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Jazz 101 Style
Big Band
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During the big band era, which spanned roughly a decade
from 1935 to 1945, jazz music was at the very forefront of popular culture in
the United States. Ensembles of at least ten or more musicians, usually featuring a
saxophone section, a brass section consisting of trumpets and trombones, and a
rhythm section comprised of piano, guitar, bass and drums, were the most popular
musical outfits in the country. The big bands played in a variety of styles. Dance bands
that specialized in ballad arrangements with little emphasis on jazz or
improvisation, such as those led by Guy Lombardo and Wayne King, were referred to as "sweet bands." Bands which embraced more hard-driving rhythms and featured the improvisations of stellar soloists, such as those led by Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, were dubbed "swing" or "hot" bands. While a conclusive definition of
swing music has proved elusive, it is generally agreed that swing is a rhythmic
phenomenon in which a musician manipulates the pulse and beat of an up-tempo performance,
creating musical patterns of tension and release that often invoke a sense of
excitement in the listener. After World War II, new post-war economic realities and the
rise of popular vocalists helped contribute to a significant decline in big band
popularity. The genre continues to this day, however, and has grown to embrace bop,
fusion, and many other post-swing developments in the history of jazz.
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Traditional
