The roar of swinging big band music in full flight is one of the most impressive sounds in all of jazz history.
In this article, we’re going to check out some of the best big band music in history, via the celebrated bands famous bandleaders responsible for them.
And, whilst the big band era was at the height of its popularity in the early 1940s, you’ll see it’s early beginnings 3 decades before, and the way it still influences modern jazz music.
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Jazz bands have nearly always come in all manner of shapes and sizes. Some of the genre’s most famous albums have been made by intimate trios, duos and even solo musicians.
At the other end of the ensemble spectrum, providing almost unrivalled power and dynamic range, is big band music.
A Brief Guide To Big Band History
The big band, or jazz orchestra, as it is also sometimes known, first appeared in the 1910s, before reaching peak popularity in the 1930s and ‘40s during the era of swing music.
The financial implications of leading larger ensembles and changing public tastes meant that the heyday of big band jazz as mainstream popular music came to an end.
But there remained great big bands and jazz orchestras making a broad range of music, and this rich tradition continues today.
The Big Band Line-Up
The instrumental lineup of a big band will vary from ensemble to ensemble, but is typically composed of around 17 musicians, divided into four sections:
- five saxophones
- four trombones
- four trumpets
- a rhythm section of piano, double bass and drums
Common additions might include guitar, french horn, tuba or a vocalist.
In the 1920s and ‘30s, a big band (otherwise known as a ‘dance band’) tended to be slightly smaller.
A large number of musicians like this makes collective improvisation trickier, so big bands tend to utilise much more written material than smaller jazz groups like trios and quartets, although improvised solo features still appear plentifully to provide contrast with the ensemble sections.
So without further ado, here’s our look at some of the best big band music via the great jazz orchestras, with a recommended recording for each one.
Big Band Music: 10 Legendary Jazz Orchestras (+1 Modern Bonus!)
1. Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra
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 African-American band of the 1920s, and his slick arrangements had a considerable influence upon the hugely successful bands of the swing era in the following two decades.
There was an existing tradition of dance bands playing primarily written material, which Henderson fused with the heavily improvised style that had developed in New Orleans to create a defining jazz big band sound.
Another innovation was the separation of the band into the instrumental sections that we see today.
Louis Armstrong took the jazz scene by storm when he moved to New York to join the Orchestra in 1924, while Coleman Hawkins, the father of the tenor saxophone in jazz, was another featured soloist.
Trumpeters Henry “Red” Allen, Roy Eldridge and saxophonists Benny Carter and Chu Berry, all major voices of the swing era, played with the band at various points too.
Sadly, a mixture of financial factors and bad luck meant that Henderson was forced to split up the band in 1934 and sell some of his popular arrangements to Benny Goodman, who had hits with a number of them.
Recommended Fletcher Henderson album: Fletcher Henderson and the Birth of Big Band Swing
This compilation album includes classic numbers like “Sugar Foot Stomp”, which features a great Armstrong solo.
2. The Duke Ellington Orchestra
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 prominence with a residency at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he led an 11-piece band, beginning in 1927 and, altogether, he ran his Orchestra for an incredible 51 years, from 1923 until his death in 1974.
As you’d expect over such a long period, the exact personnel of his bands changed over time.
One particularly significant edition was the ‘Blanton-Webster band’.
Featuring tenor saxophone giant Ben Webster and double bass pioneer Jimmy Blanton, it recorded classic numbers like “In a Mellow Tone”, “Cotton Tail”, “Never No Lament” and “C Jam Blues” in the early 1940s, which all remain part of the jazz standard repertoire today.
A key contributor to the Ellington sound world was composer, arranger, pianist and lyricist Billy Strayhorn. Ellington’s right hand man added numerous pieces to the band’s repertoire, including “Take the ‘A’ Train”, the Orchestra’s theme tune.
Ellington began his career playing music for swing dancers, but the repertoire he produced for the Orchestra also included ambitious extended forms, film music and sacred works, and he is considered by many to be one of the most significant American composers of any genre.
Recommended Duke Ellington album: Ellington at Newport
This classic live album from the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival includes the famous 27-chorus blues solo from tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves. Lead altoist Johnny Hodges’ feature on “I Got it Bad (and That Ain’t Good)” is another highlight.
3. Count Basie Orchestra
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 untimely death in 1935.
His band in the mid-late ‘30s included players like tenor saxophonist Lester Young, guitarist Freddie Green, drummer Jo Jones and vocalists Helen Hume and Jimmy Rushing, and played in a Kansas City “jam session” style, with competitive soloing accompanied by riff-based accompaniments.
In the 1950s Basie led what is known as the ‘Second Testament’ version of the band.
Now utilising more complex charts provided by outside arrangers like Neal Hefti, Sammy Nestico and Quincy Jones, they developed an instinctively-recognisable sound.
Many of these arrangements are still performed by big band around the world today. The Orchestra also collaborated with singers during this period, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Billy Eckstine.
The band has continued to tour and record following Basie’s death in 1984, and since 2013 has been directed by trumpeter Scotty Barnhart.
Recommended Count Basie recording: The Atomic Mr. Basie
This classic big band album from 1958 features compositions and arrangements by Neal Hefti, brilliantly played by the Second Testament edition of the Count Basie Orchestra.
In our opinion, it includes on of the most underrated Count Basie songs of all time: Flight Of The Foo Birds.