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Classic Big Band is coming back ...
gm01 Magic[to the Glenn Miller Music Festival] MILLER NOTES, Jan 2002 - Not many bands get asked back by special request.

"Dancers who hoped for a return of the Classic Big Band and Nostalgics Quartet from Minneapolis are getting their wish. Bandleader Dan Odegaard has consented to play for the Saturday night dance and to do an evening of nearly all Miller music.

64-Dan TetzlaffOdegaard, who is a dentist by day, has spent countless hours transcribing charts from the original recordings for the 17-piece band. With members ranging in age from the 30s to 80s, many have lived through the Swing Era and some heard Glenn Miller's Band in person when it played at the Prom Ballroom in St. Paul in 1941. Trumpeter Danny Tetzlaff played in a band that bought an arrangement from Glenn Miller when he played at the Nicollet Hotel in Minneapolis in 1937. The band members had to hand copy their own parts from the original.

Each member of the saxophone section is also an accomplished clarinetist, allowing the band to recreate many of the varied Miller reed sounds. Brass players have obtained some of the special mutes the Miller band used to make their distinct sounds. They cater to those who enjoy vintage swing music, playing for dances two nights a month at the Richfield American Legion and special occasions.

08-Reeves CaryThe Nostalgics, the talented vocalists who form an integral part of the band, have worked hard to recreate the sound of the Modernaires on many of Miller's most popular hits. According to Odegaard, quartet member Reeves Cary has captured nuances of Ray Eberle and Tex Beneke. Several of the band's numbers are those that feature the Nostalgics singing in close harmony."
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Learn to Dance with the Classic Big Band
- from MILLER NOTES, Jan 2001
27-Classic Big Band and Nostalgics at GM Festival [Photo: Classic Big Band and Nostalgics Quartet were on the agenda for the dance lessons and two Sunday performances at the Glenn Miller Music Festival]

"The Classic Big Band and Nostalgics Quartet are familiar faces on the Minneapolis jazz scene but this is their first appearance at the Glenn Miller Festival. It is a 17-piece aggregation led by trumpeter Dan Odegaard (a GMBS member) featuring the Nostalgics who sing like the Pied Pipers. The group perform a variety of big band music, concentrating on original arrangements of name bands from the Swing Era. Many of these tunes featured vocal groups in close harmony such as the Modernaires or Pied Pipers, where the vocal group became an integral part of the band.

In an October, 1999 review for the Twin Cities Jazz Notes, Jerry Swanberg wrote, "The solo and high note trumpet playing of Jack Gillespie, formerly a lead trumpeter at Harrah's in Reno, is dynamic. Bill Kotrba, who spent three years touring with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, is terrific on tenor saxophone. Steve Sopoci does a great job on lead alto sax and lead clarinet on the Glenn Miller tunes, and plays wonderful solo clarinet on the Goodman and Shaw numbers. Odegaard, a dentist during the day has played locally with the big bands of Dick Whitbeck, the Execs Big Band, and the Twin Cities Jazz Orchestra. He also has sat in with Bob Crosby and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra directed by Warren Covington."

35-The Classic Big Band and Nostalgics -Farewell Picnic GMFWe will be privileged to hear them on Saturday where they will be playing for the Dance Lessons and their own concerts on Sunday, as well as the Farewell Picnic."

[Photo: the Farewell Picnic]
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Classic Big Band brings the "Nostalgics Quartet"
123-Nostalgics Excerpts from MILLER NOTES,
Apr 2001

"Dan Odegaard, director of The Classic Big Band from Minneapolis, MN, has decided to feature some of the less frequently played, but still fairly well-known Glenn Miller tunes during their performances. His 17-piece aggregation is slated to play for the dance lessons Saturday, present a concert Sunday, and provide entertainment at the farewell picnic Sunday.

Since an integral part of the Classic Big Band is its vocal quartet, "The Nostalgics", who sing in the style of the Modernaires, several of the numbers are those that feature vocalists. Some of them are "Dipper Mouth Blues", "Elmer's Tune", "I Don't Want to Walk Without You", "Sh! It's A Military Secret", "It's Great to be an American" and "Swingin' at the Seance". Original hits from the Big-Band Era are their specialty, often with vocalists in close harmony."
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