -- JAN SAVITT FROM THE CLASSICS TO SWING -- ARTIE SHAW'S POSTWAR MUSICAL ODYSSEY -- ORRIN TUCKER HE PLEASED THE PUBLIC -- GERALD WILSON MASTER OF BIG BAND JAZZ -- Photos for Part One -- PART TWO THE MUSICIANS -- ERNANI BERNARDI A MAN OF MANY TALENTS -- MILT BERNHART KEEPER OF THE BIG BAND ERA FLAME -- BUDDY CHILDERS SEVEN DECADES OF LEAD TRUMPET -- JACK COSTANZO MISTER BONGO -- ALAN GREENSPAN BIG BAND ERA ALUMNUS -- JAKE HANNA 60 YEARS OF SWING -- ROC HILLMAN WITNESS TO THE DORSEY BROTHERS BREAKUP -- LEGH KNOWLES FROM GLENN MILLER TO THE NAPA VALLEY -- JOHN LAPORTA FROM HERMAN TO MINGUS TO BERKLEE -- WILLIE SCHWARTZ AND PEGGY CLARK A BIG BAND ROMANCE -- CHICO SESMA FROM BIG BANDS TO LATIN JAZZ -- BUTCH STONE'S SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY -- PAUL TANNER FROM SKUNK HOLLOW TO GLENN MILLER TO UCLA -- ZEKE ZARCHY THE LIFE OF A SIDEMAN -- Photos for Part Two -- PART THREE THE VOCALISTS -- BOB EBERLY JIMMY DORSEY'S HITMAKER -- HERB JEFFRIES THE BRONZE BUCKAROO -- JACK LEONARD BIG BAND CROONER AND HOLLYWOOD BUSINESSMAN -- DOLORES O'NEILL THE BIG BAND ERA'S BEST KEPT SECRET -- ANDY RUSSELL EAST LOS ANGELES'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIG BAND ERA -- JO STAFFORD AN AMERICAN MUSICAL ICON -- KAY STARR - BIG BAND STAR AT 15 -- GARRY STEVENS FROM CHARLIE SPIVAK TO TEX BENEKE TO A LIFE WITH THE BIG BANDS -- MARTHA TILTON AND THE ANGEL SANG -- BEA WAIN A LIFE IN MUSIC.

MARGARET WHITING STILL A CLASS ACT -- Photos for Part Three -- PART FOUR THE ARRANGERS -- FRANK COMSTOCK LES BROWN'S MAN OF RENOWN -- FLETCHER HENDERSON, DON REDMAN, AND SY OLIVER THE INVISIBLE CONTRIBUTORS TO THE BIG BAND ERA -- JOHNNY MANDEL FROM THE BIG BAND ERA TO OSCAR AND GRAMMY AWARDS -- Photos for Part Four -- PART FIVE THE CONTRIBUTORS -- CHUCK CECIL KEEPS THE BIG BAND ERA ALIVE -- HENRY HOLLOWAY SOUTH AFRICA'S BIG BAND LEGEND -- TOM SHEILS GLENN MILLER'S RIGHT-HAND MAN -- GEORGE T. SIMON GROWS UP -- Photos for Part Five -- PHOTO CREDITS -- index.