"What's a matter with you Miller, do you want to live forever?"

- Lt Col Norman Baessell, before boarding the Norseman.

"It was a cold day on 15 December, 1944, when Major Glenn Miller boarded a Noorduyn 'Norseman' C-64 aeroplane. Since joining the war, the great American bandleader's Army Air Force Band had been performing for Allied troops all over England; now he was flying to Paris to make final arrangements to bring his musicians in for a Christmas concert for the Allied troops there.

"Alas, the plane never made it to its destination. Its passengers were never seen again."

- Farlander, The Mysterious Disappearance of Glenn Miller.

_{Look at that, I'm quoting myself. How egotistical can you get!}

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr. Glenn Miller, trombonist, band leader, army major, overall American legend of swing. The man who, in the age of big band music, gave prominence to the reed instruments (rather than the brass ones), giving his band that wholly unique sound that made his music so memorable. And the man whose legendary status was ironically secured by the fact that he just... disappeared without a trace one night. To this day, nobody is absolutely certain what happened.

If you would like to know more about Glenn Miller, feel free to read my Miller articles, published in BBC's H2G2 Edited Guide:

Glenn Miller (1904 - 1944)
The Mysterious Disappearance of Glenn Miller

I think it goes without saying that this is a very personal piece. Miller was, after all, the reason why I took up the trombone in the first place.


<sub>NOTES

If you squint really hard, you'll see musical notes in the upper portion of the picture. That's the only part of the painting I didn't paint. I actually did that part on Finale Notepad (a music notation/composer programme; I personally prefer GVOX Encore, but... beggars can't be choosers!).

Andes free font from 1001fonts.com.</sub>