[3] They incorporated elements of Broadway, Tin Pan Alley, ragtime, and vaudeville. Ellington recorded this Some large contemporary European jazz ensembles play mostly avant-garde jazz using the instrumentation of the big bands. Swing did not always swing but rather involved jazz performers doing a jazz interpretation of pretty ballads. The successful bands of the Swing Era featured carefully . basic chord progression of a 12-bar blues in the key of "C": (click here to see animated California. Traveling conditions and lodging were difficult, in part due to segregation in most parts of the United States, and the personnel often had to perform having had little sleep and food. He received his BA in Political Science from the University of Chicago and an M.A. By this time the big band was such a dominant force in jazz that the older generation found they either had to adapt to it or simply retire. [1][2] The division in early big bands, from the 1920s to 1930s, was typically two or three trumpets, one or two trombones, three or four saxophones, and a rhythm section of four instruments. But there were a few instrumental popular hits, such as Count Basie's "One O'Clock Jump" and Miller's "In the Mood." 3. rock . (Change the second verb to the future progressive form.). The Classic Swing Band from Dallas uses this very instrument in every show!! "call" and a group does some type of "response"), (2) it The string bass replaced the tuba and the guitar replaced the banjo. Much like the stock in Gumbo, it provides an essential rhythmic and harmonic element in swing music. Which of the following changes occurred in the rhythm section during the 1930s? Swing is a term often used in reference to large dance bands of 15 or more musicians that played written arrangements using improvised sections alternating with arranged passages by brass and/or reeds. Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie. Kansas City was busy with musical activity from the early 1920s to about 1938. Swing bands featured a large ensemble of Billie Holiday is considered to be the most influential of the jazz singers of the century after Louis Armstrong, who influenced her style. more traditional instruments such as horn, cello, flute and oboe. Carnegie Halls interactive Timeline of African American Music is dedicated to the loving memory of the late soprano and recitalist Jessye Norman. The swing era took place during which two important historical events? Concert She arranged music for dozens of leading swing bands including those of Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and Benny Goodman. Swing bands featured orchestras with sections of trumpets, saxophones, and. here to see a YouTube video on "swing" groove vs. other types of Jimmy Rushing, Oklahoma City native and early member of the Blue Devils, set a style in blues and jazz that was imitated widely by others. Some of the Piano techniques employed during the Swing Era were: A good example of this is the Count Basie song Kansas City Keys. Congress repealed the Volstead Act, a law that prohibited the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages, in 1933. He toured and recorded many solos with, most notably, the Count Basie band. Woody Herman's first band, nicknamed the First Herd, borrowed from progressive jazz, while the Second Herd emphasized the saxophone section of three tenors and one baritone. Some bands, like those of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Woody Herman, that performed in the 1920s, 1930s, or 1940s continued to perform successfully into the 1970s and 1980s. Ra's eclectic music was played by a roster of musicians from ten to thirty and was presented as theater, with costumes, dancers, and special effects.[1]. Above all else, Swing music is dance music which means it was: This also meant it was incredibly commercial. Sometimes bandstands were too small, public address systems inadequate, pianos out of tune. Armstrong (nicknamed The 194244 musicians' strike worsened the situation. After the end of both bands, Basie formed his own orchestra, recruiting members from these two bands. When you mentioned the word Jazz to the average person, they probably think of Swing music, and for good reason. Swing bands featured a large ensemble of woodwinds (saxophones, clarinets), brass (trumpets, trombones) and a back-up accompaniment (acoustic bass with piano and/or guitar). Whiteman was educated in classical music, and he called his new band's music symphonic jazz. Orleans musicians begin to consolidate the drum section (bass, snare, cymbals) commonly found in early New Orleans brass bands. Figure 2: Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" - Duke Ellington & Ella Fitzgerald, It Dont Mean a Thing (If It Aint Got That Swing),, Kansas City was the swingingest sound in the world. In 1927, he taught music at Manassas High School in Memphis and organized a student jazz band. During the 1930s, Earl Hines and his band broadcast from the Grand Terrace in Chicago every night across America. But on performance day, this band of Lab rats replaces the high-tech gizmos with trumpets, saxophones, trombones, drums and a piano. New York in the late 1920s. Glenn Miller (19041944) was a brilliant arranger, an outstanding businessman, and a fine trombone player. City. 3 4 5 6 7 8, - [51] Fictionalized biographical films of Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa, and Benny Goodman were made in the 1950s. The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 19301945. His music uses Eastern rhythms, meters, and advanced rhythmic techniques. Bridging the gap to white audiences in the mid-1930s was the Casa Loma Orchestra and Benny Goodman's early band. Swing was hugely popular in fact, it was the pop music of the 1930s. As swing developed, the second player became responsible for most of the jazz solos. II. The History of Jazz. From Henderson was a pianist and excellent arranger who wrote most of the musical arrangements that helped launch the success of Benny Goodmans orchestra. The Ellington orchestra succeeded in part through the expert use and contribution of consistently talented and unique players. She led her Swingphony while playing marimba. In the mid-1930s and early 1940s, A cheap & cheerful collection of up-tempo sax, trumpet and trombone funky licks featuring over 350 ensemble phrases, solos, trills and stabs for house, disco, electro-swing and quirky big-band-infused electronica. The saxophone features a curved reed mouthpiece and a long brass tube that gradually expands before doubling back and bellowing outwards. In 1925, bandleader Paul Whiteman To learn more about the book this website supports, please visit its, You must be a registered user to view the. Duke Ellington at one time used six trumpets. Big bands uplifted morale during World War II. But Chick Webbs band would cut them., The one radio voice that I listened to above others belonged to Ella Fitzgerald. alto saxophone. Glenn Miller used a clarinet over his saxophone for identification. The trumpet section included four trumpets; the first was responsible for the highest notes. the late 1950s led to the more daring experiments of "free jazz" by black jazz musicians developed an intense Rhythm Section: (click here to see a YouTube And there were also 2 different styles of Swing music. "[34][35] Head arrangements were more common during the period of the 1930s because there was less turnover in personnel, giving the band members more time to rehearse. . In Harlem, the creative and literary arts, Black musicals, and big band entertainment flourished within the movement known as the Harlem Renaissance, in which music played as great or possibly a greater role than literature. The latter included blues, ballads, novelty songs, and Broadway tunes. collectively . The Dorsey Brothers started with a large-band version of Dixieland featuring singer Bob Crosby who later developed his own band. The Cotton Club started in Harlem before it moved downtown. Transcontinental trips often required a stop in one of these cities. Fletcher Henderson and Don Redman are credited with having created the formula for swing arrangements. 2. endstream endobj startxref The stage was set up with five saxophones, two altos, two tenors, and one baritone, stage front left with four trombones directly behind them, and three trumpets at the back, the electric guitar was in center stage with . counting pattern over again for each successive variation of the pattern Very important to the development of the Swing Bands were the role of the composer/arranger and the excellent stylizations of musicians. world. Choose the vocabulary word that answers each riddle. In the late 1990s, there was a swing revival in the U.S. - The ANDREWS SISTERS: The Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy In the late 1960s, Jazz trumpeter Miles A unique feature of this style was the use of riffs performed as call and response between woodwinds and brass as an integral part of the arrangement heard in Bennie Motens Moten Swing (1932) and Count Basies One OClock Jump (1937). Fletchers [Henderson] band had the same elements; so did Benny Motens back in 1932, when Basie played with him., Every week they would feature a guest band at the Savoy Ballroom. Click here for a FREE preview of The Classic Swing Bands newest CD Ballroom Dance Favorites.. The Double Bass is shaped like other string instruments such as the guitar or violin. Alto sax player, arranger, and bandleader Jimmie Lunceford (19021947) studied music at and graduated from Fisk University in 1926. They had Count Basie, they had Benny Moten, they had George Lee, they had Junior Lee, they had Lester Young, they had Walter Brown., What I heard in that first nine-piece Basie band was the sort of free, swinging jazz that I have always preferred. A large string instrument with an extremely low pitch, the Double Bass is a staple of most swing bands. Gloria Parker had a radio program on which she conducted the largest all-girl orchestra led by a female. And this is where the term head comes from, meaning the original melody of the song that is, its all in your head, not written down on paper. hmk6^/,$mA% IMPORTANT MUSICIANS: Louis Armstrong (cornet/trumpet), Bix Beiderbecke (cornet), Jelly Roll Morton (piano/composer), Sidney Bechet (soprano sax, clarinet), Earl "Fatha" Hines (piano) Swing/Big Band Era (1930-1945) the following instruments: In 1925, bandleader Paul Whiteman And they played dance music. (Click Ornette Coleman in the 1960s. Another interesting and important development happened with Swing improvisation. One Oclock Jump: The Unforgettable History of the Oklahoma City Blue Devils. Improvisation: This can be best described as "composing and Two other musical characteristics of swing bands are a return to the use of a flat-four rhythm and the use of block chords (chords with many notes moving in parallel motion). The popularity of many of the major bands was amplified by star vocalists, such as Frank Sinatra with Tommy Dorsey, Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly with Jimmy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb, Billie Holiday and Jimmy Rushing with Count Basie, Dick Haymes and Helen Forrest with Harry James, Doris Day with Les Brown,[40] and Peggy Lee with Benny Goodman. grooves), - And they played a particular type of Swing in Kansas City known as: Kansas City Jazz. Big Bands began to appear in movies in the 1930s through the 1960s, though cameos by bandleaders were often stiff and incidental to the plot.Shep Fields appeared with his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra in a playful and integrated animated performance of "This Little Ripple Had Rhythm" in the musical extravaganza The Big Broadcast of 1938.
