During World War II the big band music of Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Glenn Miller and others was the soundtrack of life on the home-front. This music also reached the battlefront through recordings and broadcasts where familiar tunes and bands became a metaphor for the way of life that American soldiers were fighting to preserve. Playing original arrangements, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterwork Orchestra pays to this musical inspiration in the World War II years. Extensive notes, 36-page booklet. 17 tracks. An hour of music.