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A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and dominated jazz in the early 1940s when swing was most popular.
Jun 7, 2021 · Big Band Music: A Guide to Big Band’s History and Sound. Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Jun 7, 2021 • 4 min read. The big band era transformed popular music in the United States throughout the first half of the twentieth century. Explore.
- Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra
- The Duke Ellington Orchestra
- Count Basie Orchestra
- Stan Kenton
- Benny Goodman
- Dizzy Gillespie
- Woody Herman and The Herd
- Buddy Rich Big Band
- The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra
- Gil Evans
Pianist, arranger and composer Fletcher Henderson didn’t manage to achieve the kind of long-term mainstream success that some of the other bandleaders on this list did, but his contribution to the development of jazz and the lineage of big band music history was incredibly significant. His New York-based big band orchestra was the most popular Afri...
The music that Duke Ellington composed and arranged for his Orchestra is so extensive, unique and significant that it virtually demands its own sub-genre. Indeed, the pianist and bandleader’s output is often described as ‘beyond category’, which Ellington himself thought was the ultimate compliment. Duke first rose to prominencewith a residency at ...
For many, the Count Basie Orchestra, with its vibrato-drenched, deeply swinging sound, is the quintessential sound of big band music. Basie had played piano with Walter Page’s Blue Devils and Bennie Moten’s orchestra – two important early swing bands – before forming his own Kansas-based outfit from the remnants of the latter, following Moten’s unt...
Stan Kenton was a pianist, arranger and bandleader who often had a very forward way of thinking in terms f the music he presented. More of an arranger than featured pianist, Kenton would lead a big band for the best part of four decades. Kenton formed his first orchestra in 1940 and debuted in New York in 1942 at the Roseland Ballroom. In 1945 his ...
Swing music was the dominant style of American ‘pop’ between 1935-46, and leaders of big bands such as Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey were huge stars. Virtuoso clarinettist Benny Goodman was nicknamed “the King of Swing”, and was one of the most popular bandleaders during this period. During a time of racial segregation i...
Dizzy Gillespie was an innovator in the bebop style of the 1940s, which had a focus on serious small group jazz, after the arguably more populist material of the swing era. But the legendary trumpeteralso led a big band, which was highly influential, bridging the gap between the raucous, danceable sounds of the swing music and the futuristic bebop ...
Clarinettist and saxophonist Woody Herman led an ensemble in the mid 1930s that was known as “The Band That Plays The Blues”, before having a hit with “Woodchopper’s Ball” in 1939, which went on to sell five million copies. As bebop emerged in the 1940s Herman embraced the new music, hiring Dizzy Gillespie to write some arrangements for his first b...
Buddy Rich was a child prodigyas a drummer, singer and tap dancer, before early career work behind the drum kit with swing bands fronted by Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey and Bunny Berigan. He also played small group sessions with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, and Lester Young. From 1966 he led his own big band ...
Trumpeter, composer and arranger Thad Jones was the brother of Elvin Jones(drummer with John Coltrane’s classic quartet) and piano great Hank Jones. Thad had played with the Count Basie Orchestra in the 1950s, contributing solos and arrangements to some of the band’s best-loved albums. Mel Lewis was a drummer who spent his early career in Los Angel...
Gil Evans is best known for his collaborations with Miles Davis, with his sophisticated arrangements shining on larger ensemble albums like Birth of the Cool, Miles Ahead, Sketches of Spain and Porgy and Bess. Evans didn’t lead a touring big band with consistent personnel in the way that flamboyant characters like Duke Ellington and Count Basie did...
In the 1920s the music of jazz began to evolve to bigger band formats combining elements of ragtime, black spirituals, blues, and European music. Duke Ellington, Ben Pollack, Don Redman, and Fletcher Henderson were some of the more popular early big bands.
List of big bands. While the Big Band Era suggests that big bands flourished for a short period, they have been a part of jazz music since their emergence in the 1920s when white concert bands adopted the rhythms and musical forms of small African-American jazz combos.
Big Band refers to a jazz group of ten or more musicians, usually featuring at least three trumpets, two or more trombones, four or more saxophones, and a "rhythm section" of accompanists playing some combination of piano, guitar, bass, and drums.
A big band is a musical ensemble that typically consists of 10 to 25 musicians, and it originated in the early 20th century during the swing era. The setup diagram allows musicians and bandleaders to understand the positioning of instruments on stage, as well as the overall layout of the band.
