Big Band for Beginners

[Mycroft]

Ok, so I was a my Grandpa's 90th birthday party and they were playing on Glen Miller song and I said to myself, I need to get some Big Band/Swing music for myself. Any recomedations on a Greatest Hits or collection of them to purchise? I like old and new so anything goes.

 

[Wild Root]

Oh, this is going to be good! Well, I'd be happy to make a list (short on time right now) but, I'll get one to you later today friend!

I have a few CD's that are good to start out with and well, I'll tell ya what's good and not good!

=WR=

 

[Mycroft]

Oh, this is going to be good! Well, I'd be happy to make a list (short on time right now) but, I'll get one to you later today friend!

I have a few CD's that are good to start out with and well, I'll tell ya what's good and not good!

=WR=

Thank you Senor Root, I knew you would love this thread.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Oh, man. There are so many!! A good place to start would be the local library. Most of them have the Ken Burns Jazz cds and dvd/vhs. He covers most of the good (commercial) big bands. Get an idea of the kind of swing/big band you like - all the bands sound different, and there are distinct ways to swing. The western (Kansas city) style is my favourite. Below are some of my favourites, and one of my pet hates.

Count Basie - mid 30s to early 40s is best. (My favourite swing)

Benny Goodman - if you're into the more regimented kinda thing

Artie Shaw - is Artie Shaw

Tommy/Jimmy Dorsey

LOUIS ARMSTRONG

Duke Ellington

If you can find it - the Johnny Dankworth big band. Very rare, though (a small record company in chicago jut re-released some of his big band stuff). Killer Diller as Wild Root would say

Glenn Miller i'm personally not a fan of, but if you liked it, buy it (always a good rule with music)

bk

 

[Michaelson]

Only Miller and Goodman made A+'s consistantly every month in Band Band magazine thru the 30's and 40's, so either one of those bands should be a 'given' in your collection. Miller WAS consistant all the way thru in style, in my opinion, but Goodman changed his style of play by 1942, and you can actually hear it in his arrangements (or at least I can).

As has been said above, Shaw is Shaw, and Ellington is, well, Ellington.
Basie is always good.

I'm a big fan of Stan Kenton too, if you're into progressive big band sound, and he was really experimenting through the 40's.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[DronesDodz]

Gene Krupa Band
Buddy Rich
my personal favourites
And if you like swing with a modern touch get the Cherry Poppin' Daddies or the Royal Crown Revue

CK

 

[Mycroft]

Gene Krupa Band
Buddy Rich
my personal favourites
And if you like swing with a modern touch get the Cherry Poppin' Daddies or the Royal Crown Revue

CK

Thanks man, and welcome to the lounge :cheers1: (on me)

 

[Wild Root]

Bands of today.

I would suggest to get a CD of Dean Mora's band! They play great!!!

Check out his site at> http://morasmodern.com/

=WR=

 

[Wild Root]

Ok, the “Wild Root� starter list! I started out with some typical artists but, later discovered the sound of the “Neo Swing� movement and really didn’t take to it as much as I took to the original sound and artistry. Neo Swing isn’t bad, it gave us dancers a rich history in the modern swing movement but, for me the sound and arrangements of the original bands will always be superior.

A list of artists from the late 30’s to 40’s who you can’t miss with!

Glenn Miller, 1938-1942 and his AAF recordings of 1943-1944.

Artie Shaw, 1937-1940

Benny Goodman, 1935-1944

Gene Krupa, 1941-1942

Harry James, 1938-1946

Cab Calloway. Any of his early 30's to early 40's recordings!

Tommy Dorsey,

Jimmy Dorsey,

Paul Whiteman, 1923-1941

Chick Webb, 1935-1938

Erskine Hawkins.


Now, if you want earlier sounds of the late 20’s to mid 30’s go with….

Guy Lombardo,

Hal Kemp,

McKinney’s Cotton Pickers,

Duke Ellington,

Boswell Sisters,

Rudy Valley,

Jack Hylton.... just to name a few.

If you pick a few from the top list and some from the bottom list you could have a nice starter collection and enjoy some good Big Band music. Remember, "Neo Swing" isn't big band music, it's a form of modern swing with roots in Ska and punk music.

=WR=

 

[JPS]

A little more recent...

The last couple of days I've been listening to another great band--the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. They backed up Frank Sinatra on many of his big hits at Capitol and Ella Fitzgerald on her "songbooks."

JPS

 

[Wild Root]

You should buy this....

THis is a great CD! I have this one and you just cant go wrong with it!

http://www.townsend-records.co.uk/artist.php?artist=Boswell+Sisters+(The)&pType=music

Also, if you listen to Radio Dismuke at Live360 on the internet you will hear some of their work.

http://dismuke.org/radio/

=WR=

 

[DronesDodz]

Also here another idea, not really big band or Swing, more Jazzy and down beat. Check out G-Love and Special Sauce. Especially his 1998 album, Yeah it's that Easy, has some retro touch to it. Very cool stuff if I may add.

Christoph

 

[Wild Root]

That stuff isn't bad however, a different flavor all together. It's an acquired taste really that maybe a beginner would take to after being exposed to original jazz first.

=WR=

 

[ii-5-i]

More Modern Swing Bands

Wild Root's got the idea. I play guitar in several big bands in the Chicago area. In my opinion, it all starts with Basie. The most accessible Basie for the neophyte, in my opinion, are the "New Testament" bands of the 50s and 60s featuring Thad Jones, Charlie Shavers, Joe Newman and Sweets Edison on trumpet and Frank Wess, Marshall Royal, Frank Foster, Ernie Wilkins and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis on saxophone with Al Grey and Benny Powell on trombones. Pick any Verve or Roulette LP and you've got a winner. Add some Joe Williams and "Sinatra at the Sands" and you've got the beginning of a good collection of great Basie.

I'll also mention all the Mel Torme LPs with the Marty Paich Deckette; Art Pepper + 11 with the Paich Deckette; Gerry Mulligans Concert Bands; Gerald Wilson's Big Band; and last but not least, you must get the early Solid State label's Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band LPs (Basie style taken to a creative apex).

 

[Wild Root]

For me, I like the Count Basie recordings of his earlier days. For some reason, I don't consider the 50's and 60's to be a real big part of the "Big Band era" seeing that most of the name bands started to fall off the map and it was then when swing and big band really lost the battle to Rock & Roll. The "Rat Pack" days were comprised mostly of folks who remembered the Big Band era and who held on to it. It was still popular in Vegas for a wile then started to get a little on the lounge side and some what cheesy. A lot of people like it and that's great but, when I think of big band, I think of 1938 Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall in New York! The height of the big band era was in the late 30's and early 40's. That's the golden big band era as far as I'm concerned.

=WR=

 

[resortes805]

Here's a few bandleaders that I did'nt see mentioned:

Lionel Hampton (Flyin' Home)
Lucky Millander
Jimmie Lunceford (White Heat)

 

[Wild Root]

Oh yeah, good ones there friend! I also really like and enjoy Duke Ellington's early work into the 40's. How about Fletcher Henderson and Fats Waller? I dig them too! Oh, can't forget Coleman Hawkins!

=WR=

 

[Mycroft]

You guys are great I am getting on itunes ASAP and putting on my dancing shoes so to speak. Thanks. :cheers1:

 

[Wild Root]

Happy to help chum!

=WR=

 

[ii-5-i]

Wildroot

Dear Root,

Your point is well taken. The true "Big Band Era" ended or withered away in the years immediately following WWII. I think we're talking about two different subjects. I was suggesting the accessability of the 2nd Testament Basie band is easier on the ears due to the charts of Wilkins, Hefti and Nestico. And at the risk of being "Crow Jim", the black bands of the "Era" swung much harder than the white bands. Don't tell me about Goodman because he had Fletcher Henderson as his primary arranger.