Big Band

Big Band
Name	Big Band
Background	ensemble
Origin	United States
Genre	Jazz, Swing
Years active	1920s–present
Notable members	Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey

Big Band Big band ensembles emerged in the United States as large jazz orchestras that shaped 20th-century popular music, dance culture, and broadcast entertainment. Rooted in urban centers such as New York City, Chicago, and Kansas City, Missouri, they intersected with networks like NBC, CBS, and institutions such as the Savoy Ballroom and the Cotton Club. Big bands played pivotal roles in social venues including the Harlem Renaissance, the Roseland Ballroom, and the wartime USO circuits.

History

Early precursors included New Orleans brass bands and territory bands that toured regions like the American South and the Midwest. Key developments occurred in the 1920s and 1930s with figures associated with Harlem and the Tin Pan Alley scene. The swing era crystallized through tours, radio broadcasts on WABC (AM), WOR (AM), and recordings for labels like Victor Talking Machine Company and Columbia Records. The 1930s and 1940s saw unions such as the American Federation of Musicians and wartime policies influenced personnel and repertoire. Postwar shifts involved musicians relocating to hubs like Los Angeles, engagements with film studios including RKO Pictures and Paramount Pictures, and intersections with composers from the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera. International influence spread to scenes in London, Paris, Tokyo, and Havana, intersecting with ensembles associated with the BBC and the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Musical Characteristics and Instrumentation

Typical instrumentation draws from the lineage of New Orleans Jazz and orchestral traditions: sections of trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and rhythm. Arrangers worked alongside orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra and collaborated with soloists who performed in venues like Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Harmonic vocabulary engaged with practices evident in works by composers linked to Gershwin, Ellington, and Stravinsky permutations. Rhythmic foundations referenced drummers associated with bands on labels such as Blue Note Records and Verve Records, while pianists, bassists, and guitarists drew from techniques promoted by conservatories like the Juilliard School.

Notable Bandleaders and Ensembles

Prominent leaders shaped stylistic directions: Benny Goodman popularized small-group and large-ensemble crossover; Duke Ellington advanced extended forms and programmatic suites; Count Basie refined rhythmic propulsion; Glenn Miller achieved mass-market success through radio and film; Tommy Dorsey emphasized smooth trombone-led textures. Other influential names include Jimmie Lunceford, Chick Webb, Cab Calloway, Artie Shaw, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Les Brown, Buddy Rich, Harry James, Paul Whiteman, Benny Carter, Claude Thornhill, Billy Strayhorn, Fletcher Henderson, Andy Kirk, Earl Hines, Mary Lou Williams, Lionel Hampton, Joe Garland, Sidney Bechet, Red Norvo, Kay Kyser, Ike Quebec, Nat Shilkret, Ray Noble, Benny Goodman Quartet members, Pete Fountain, Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra, Miles Davis-affiliated big bands, Charles Mingus ensembles, Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra, and modern groups such as the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, and the Maria Schneider Orchestra.

Repertoire and Arrangements

Repertoires combined dance tunes, extended compositions, film scores, radio themes, and adaptations of popular songs from publishers like Tin Pan Alley and composers including George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Kurt Weill, and Aaron Copland. Arrangers such as Don Redman, Sy Oliver, Billy Strayhorn, Manny Albam, Gordon Jenkins, Nelson Riddle, Quincy Jones, Gil Evans, Johnny Mandel, Thad Jones, Bob Brookmeyer, Mike Gibbs, Manny Albam, and John Clayton advanced voicings, counterpoint, and orchestration techniques. Scores were published through houses like ASCAP-affiliated publishers and recorded on RCA Victor, Decca Records, Capitol Records, Impulse! Records, and Atlantic Records.

Role in Popular Culture and Media

Big bands dominated radio broadcasts, live dance halls, and Hollywood soundtracks, contributing to motion pictures such as those produced by 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Performances featured on broadcasts of The Ed Sullivan Show, Your Hit Parade, and wartime programs for the United Service Organizations where bands supported morale. Big band music intersected with choreographers from Martha Graham-adjacent modern dance and influenced film composers like Bernard Herrmann and Elmer Bernstein. Cultural reach extended into television, recordings treasured by collectors at institutions like the Library of Congress, and international festivals such as the Newport Jazz Festival and Montreux Jazz Festival.

Revival, Legacy, and Contemporary Scene

Revival movements in the 1950s, 1970s, and 1990s engaged scholars from universities such as Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Berklee College of Music, and Eastman School of Music. Contemporary big bands combine tradition with influences from rock, hip hop, classical music, and world music, collaborating with soloists like Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Esperanza Spalding, and vocalists linked to Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra repertoires. Institutional ensembles—United States Navy Band, United States Army Band "Pershing's Own", university jazz orchestras, and municipal big bands—continue commissioning works from composers associated with modern labels such as ECM Records and publishing houses like Schott Music. Archives and museums including the Smithsonian Institution preserve manuscripts, recordings, and oral histories that document big band evolution and ongoing influence.

Category:Jazz ensembles Category:American music ensembles