Big Bands

Thomas Maxwell

The Big Band Swing era was the ‘contemporary pop’ of the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s. It
was the most popular music in America at the time and the most popular era of jazz ever.
This essay talks about the history of the era as well as two huge names in Swing, jazz and
American music.

Big Band is a term used to describe a group of ten or more musicians. These groups
would normally feature a rhythm section (drums, bass and an accompanying instrument
like a piano or guitar), three or more trumpets, at least two trombones and four or five
saxophones. It was quite different to most other jazz styles; there was a larger emphasis
on orchestrated, notated music and less so on improvisation and solos, whereas the need
for creativity and the solo has become a central part of jazz culture around the world. It is
a perfect example of a ‘generational sound’ because, unfortunately, this style of music is
not nearly as popular as it was 80 years ago, where it was practically the only music
people listened to.

Historians have agreed that the Big Band/Swing Era took place between 1935 and
1945. It was the only time in American history where jazz was the most popular style of
music and no other genre could compete. However, there is a debate as to whether Big
Band music was recorded in the 1920s. It evolved from the Jazz that was heard in
Chicago, Kansas City and New Orleans, where Jazz is said to have been born. At the
start of the 20th Century, musicians Luke Buddy Bolden and King Oliver (who was Louis
Armstrong’s idol) would perform in New Orleans. Jazz bands started to form in the city
and many of these bands would play on Mississippi steamboats. This helped not only
spread the sound of jazz, but it also helped increase its popularity. As the 1920s hit, jazz
bands started to become larger. The music combined parts of ragtime, black negro
spirituals, blues and European music. Some of the first big bands were Duke Ellington,
Don Redman and Fletcher Henderson. These bands featured some of the future stars and
biggest names in Big Band Jazz, like Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Benny Carter.

DUKE ELLINGTON DON REDMAN FLETCHER HENDERSON

As these bands grew ever increasingly in size, they soon realised that it was
necessary to have an arranger to avoid any confusion during performances, rather than
the normal practice of improvising. This arranger became the centre of the band. He
would write out the sheet music for all of the band members by assigning different parts
of the music to separate sections in the band. He would also control when solos were
taken, who would take them and also how long the solo would last. Everything in the
pieces was carefully arranged, from the sound the big band created to the styles of
singers like the Andrews Sisters and the Mills Brothers. This new, revolutionary sound
was beginning to be known as Swing.

Then, suddenly, ‘Black Thursday’ happened. On October 24th 1929, stock prices
began to collapse and didn’t stop for four days. The equivalent of $400 billion in today’s
money was lost, which was more than the total cost of World War 1. This led to The Great
Depression. The gaiety, prosperity and fun of the Roaring 20s was gone. Money was in
short supply, people were not able to go out to see live music performed by musicians.
This forced many big bands to break up. It was almost impossible for anyone to find
work. Record sales were at the lowest it had ever been. Some of the most talented
musicians and those with good contacts were just able to stay afloat.

At this time, the radio started to become popular in America; roughly 91 million
people had access to one in the 1930s. This was known as the ‘Golden Age of Radio.’ It
was able to unite the people of America at the same time. But it wasn’t until 1934 that the
public would regularly hear jazz big bands, with the Benny Goodman Orchestra featuring
on NBC’s ‘Let’s Dance’ every week. Recordings were also developing; records were
becoming quieter, microphones were being improved, which meant that sound quality
was becoming much better. Through the press, through recordings, and through live radio
broadcasts the people of America could listen to jazz big bands. The sound of swing took
the country by storm in the mid 30s.

One of the biggest names in Big Band Swing was Benny Goodman. He was born in
Chicago in 1909. At the age of 10, he began to study the clarinet and when he was 13, he
was a fully professional musician. In 1925, he joined Ben Pollack’s band and made his
first recordings with him. He stayed with the band until 1929, when he moved to New
York and became a freelance musician. There, he worked in Broadway pit bands, radio
shows and recording studios for leaders like Ted Lewis, Ben Selvin and Red Nichols. After
realising he did not want to be a sideman - and with some encouragement from the man
who would later marry his sister, John Hammond, - he formed his first big band in 1934, a
12-piece group. From then until 1949, some of the giants of the swing era made a name
for themselves in his band, like Gene Krupa, Harry James, and Teddy Wilson. In that year,
he and his orchestra would perform weekly on ‘Let’s Dance,’ which was always at a late
hour. This meant that most of their audience - high school and college students - couldn’t
listen in because they had to be up early the next morning.

BENNY GOODMAN
 In 1935, the orchestra went on tour. However, the music they had been playing on
‘Let’s Dance’ wasn’t finding the same success. When they made it to the Palomar
Ballroom in August, Goodman feared that this would be the end of the band. However,
they were a hit. The fans enjoyed the night so much, the band extended their time at the
Palomar from two weeks to several months, before touring across the rest of the
continent in celebration. 1938 was a huge year for Goodman and his orchestra. They
brought a new degree of acknowledgement to jazz by staging one of the first all-out jazz
concerts in Carnegie Hall. Gene Krupa, Teddy Wilson, Harry James, Ziggy Elman, Lionel
Hampton and Jess Stacy were part of the band, as well as some of Duke Ellington and
Count Basie’s top soloists. He then released what would become his trademark song,
“Sing, Sing, Sing (with a Swing),” which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In
1945, when jazz began moving towards bebop and away from swing, Goodman broke up
his band and performed with smaller groups and other big names like Victor Borge, Andre
Previn and George Benson, leading up to his death in 1986.

Benny Goodman had a rare gift that he shared with only a few other jazz musicians
(Miles, Art Blakey, Duke Ellington). He was able to constantly bring together musicians
that had very different styles and tastes and use them in his own music, without changing
their individual styles or identities. Whoever he worked with, he always had the same
principle - “You came to play Benny Goodman’s music, whoever you were” (Spillett,
2002). He is still remembered today as one of jazz greatest, as well as the ‘King of Swing.’

Another giant in the world of Big Band was Glenn Miller. He was born in Iowa on
March 1st, 1904. As a child, he first learned how play the mandolin, but then decided to
take up the trombone. He played in his high school’s band in Colorado, before becoming
a professional musician in 1921 when he graduated. He then began studies at the
University of Colorado, but left in 1923 to work as a full time musician. He played with
multiple bands, including Ben Pollack’s band, before moving to New York as a freelance
musician and arranger. He and some of his arrangements featured in the bands of Red
Nichols, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey and Benny Goodman.

It wasn’t until 1937 that he formed his first band. This wasn’t the band that brought
him fame, but it did catch critics attention for good reasons. Miller’s arrangement of “I Got
Rhythm,” became a hit, but more was soon to come. As he once said, “A band ought to
have a sound all of its own; it ought to have a personality” (Encyclopaedia Britannica,
2019). He was searching for a specific, unique sound that would separate his big band
from others. He reconfigured it many times until he found the perfect formula. This
consisted of a clarinet playing the melody with a tenor saxophone doubling it an octave
lower, while other saxophones provided harmonic contour.

This new band played in ballrooms and casinos along the East Coast, with many of
them hosting national radio broadcasts. Miller regularly broke attendance records with live
shows. In 1939, the band was in constant demand. It had its own radio show that
broadcast three times a week, it featured in movies and there was always a recording
session to attend. It became the most popular big band in the country. Miller’s
composition, “Moonlight Serenade,” recorded in 1939, was his first record to see a million
copies, but it wasn’t the only big hit. Other tunes included “Sunrise Serenade,”
“Pennsylvania 6-5000,” “Chatanooga Choo Choo,” and “In the Mood,” which was
inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

 GLENN MILLER AND HIS ORCHESTRA.

In 1942, Miller broke up the band to serve his country. He joined the Army Air Force,
where he headed up the US Army Air Force Band. This consisted of a 42-piece orchestra
with a 19-piece swing band. The band regularly performed for troops during World War 2.
In 1944, he was stationed in England. Here, he was told that his band was to go to Paris.
So, on December 15th, he boarded a plane that was headed to the French capital.
However, neither he nor the plane were ever to turn up again. To this day, they haven’t
been recovered - what happened remains a mystery.

The Air Force Band continued to play despite his death and, after the war, the Glenn
Miller Orchestra was revived to honour his legacy, and it continued to play sold-out shows
into the 21st century. Albums with his greatest hits always performed well on the charts
for many years after his passing. In 1954, the film “The Glenn Miller Story” was made,
telling the story of one of the greats of American music. It would be hard to forget him,
after all, as jazz historian Gunther Schuller once wrote, “It is hard to think of anyone with a
sound quite so unique.”

For a genre of music that was so popular, it makes you wonder how Big Band Swing
ceased to be so popular. Many people have tried to explain it with valid, understandable
excuses. Firstly, World War 2; many musicians who were in big bands were drafted up to
join the fight, leaving very few at home. Those who were at home now had many
opportunities to work, so they had little reason to travel outside their city. Furthermore,
gas and rubber rationing made it harder for big bands that somehow were still intact to
travel across America. Secondly, following the Great Depression and now a very costly
second war, the American government was running out of money. To try and make more,
they targeted big bands and the clubs they played at. In 1941, they introduced the ‘Club
Tax.’ The public would now have to pay an extra 20% for any performance that included
dancing. This and the invention of the television meant that people were more likely to
stay at home for their nightly entertainment.

All of these reasons are true, but the killer blow was dealt by the bandleaders
themselves. They wanted to play music for the audience to sit down and listen to,
whereas the people wanted to get up and dance. Because of this, many bands refused to
play and broke up. Even the great Artie Shaw, at the peak of his popularity, walked out on
music completely. Bandleaders who were too stubborn to change their style or songs
“committed suicide,” and as bebop started to emerge onto the scene, as well as singers
like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and also Rock n’ Roll for the new kids, Big Band
Swing started to die a sad, tragic death.

 It’s a shame how this era in jazz has almost been completely forgotten about. Today,
the Glenn Miller Orchestra is still performing regularly and most big bands now only
perform at weddings and other function events. But the sound and the mark it left in the
music world can never be overlooked. There appears to be a slight revival of interest in
the work of artists such as Michael Bublé and Robbie Williams.

References
Biography (2019) Glenn Miller Biography, Songwriter Conductor https://
www.biography.com/musician/glenn-miller [accessed January 2020]

Craig’s Big Bands and Big Names (2003) https://bigbandsandbignames.com/

RiseandFall.html [accessed January 2020]

Encyclopaedia Britannica (2019) Glenn Miller, American Composer and Musician, https://
www.britannica.com/biography/Glenn-Miller [accessed January 2020]

Spillett, S (2002) Benny Goodman and His All Stars, An Airmail Special from Berlin 1959
(CD Notes), Jasmine Records, JASCD 402, London

Swing Music Net, The History of Jazz Music Parts 1 and 2, http://www.swingmusic.net/
getready.html [accessed January 2020]

Visser, J (1997) Benny Goodman, Benny Rides Again (CD Notes), Charly Schallplatten,
GMBH, Germany

Washington Examiner (1996) Why the Big Bands Died

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/why-the-big-bands-died
[accessed January 2020]

Selected Discography
Glenn Miller - In the Mood, Moonlight Serenade, Chatanooga Choo Choo, Pennsylvania
5-6000 and more

Benny Goodman - Sing, Sing, Sing, Stompin’ at the Savoy and more

Picture Credits
Duke Ellington Picture - https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjkx_P9-
JfnAhVioXEKHW-
aCSMQjB16BAgBEAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fm.huffingtonpost.com.au%2F2013%2F1
0%2F11%2Fduke-ellington-style-
photos_n_4080521.html&psig=AOvVaw2TxqK0uF2nwF-
NePA84I1B&ust=1579807801731789

Don Redman Picture - https://www.google.com/url?

sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwil7L7u-
ZfnAhViqHEKHQKbBkQQjhx6BAgBEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.freshsoundrecords.
com%2F12227-don-redman-
albums&psig=AOvVaw3BKSSIprpdXKURpHteIvjs&ust=1579808064283340

Benny Goodman Picture - https://cdn.britannica.com/79/979-050-077901DE/Benny-

Goodman.jpg

Fletcher Henderson Picture - https://www.google.com/url?

sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjdl5KT_ZfnAhUQVRUIHXQo
C00QjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fflickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fchinacoastjazzme
n%2F47230824002%2F&psig=AOvVaw0577HkptMSWa4R95f2fLHE&ust=157980896351
0076

Glenn Miller and his orchestra picture - https://cdn.britannica.com/91/2591-004-

D9284F8F/Glenn-Miller-Sun-Valley-Serenade-centre-orchestra.jpg