Big Band Listening Guide

Big Band Listening Guide

This Big Band Listening Guide includes seven tracks featuring the Buddy Rich Big Band, Maynard Ferguson and his band, the Stan Kenton Orchestra, and an older track from Count Basie.  The first three were the most prominent Big Bands over the last 50+ years, long after the swing era had died out.  Their recordings have had a big impact on most of the jazz ensemble music available to school and collegiate stage or jazz/rock bands today.

Since Buddy Rich was the drummer as well as band leader of his Buddy Rich own band, many of the bands greatest recordings are at a really  fast, driving tempo. Tracks 14 & 15 display the power and speed of the band at its finest.  Notice how Rich pushes the band relentlessly with his ride cymbal and hi-hat work, and the way he interjects short, loud bursts of fill out of nowhere, favoring the snare drum for most of his ideas.  At the end of each of these tracks he closes the arrangement with a snare dominated fill.

1. Ya’ Gotta Try  – Buddy Rich 

Notes – Rich’s fill starting at 1:23 with the band playing some great full ensemble tutti pops up to 1:35 is a great display of tight rhythms, great phrasing (dynamics), and clean articulation.

• Two solos follow starting at 1:36.  After the band plays a short lick at 2:03, these two soloists ‘trade-off’, each taking 8 beat sections opposite each other.
• Beginning at 2:29, you will hear a ‘shout chorus’. The winds play an extended passage until 2:55 on the same rhythm.  This is called a tutti section.  The band is balanced from the lead trumpet player down.  The rest of the band was expected to phrase like the lead trumpet player.  He added crescendos and other embellishments and set the overall volume level of the band.  If the lead player overplays on a shout chorus, the rest of the band would be expected to match him.  After him (or her), the lead trombone player would be the next prominent voice as far as balance, followed by Alto 1.  This is especially true on parts involving just low brass and saxes.
• Buddy starts his closing solo at 2:54. This is fast! The last note for the lead trumpet is a high ‘A’!

2. Straight, No Chaser – Buddy Rich, Song by Thelonius Monk  

Notes – This composition by Thelonius Monk was intended for solo piano and was originally medium slow in tempo.  This arrangement really takes liberties with Mink intent.  The tempo is almost as fast as track 14.

• The saxes state the main melody from :10 to :32.  Notice how short and tight the brass pops are behind the saxes.  Every player knows the right length, amount of accent, and amount of air to use on each note.
• Two tenor saxes, Pat LaBarbera and Don Englert start trading off solos beginning at :36.   Notice how their melodic ideas change scales along with the bass part.  There’s a nice guitar sound behind the soloists laying down the chord changes.
• Trumpet player Jeff Stout, a former teacher at Berklee, uses a harmon mute in his bell in his solo starting at 1:44.  I really enjoy this solo.  At 2:07 he uses a repeating riff to start one of his ‘choruses’ – repeated sections for solos.
• At 2:49 we hear a sax soli followed by the shout chorus at 3:00.  The main melody returns at 3:21.
• 3:42 sees the arrival of Buddy’s extended closing solo.  Buddy Rich died in 1987, one of the greatest jazz drummers in history.

Maynard was the premier high note trumpet ‘screamer’ from the 1950’s until his death in August of 2006.  Originally the Lead Trumpet player for Stan Kenton, Maynard began his own band Maynard Ferguson in the 60’s and traveled and recorded throughout his life.  Although his technique is sometime ‘crass’, his band has a high energy sound and has recorded such classics as LaFiesta, Birdland, and the Theme from Rocky.

3. Everybody Loves The Blues – Maynard Ferguson 

Notes – This tune is Blues all the way.  The guitar sound at the beginning is a great example of jazz guitar technique and tone.

• As Maynard plays some blues, the band enters and builds until 1:07, when they play their first down and dirty shout chorus.  The saxes go out of their way to use a lot of vibrato and bend notes to establish a real old-style jazz feel.
• A real tasty trombone solo begins at 1:45.  This takes us into a double time tempo change beginning at 2:10.
• The second shout chorus begins at 2:33.  Again, listen for the lead trumpet phrasing and how the band follows.  The Bari sax has a more prominent role in Maynard’s recordings.  Thus was done to offset the fact that Maynard usually had only 2 or 3 trombones in his band at any given time.
• At 3:16, and extended Alto sax solo begins.  This guys got some fingers!  Since this is a blues tune, try to follow the chord changes in the bass part and listen to how the soloist forms ideas and phrases.  He mixes speeds and ranges, and uses other effects to add interest to his ideas such as grace notes, bending notes, trills, and blowing flat on purpose. I enjoy his use of a lick from Chattanooga Choo-Choo at 4:03 to start a chorus and he saves his coolest, highest jazz lick for the end of his solo beginning at 4:15.
• Maynard begins his solo at 4:28.  Beginning at 5:00, he begins trading off with the entire trumpet section. Notice the background riff being played behind them in the trombone voice.
• 5:34 sees another shout chorus into the main melody at 5:52.  This slows way down to the final, full band section at 6:43.  Maynard’s last note is a triple C!

4. LaFiesta – Maynard Ferguson, Composed by Chick Corea  

Notes– This is a great studio recording. The electric piano regularly switches between the left and right speakers, adding a different dimension to the mix.  The lead trombone player is great on this tune – he really takes charge on some of the melodies.  If you like screaming trumpet, this is the chart for you.

• Trombone player Jerry Johnson begins a solo at 2:41. Over one minute long, this is one of my favorite solos in all of jazz.  I like the fact that he really plays out – very aggressive.  There’s no doubt who you should be listening to!
• Keyboard player Alan Zavod comes in at 4:00.  I am always amazed how he can play the chord changes as he solos.  This duel role is one of the trickiest things for piano soloists, especially since this arrangement doesn’t include a guitar player.  Who else would play the chords during the piano solo?   For awhile it’s just the electric piano and bass until the drums reenter at 4:35.  They get quite a groove going for just 3 people.
• At 5:30 we are treated to a multi-trumpet Latin cadenza (also ending on triple C).

The Stan Kenton Orchestra was known from the late 40’s on for Stan Kenton their ‘orchestral’ jazz compositions.  Leader Stan Kenton, a piano player, hired composers and arrangers who would include odd meter material, expanded instrumentation that included tubas and Mellophones, and took big band jazz to new eras of experimentation.  They have always been known for their sweet sounding trombone section ….. listen to Send In The Clowns, and their exceptional phrasing as a band – the last couple of minutes of Time For A Change.

5. Time For A Change – Stan Kenton Orchestra  

Notes – This song is in 9/4.  Try to count along.  This band is so clean – pitch and phrasing are perfect.  Notice the great trombone sound and how much the lead trombone player leads the phrasing of the lower voices.  Also, the bass trombone is very loud.

• Tenor Sax Roy Reynolds begins a lengthy solo at 2:28.  His approach is very melodic.  By that, I mean this his ideas almost sound like they were written to go along with the background parts even though he’s improvising.  He doesn’t just play repeating licks.
• This bands first tutti section begins at 3:16.  Again, notice how the lead trumpet shapes the phrase and the band follows.
• The balance of each section is amazing.  You can hear each trumpet player – listen for the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th parts. The trombones at the end – every note is mixed perfectly between each player.

6. Send In The Clown – Stan Kenton Orchestra  

Notes – A beautiful show tune ballad written by Stephen Sondheim.  This arrangement begins with Stan Kenton on solo piano.  The trombone section enters and does a great job on long, sustained notes throughout this recording.

• Notice the Latin percussion added to the drum set sound.
• At 1:31 the trumpets enter on the melody.  The band does a 30 second crescendo into the first big hit.
• Kenton then solos and starts another long build up by the band.
• The flutes come in at 3:36 and introduce a trumpet solo by John Harner on the main melody. The top note is a high G!
• I have always been impressed with the breath control of the whole band on this recording.  They hold notes all the way out – there’s no ‘gaps’ in the music.  Stan Kenton died in 1979, three years after these recordings were made.

7. April In Paris – Count Basie  

Notes – Had to put one recording from the vintage Swing Era of the 1930’s.  The Count Basie band could swing like no other thanks to drummer Joe Jones’ use of the Hi Hat.  Notice the vibrato in the sax section, typical of this Big Band period of jazz.

Big Band Listening Guide – Want More?  Here’s a starting list of legendary artists worth checking out.

Big Band – Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson, Woody Herman.  Saxophone – Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, David Sanborn. Trumpet – Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Freddie Hubbard, Roy Eldridge, Maynard Ferguson, Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton, Wynton Marsalis.  Trombone – Jack Teagarden, J.J. Johnson, Phil Wilson.  Piano – Art Tatum, Thelonius Monk, Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock. Guitar – Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, Pat Metheny. Bass – Charles Mingus,  Jaco Pastorius.  Drums – Gene Krupa, Kenny Clarke, Buddy Rich, Dave Weckl. ‘Modern’ Groups – Spyro Gyra, Weather Report, Yellowjackets.  Funk/R.B. – Tower of Power

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