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Big band

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Genre

Big band · A big band usually numbers twelve to eighteen musicians in fixed sections: trumpets, trombones, saxophones and a rhythm section of piano, guitar, bass and drums. The sections play against one another, often in question-and-answer form, and between them soloists are given room. The arranger writes out who plays what and is therefore almost as important as the bandleader. Fletcher Henderson and Don Redman laid the foundation in New York in the 1920s; Duke Ellington wrote for the personal sound of his own musicians. After the Second World War large orchestras became too expensive, but the form survived: Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Count Basie, the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, which played every Monday at the Village Vanguard from 1966, and today Maria Schneider. In Europe there are radio orchestras such as the Metropole Orkest from Hilversum.

Listening

Listening tip. Hear how the saxophones and the brass take turns and answer one another.

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See also

Categories: Genres