How The Glenn Miller Orchestra UK Was Created

Through the ‘80’s, Ray McVay’s show band was busy delighting audiences with the sounds of the “swinging ‘60s” “the disco ‘70s” and the popular sounds of the ‘80s. But Ray’s first love was big band music. Occasionally, for special events and concerts, he would augment his band with other big band enthusiasts and present concerts featuring big band music. Ray wasn’t satisfied with this though … nor did he feel other orchestras were achieving the right tonality, phrasing and sheer “feel” of Glenn Miller. Ray knew what he wanted and made a phone call to the Glenn Miller Estate office in New York … he spoke to David Mackay Jr., son of Glenn Miller’s lifelong friend and lawyer and current lawyer governing the Glenn Miller Estate. Ray outlined his ideas for a UK based orchestra and was immediately invited to New York for further discussions. Ray was delighted to find that David Mackay had seen the press reviews of big band work and was prepared to negotiate a licence. The pearl of the deal was access to Glenn’s original material, the original scores that Glenn himself arranged and worked from. The result of these negotiations is that if you attend one of our concerts, you will hear Glenn Miller music played as closely to the original as possible.