GLENN MILLER BAND (TEX BENEKE) - CONTRACT SIGNED - HFSID 312997

TEX BENEKE (GLENN MILLER BAND)
The saxophonist and band leader signs for an evening performance at Jacksonville Beach Auditorium.
Contract signed: "Tex Beneke", 2 pages (front and verso), 8½x11. 1968 May 7. Agency for the Performing Arts contract committing "thirteen musicians," led by Beneke, to perform at the Jacksonville Beach Auditorium on December 14, 1968, from 9 PM to 1 AM, for an agreed price of $2,500. Document is also signed by the President of the Beaches Hospital Auxiliary, sponsor of the event, Gordon Lee. "Tex" Beneke (1914-2000) was the star performer (vocals and sax) of the Glenn Miller Orchestra from its formation in 1938 until 1942, when Miller and Beneke both went to military service, leading Army Air Force and Navy bands, respectively. Beneke had been featured on some of Miller's biggest hits, including "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" and "Kalamazoo," and in films with the band. When Glenn Miller's band re-formed after the war, minus Miller himself, killed in a wartime plane crash, Beneke was its leader. However, Beneke began to feel limited by the restraints imposed on his musical repertoire by the Miller estate, and left to form his own band in 1950. He continued playing, singing and conducting into the 1990s, blending a Glenn Miller-type sound with new material. He is enshrined in the Big Band and Jazz Halls of Fame. Edges worn. Corners slightly worn. Stain on bottom left margin. Light surface creasing. Clipping stapled in center. Staple holes in top left corner. Pencil and ink notes (unknown hand). Otherwise, fine condition.