CU acquires large collection of swing and big band music

The music school at CU announced today that is has acquired one of the largest big band era music collections. The Ed Burke Collection — named for its founder— consists of over 1,400 reel to reel tapes (or 2,100 hours) from the big band and swing era.

“It’s an exciting collection of one-off radio programs, performances and photographs,” said Tom Riis, the direction of the American Music Research Center.

Burke, a graduate of CU in 1923, obtained the collection over the course of 50 years.

Burke is the head of numerous swing and big band fan clubs, as well as the director of the Glenn Miller international fan club. He first fell in love with the music of Glen Miller during 1942.

“I cant wait to check out the collection,” said Boulder resident and former music student Isak Tengesdal.

The exhibition also contains the music of many other famous big bands and swing era bands that include: Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Jack Benny and Hoakey Carmichael.

“The Glenn Miller Archive honors and preserves the legacy of our distinguished alumnus, Glenn Miller," said archive curator Alan Cass, “and we are grateful to Ed Burke for his lifelong dedication to preserving an important segment of American popular music.”