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The Swinging Septet

The Swinging Septet in 1967,the last year that Burke led the band.

This photo was taken in the Georgian Room of Seattle's Olympic Hotel. During prom season the band could often be found playing functions in the Olympic, Ben Franklin and Roosevelt Hotel Ballrooms.

Burke Garrett fronted numerous bands over the years, from the 99ers who were named for the only road they could travel to go North and South to their various engagements to multiple lineups of The Burke Garrett Orchestra and the George Haviland Sextet. He played alto and soprano saxophones, clarinet, valve trombone, and sang - but not that much because Keith Mirick was such a fine vocalist. After more than a decade buying arrangements, grooming his various bands, and building his brand Burke become well-known in Seattle. He was trusted to deliver music that was just right for the many events where his bands appeared in the 1960s.

“The members of my band in the Sixties were young. In fact, the year we had the greatest number of engagements was 1965. I was 26 years old at that time. Although we were young and preferred to play our hip jazz-flavored arrangements, rhythm and blues and Dixieland, we were often playing for conventions, Elk’s clubs and company parties where the people in attendance were twice our age, or older.”
— Burke Garrett

The Players

REMEMBERING DON GLENN

I played music with Don for seven years.  He was the only trombone player on my septet, was always on time, never missed a gig and played his ass off. But Don was never a show off on his horn.  He never tried to impress you by playing as many notes as possible within a few bars.  Don was always coming from:  does it swing, can we get in that perfect bluesy groove?

Don was just fun to be around. He was the one on my band who came up with an irreverent comments that would get us all laughing. And boy did we laugh that night he fell off the bandstand at the Sandpoint Officers Club. There he was on his back, on the floor, with his trombone pointing toward the ceiling (somehow he was able to protect it) and with a big grin on his face.

Don was a fine soloist who would often groove along in his mid range to get that rich mellow trombone sound.  You didn’t hear him screeching around in the trombone’s upper range.  He never overplayed.

Don Glenn worked on my band for seven years in the sixties (link below for septet music and photos).  Those were the years that the band was most popular and working all the time, often three nights a week. I’ll say it again: Don was a fine player, a consistent reliable soloist, a pleasant person to be around, and he was always there to make sure the band was swinging right on top of the beat. I’m saddened to hear of Don Glenn’s passing. 

We’re all going to miss you, man.

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