How Big Band Jazz Transformed the American Music Scene

As the holidays approach and the weather gets colder, I tend to slip into a cozier vibe that is accompanied by the sounds of big band music. Although this is a type of music that I hold dear to my heart, I realized I have yet to take a moment to write about big band jazz and its contribution to American music.

During the 1910s, Americans were typically spending their free time dancing the waltz or polka. However, that would soon change when the style of New Orleans jazz made its way up to the northern part of the country. Along with the style of music, the style of dancing came along with it, leading to the introduction of the jitterbug and fox trot. With these new styles of music and dance being mixed, bands started to construct a jazz orchestra with specific sections to create a sound to accompany the new dancing trends, creating a mixture of the southern and northern takes on jazz. Although it can vary, the usual set up for a “big band” consisted of four sections broken down into trumpets, saxophones, trombones, and a rhythm section that would include a piano, drums, or guitar, along with vocals that some big bands included.

By the 1920s, big bands started to grow in popularity, as well as the production technologies for this type of music. In the 1920s, big bands started to hire well known jazz musicians to lead their bands, giving artists like Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson the opportunity to introduce their music to a larger audience and utilize their band to come up with newer sounds. Once these big bands started being lead by these big names, they would eventually develop a home base where their band could be seen by patrons of that establishment. Duke Ellington’s band ended up becoming the house band for The Cotton Club in Harlem, while Fletcher Henderson became the main band leader at Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan, where he would bring on other well known jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong. As the popularity of big band jazz continued, these bands would hold on to the themes of New Orleans jazz and ragtime sounds at their core, but would eventually move away from those sounds as a whole to create their own sort of distinct sound.

In the 1930s, swing music started to grow in popularity, which had a looser feel compared to the classic jazz sounds. Big bands were easily able to accompany this growing music trend and take the interest for swing music and completely elevate it with their ensemble of big band musicians. With so many big bands adapting their style to that of the swing music trend, they were able to really solidify swing music as a serious take on jazz, despite many listeners being skeptical of swing in the beginning.

Big bands continued to grow in popularity into the 1940s when bands would feature popular vocalists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday. With big bands practically taking over the American music world, there soon started to be sub genres of big bands within the genre itself. Going in more of a swing music direction, Benny Goodman became a well respected “hard-driver” of swing music, leading him to be considered the “King of Swing. Bands like Duke Ellington’s were known as more of a classic or sophisticated style. Another sub genre of big band jazz were those that were considered “sweet bands” such as Glenn Miller’s Orchestra, which typically featured more heartfelt songs.

Although segregation was still prominent in most of the United States, many of these well beloved big bands were lead by or made up of predominantly black musicians. And while they still did not receive the treatment and recognition that they deserved at the time, their work in big band jazz ensembles helped to bridge the gap between white and black music and their respective audiences. Another important aspect to big band jazz was just how successful they were at boosting morale during World War II. Unfortunately, many big bands lost members due to the war, but this lead to a rise in all female-lead bands in the 1940s. While the economic and political climates of the United States at that time was ever changing, so were the inner workings of these big band jazz ensembles. Many would form even smaller groups within the larger bands to go on to populate trios and quartets, along with many folks switching around between bands and groups.

Although the popularity of big bands did start to wane as the 1950s were approaching, the significance and mark that big bands made on not only the jazz world, but the American music world as a whole is undeniable. Big band jazz created the fusion of Southern and Northern American jazz sounds to elevate the already beloved genre. Big band jazz shined light on all the various instruments needed to create such an enjoyable sound and gave greater recognition to these musicians, instead of focusing on just the vocalists. Big bands took Western Swing music to a whole other level and allowed it to completely dominate the 1930s and 1940s. And big band jazz provided opportunities for black musicians to showcase their talent to a wider audience and begin gaining respect from white listeners in a world that was so unwilling to give them a chance. These big band orchestras completely changed music for the better and catapulted the genre of jazz across the globe.

So if you are needing a little extra help getting in a cozy mood or the holiday spirit, put on a collection of Big Band Classics and just let the music lure you into its sound.

Thanks for reading!