Trumpeter Charlie Spivak (1907-1982) led one of the most popular dance bands of the early 1940s and managed to keep a band together until 1959, long after most other bandleaders had called it quits.
Spivak's orchestra wasn't a jazz big band, even though he came up through the jazz ranks and spent much of his life around jazz musicians. This was strictly a dance aggregation.
Spivak made many of his best records for the Okeh and Columbia labels in the 40s, including Autumn Nocturne, recorded in 1941. I've taken the MP3 of this tune from a 1972 Columbia double-LP set called Big Bands Greatest Hits, Vol. 2.
Although the recording is clean, it's marred by some totally unnecessary, echo-laden fake stereo. Still it'll give you some idea of how good this smooth dance orchestra was. The link is below.
Autumn Nocturne
Spivak's output for Okeh and Columbia is highlighted on a 24-track, 77-minute collection on the Collectables label. Presumably this CD does not have the added fake stereo effects.
You can buy it direct from the distributor's website, Oldies.com, for about half the $14.98 list price.
Many of Spivak's Okeh and Columbia sides, including Autumn Nocturne, are also available as downloads from various sites.
Here's another one of his Columbia recordings, accompanied by some spiffy visuals.
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