Big Band Music: A Guide to Big Band’s History and Sound

Big band is a style of music defined by an ensemble of musicians, known as a jazz orchestra, playing together. Big band music includes complex harmonies and syncopated rhythms. A vocalist or instrumental soloist is often featured, adding a melody on top of the jazz orchestra.

The big band era, also known as the swing era, was at its peak from the 1930s to the mid-1940s, although its history stretches across the first half of the twentieth century.

• Early 1900s: Big band music traces back to early jazz music from New Orleans inspired by ragtime and blues. Other early jazz capitals included Chicago and Kansas City (where Count Basie based his orchestra), but it was New York City that established jazz as a touchstone of American culture.
• 1920s: With the advancement of new recording technologies, bands had the opportunity to grow in size. One of the first popular big bands was the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, a New York-based band that employed musicians like trumpeter Louis Armstrong as well as saxophonists Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins. In 1927, Duke Ellington’s orchestra became the house band at the Cotton Club in Harlem, increasing the wider public’s exposure to big band jazz music.
• 1930s: As the United States reeled from the Great Depression, big band music became increasingly popular. Led by bandleaders like Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and Chick Webb, the big band era thrived throughout the 1930s, inspiring new popular swing dances like the jitterbug and the jive.
• 1940s and beyond: During World War II, big band music dominated the airwaves. Popular vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra brought a new element to the jazz orchestra sound. By the late 1940s, however, the swing era was coming to a close. New York musicians and bandleaders like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie developed a new style called bebop, a complex form of jazz. Although the big band genre never regained the popularity it had at its peak, younger musicians like trumpeter Thad Jones and drummer Buddy Rich started their own big bands, continuing the tradition during the following decades.

Big band music is unique from other forms of jazz. Here are some of the characteristics that define the big band sound:

1. 1. Different sections: A jazz ensemble in a big band usually consists of four sections: saxophones, trombones, trumpets, and a rhythm section. The number of musicians in each section can vary, although it’s typical for a whole band to consist of 10-25 musicians.
2. 2. Driving rhythms: At its core, swing music is dance music. The driving beat of big band music is built by a rhythm section composed of piano, bass, and drums.
3. 3. Simple harmonies: Big band orchestras work together to repeat simple harmonies, known as riffs. The horn sections continue these harmonic repetitions, building a groove alongside the rhythm section.
4. 4. Individual solos: Unlike the group improvisation found in traditional jazz, the musicians in a big band stick to a strict composition and arrangement. Individual singers and musicians often improvised over the band with their melodic solos, although bandleaders would typically notate the parts they liked and include them in the composition.

Several prominent bandleaders defined the big band era and composed some of its greatest hits.

1. 1. Duke Ellington: A prodigious piano player, Duke Ellington composed hundreds of songs, including “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” and “Caravan.” Born in 1899 and inspired by ragtime pianists, Duke Ellington became one of the most influential bandleaders of the twentieth century, leading his jazz orchestra for over 50 years.
2. 2. Benny Goodman: On August 21, 1935, Benny Goodman’s jazz orchestra put on a concert in Los Angeles that inspired an excited crowd to break out into dance. After that show, Benny Goodman’s reputation spread across the country, earning him the title of “The King of Swing.” A dedicated clarinet player and infamous perfectionist, Benny Goodman hired talented musicians who would one day go on to start their own orchestras, including Harry James and Woody Herman.
3. 3. Glenn Miller: After starting his career as a trombonist for Ben Pollack’s Chicago-based orchestra in the 1920s, Glenn Miller went on to become one of the most famous big band leaders of his generation. An innovative composer and arranger, Glenn Miller wrote several hit songs, including “Moonlight Serenade” and “In The Mood.”
4. 4. Count Basie: As a young man, Count Basie played piano on a vaudeville circuit until getting stranded in Kansas City in the mid-1920s. There, he built a jazz orchestra with local musicians. Count Basie became known for his minimalist piano style and charismatic leadership. Many of his compositions, like “One O’Clock Jump” and “Jumpin’ at the Woodside,” became quintessential swing era songs.
5. 5. Buddy Rich: One of the most celebrated drummers in music history, Buddy Rich worked with legendary bandleaders, including Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Artie Shaw, and Benny Carter. Buddy Rich’s showmanship allowed him to make several television appearances throughout the 1950s. In the 1960s, he formed his own big band, which remained successful long after the swing era was over.

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