SWING
THE SWING ERA…
• Most noteworthy Jazz of all era’s has an
element of rhythm or feel that is referred to as
swing
• The Swing Era general refers to….
• The period after Boogie-Woogie in the
development of Jazz in the 1930’s & early
1940’s.
• The music of large dance bands that played
written arrangements with the occasional
improvised solo
THE SWING ERA
• Across the country, there were literally
hundreds of these “Big Bands”.
• Most bands had similar instrumentations
• Band leaders at the time were very concerned
with having a Signature Sound.
• They would try to achieve this by….
• Having unique arrangements of popular tunes
• Having unique soloist
THE SWING ERA
THE BEGINNINGS…
• Around 1924, New York bandleader Fletcher
Henderson is credited with coming up with the
pattern for SWING music arrangements .
• It is the independent use of sections of
instruments that set these apart
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TRUMPETS
TROMBONES
SAXOPHONES
RHYTHM (Piano/Guitar, String Bass, Drum-set)
**note The Modern Drum-set begins to evolve *YOUTUBE
KIT
THE SWING ERA
THE BEGINNINGS…
• Formula of written for these instruments was
copied by many of the dance bands.
• Still used in today’s “Big Bands” =
• Professional, College, & High School Bands
• The idea of sections was to create more sonority
(hierarchy) on the bandstand.
• Henderson had some of the best players of the era
in his band he used to establish this (..including
Louis Armstrong)
THE SWING ERA
• Henderson took parts that were originally
conceived to be played by on instrument and
harmonized it for three of more.
• Most bands would have different part or
harmony for each instrument in each section.
• In Kansas City, often times there would be
one part for each section and all the
instruments would play the “riff” in unison.
THE SWING ERA
• With these larger groups the Dixieland texture
no longer was practical.
• In Dixieland, everyone was allow
improvisational freedom.
• In Swing, only small opportunities for
individual solos & improvisation were given
in the larger composition call…….
• THE JAZZ ARRANGMENT
THE SWING ERA
• THE JAZZ ARRANGMENT
• Popular and original tunes taken and re-arranged
for larger bands.
• Every instrument ( sometimes even the Rhythm
section) would have a note for note written out
part.
• This resembles in some way classical music
scores.
• Only small sections of the piece would be
reserved for improvisation.
• Unlike Dixieland, only one instrument would
solo at a time.
THE SWING ERA
• THE JAZZ ARRANGMENT
• The use of Ostinato fashion “Riffs” became
common practice in arrangements.
• Riff = repeated refrains or phrases that cause
or create momentum and serve as catalysts
that hold the music together from point to
point.
• Composed riffs would often times “back-up”
an improvised solo.
• These riffs help reign in, what some thought,
was the over the top polyphony of Dixieland
THE SWING ERA
• THE JAZZ ARRANGMENT
• LISTENING JOURNAL
• FLETCHER HENDERSON & HIS ORCHESTRA
• Wrappin’ It Up
THE SWING ERA
• NEW YORK (late 1920’s to early 1940’s)
• Along with Kansas City most important
geographically area in the development towards
swing jazz.
• Name bands were located or regular played New
York.
• Has a growing network of clubs and booking agents
• Has a growing network of radio stations and
recording studios.
THE SWING ERA
• NEW YORK (late 1920’s to early 1940’s)
• Growing list of A-list Musicians come from New
York.
• Chick Webb band – young singer named ELLA
FITZGERALD will bring them to prominence in the
mid-30’s
• Jimmie Lunceford – band that would inspire
famous musicians. However, never nationally
popular due to lack of recordings
• Duke Ellington – proved that orchestration of a Jazz
band was a true art form and became one of the most
recognizable names in Jazz music
• …....more on Sir Duke later
THE SWING ERA
• KANSAS CITY (late 1920’s to early 1940’s)
• Bustling Mid-west city.
• The mostly corrupt political establishment did
much more than encourage the nightclub
atmosphere.
• Like Storyville before, many opportunities
arose for Jazz musicians
• Kansas City bands were looser more “riff” &
blues based with less orchestration than New
York groups.
THE SWING ERA
• KANSAS CITY (late 1920’s to early 1940’s)
• Bennie Moten had the hottest band in KC but..
• MARY LOU WILLIAMS
• One of the greatest performers to come out of KC
• Great jazz pianist
• Multi-talented = 1st woman to compose &
arrange for a large jazz band (The Andy Kirk
band)
• Received many honors in her life including
having a KC street named after her
• * YOUTUBE VIDEOS
THE SWING ERA
• KANSAS CITY (late 1920’s to early 1940’s)
• COUNT BASIE
• In the early 1920’s Basie joined Bennie
Moten’s band in New York & traveled to KC.
• The band became stranded in KC.
• Basie started his own band and most of
Moten’s players came with him.
• After Moten’s death Basie’s band becomes the
leading band of KC
THE SWING ERA
• KANSAS CITY (late 1920’s to early 1940’s)
• COUNT BASIE
• The Basie band continued the musical
advances started by earlier KC bands.
• Basie anticipated the next era (Be-Bop) by…
• 1. Freeing the Piano from merely just keeping
time
• 2. Created a “less is more” style of playing
THE SWING ERA
• KANSAS CITY (late 1920’s to early 1940’s)
• COUNT BASIE
• Basie anticipated the next era (Be-Bop) by…
• 3. His composition style –
• One main melody that leads to all the others & into
solos
• Letting the band have a hand in developing the final
form.
• ---------------• Also, his drummer Jo Jones added more interesting
accents to his swing beats then previous KC
drummers
THE SWING ERA
• KANSAS CITY (late 1920’s to early 1940’s)
• COUNT BASIE
• Listening Journal
• Count Basie & His Orchestra
• Taxi War Dance
• *YOUTUBE – One O’Clock Jump
• Basie’s signature tune
THE SWING ERA
• Swing becomes Accepted…
• 1929 The Great Depression
• Big Name Musicians including
Armstrong & Ellington head for Europe.
• Hotel music work survives
• Radio positions survive
• But rest of the entire music business
almost completely collapses for a time.
• Music is a luxury that most do without.
THE SWING ERA
• Swing becomes Accepted…
• Some historians believe the Swing was
launched around 1934 when a popular band
leader Benny Goodman went back to playing
concerts after working in radio during the 1st
half of the Depression
• Swing was around before 1934 with Fletcher
Henderson, Duke Ellington, & Kansas City
Band all getting their start before 1932.
THE SWING ERA
• Swing becomes Accepted…
• A big catalyst to the start of the Swing era was
the repel of Prohibition in 1933.
• Night life changes with large clubs and
ballrooms being able to book big bands to
play dances and serve alcohol.
• Dancing and drinking served as a distraction
from the Depression
• DVD SWING PURE PLEASURE 0:0014:00
THE SWING ERA
• Paul Whiteman
• Popular orchestra leader in New York , but not
necessarily a Jazz musician or Jazz band
leader
• Even though he called himself THE KING OF
JAZZ
• He introduced George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody
in Blue” in 1924 which became widely
successful, and was mostly a classical
composed piece with major Jazz elements.
• *YOUTUBE – Rhapsody in Blue
THE SWING ERA
• Paul Whiteman
• He steadily employed many “Name” Jazz
musicians of the time even though the band
didn’t always play Jazz or even Jazz
influenced music.
• Musicians included.. Bix Beiderbecke, Frank
Trumbauer, Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey, ect..
• By providing them steady income it allowed
them to maintain a career in music & develop
as Jazz musicians
• Eventually he’ll start a Jazz only group.
THE SWING ERA
• By the late 1930’s the Depression was coming
to a close.
• The Recording and Radio Industries were reemerging and helped publicize Jazz as the
most listened to music in the world.
• Benny Goodman has a series of Jazz concerts
at Carnegie Hall which are milestones in the
acceptance of Jazz.
• Goodman is hailed as the King of Swing, even
though large black orchestra’s had been doing
the exact same thing for years.
THE SWING ERA
• GLENN MILLER
• Lead what became the most popular of the
Swing Bands – The Glenn Miller Orchestra
• Miller was an outstanding arranger, Trombonist,
& Businessman.
• The band had…
• Radio Program 3 nights a week
• Many recordings
• Made motion pictures -showmanship
• *YOUTUBE – IN THE MOOD
• DVD PURE PLEASURE band leaders 27:00 - 38:15
THE SWING ERA
• Different bands had to….
• To find a signature sound & appeal
• The role of the composer/arranger became
important in this and help push Jazz music
forward by developing many different but
similar styles.
• The other important element to creating a
signature sound and an element that pushed
Jazz forward was…
• The Big-Band Soloist
THE SWING ERA
• The Big-Band Soloist
• COLEMAN HAWKINS
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Tenor Saxophone
One of the leading Sax Improvisers
Full Tone, Flowing Lines, Heavy Vibrato
W/ Blues singer Mamie Smith 1922-23
Gains major recognition with Fletcher Henderson
• Listening Journal
• The Man I Love – Coleman Hawkins
THE SWING ERA
• The Big-Band Soloist
• LESTER YOUNG
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Tenor Saxophone (slightly later than Hawkins in timeline)
Great Tenor Soloist competing with Hawkins
Went in a direction all his own
Played softer, more subtle & abstract than Hawkins
Will be the model for “Cool Jazz” Saxophonist
Played with Count Basie’s Orchestra
• Listening Journal
• Lester Leaps In – Count Basie’s KC Six
THE SWING ERA
• The Big-Band Soloist
• BENNY GOODMAN
• Clarinet soloist and Big-Band Leader
• Born in Chicago in 1909 to poor family
• Begins playing young and word spreads by age 16 of
his musicianship
• Gets job playing on Radio & for Recording
companies at age 20 in New York
• In 1934, organizes his first band and begins touring.
• Becomes a success and eventually plays the first
swing band concert at Carnegie Hall
THE SWING ERA
• The Big-Band Soloist
• BENNY GOODMAN
• Has a Hollywood film based on his life
• Tours the world on behalf of the US State
Department
• 1st band leader to force to issue of integration
• Hailed as “The King of Swing”
• Brought Jazz out of the backrooms & into the best
night clubs and theaters of the day
• Listening Journal
• I Got Rhythm (written by George Gershwin)
• –Benny Goodman Quartet
THE SWING ERA
• The Big-Band Soloist
• GENE KRUPA
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Drummer
With THE BENNY GOODMAN band
Talented drummer and showman
Drum kit was very close to modern set (Tom Toms)
Inspirational drummer and soloist
Keith Moon of “The Who” sights him as one of his
major influences
• **Youtube – Sing Sing Sing (Benny Goodman)
• ** Youtube - drum battle w/ Buddy Rich
THE SWING ERA
• Swing Combos
• Most big bands had small combo groups made of the
better players in the band
• Goodman had THE GOODMAN TRIO,
QUARTET,& SEXTET
• Artie Shaw had his “band within a band” THE
GRAMERCY FIVE
• Woody Herman = THE WOODCHOPPERS
• Tommy Dorsey = THE CLAMBAKE SEVEN
THE SWING ERA
• Swing Combos
• 52nd Street in New York had many clubs was a
gathering place for these small combos
• July 1944 , Norman Granz released a live jam
session recorded in Los Angeles at a benefit concert.
• First commercially successful “live” recording not
made in a studio.
• Marks a new phase in recording history
• **Youtube = JAZZ AT THE PHILHARMONIC
• DVD PURE PLEASURE 58:15 – 1:07:25
THE SWING ERA
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THE DEMISE OF THE SWING ERA
WWII helped end the swing era
The draft took away some key plays in bands
No gas or auto tires available to civilians making
touring difficult at best
The Cabaret Tax = puts many clubs out of business
Rise in the popularity of “Singers” that fronted the
bands…making the band less important
The rise of “Rock & Roll”
With the demise of Swing in major popularity the
change to smaller ensembles of the Bebop era was
taking shape.
**DVD Pure Pleasure 1:21:15 - 1:24:00
THE SWING ERA
• THE BIG BAND LEGACY
• The Big Band is often equated to the Classical
Symphony Orchestra
• Big Band instrumentation was standardized the
music was not….
• Most bands had Identifiable leader who was the
symbol of the bands musical arrangements
• Some bands have continued from the 1920’s to today
• Members have changed and iconic leaders have died
off
• The names have stayed and the music vision of the
original stays but has changed over the years
THE SWING ERA
• THE BIG BAND LEGACY
• Big Band Legacy bands include…
• THE DUKE ELLINGTON BAND
• THE COUNT BASIE BAND
• THE WOODY HERMAN BAND
• THE STAN KENTON BAND
• THE BUDDY RICH BAND…..ect
• These bands often play nostalgic arrangements
• …..but continue to introduce new material
• …..and introduce new major talents
• *YOUTUBE = Burning for Buddy (Neil Peart of Rush)
THE SWING ERA
• THE BIG BAND LEGACY
• CONTEMPORARY BIG BANDS
• Not all of the current Big Bands are Legacy or
nostalgia bands
• The medium has remained vital enough to support
new bands and leaders such as….
• Doc Severinsen
• Don Ellis
• Mel Lewis
• Quincy Jones
• Louis Bellson
• Bob Mintzer
• Gerald Wilson
• Ect…
THE SWING ERA
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CONTEMPORARY BIG BANDS
• Doc Severinsen –
• The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
• Quincy Jones –
• Big band leader and producer who later has worked with acts
from Michael Jackson to Will Smith & Usher.
• Also scored soundtracks to projects like The Cosby Show,
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Music for the Inauguration of
Bill Clinton, The Color Purple, ect….
• Don Ellis –
• Radical trumpeter and composer / band leader
• Fuses styles from 20th century avant garde to Indian Raga
• * YOUTUBE EXAMPLES