# Recommend some Big Band jazz **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030 "2009-01-19T18:18:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/21 "2009-01-21T17:36:34Z")
I haven’t listened to any recordings - I’ve only heard them live - but Lyle Lovett’s “Large” band can rock pretty good when they’re doing the swing band sound. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/22 "2009-01-21T17:50:59Z")
> [@Tully\_Mars](#): > > I haven’t listened to any recordings - I’ve only heard them live - but Lyle Lovett’s “Large” band can rock pretty good when they’re doing the swing band sound. Absolutely - fine music. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/23 "2009-01-21T18:16:30Z")
Long ago, I went to see [Sun Ra & his Arkestra](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Ra) at [del]an abandoned warehouse[/del] the original [Lawndale Art Center](http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/LL/kllnk.html). The Arkestra was definitely a big band. (It still is–with a new director, since Sun Ra has left the planet.) And they definitely played jazz–some of it very advanced for my tender hippy ears. But much of the music was tuneful & quite accessible. Sun Ra made a ton of recordings, but I haven’t a clue on where to start. Perhaps a Ra-expert will drop by & make some recommendations. For both of us. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/24 "2009-01-26T18:30:35Z")
Update: I’ve written out a nice long list of recommendations and put it in my library bag, so will be looking for these over the next few months. Thanks to all who posted! Short term, I bought two CDs: > [@flickster](#): > > One of my favorites of late: > > _Concord Jazz Heritage Series - Frank Capp Juggernaut_ and > [@WordMan](#): > > - \*\*No Moe! The Best of Louis Jordan \*\*- worth the price for “Saturday Night Fish Fry” and “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby?” alone… Both excellent – thanks again! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/25 "2009-01-26T18:56:07Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Update: I’ve written out a nice long list of recommendations and put it in my library bag, so will be looking for these over the next few months. Thanks to all who posted! > > Short term, I bought two CDs Awesome! So - how’s Saturday Night Fish Fry??? Or Is You Is…? Or Salt Pork, West Virginia? Or Caledonia? Or…😉 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/26 "2009-01-26T22:32:33Z")
“Is You Is…” is my favorite of these – it’s such an excellent song, and such an excellent version of it. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/27 "2009-01-30T15:48:35Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Awesome! So - how’s Saturday Night Fish Fry??? Or Is You Is…? Or Salt Pork, West Virginia? Or Caledonia? Or…😉 And “Ain’t Nobody Here but Us Chickens.” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/28 "2009-01-30T16:11:17Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby?” ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/f3vHN1Aadck/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/f3vHN1Aadck?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/29 "2009-01-30T16:24:20Z")
I love that cartoon! It’s the first thing I think of when I hear “Is You Is” also. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/30 "2009-01-30T17:18:04Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3vHN1Aadck](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3vHN1Aadck) Pure genius. Louis is the man, but that version rocks. And \*\*twicks \*\*- oh yeah! I love that one, too. Just a solid collection end to end… ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/31 "2009-01-30T18:13:45Z")
The OP ought to dig John Coltrane’s **Complete Africa/Brass Sessions** , highlighted by a sumptuously swinging version of “Greensleeves.” ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/32 "2009-01-30T18:31:22Z")
I’ll add it to the list, thanks! (And **Lute** – excellent cartoon, thanks! I don’t think I’ve ever seen that one before.) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/33 "2009-01-30T18:37:31Z")
[Here’s the full version.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rKpwqfkiKs) ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/34 "2009-02-01T01:07:44Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > If you’re not already familiar with Cab Calloway, you should check him out. There should be plenty of clips on Youtube. Calloway is awesome, but I’m not sure he’s really considered typical big band. His music is definitely not swing; I’d say it’s somewhere in between 1920s era hot jazz, for example Jelly Roll Morton’s Hot Peppers, and 1930s era swing. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/35 "2009-02-01T01:24:23Z")
Everything said above, +1. But one of the only very few contemporary BIG bands put together on record I think is worth springing for is led by Danny D’Imperio. Big Band Bloviation 1 and 2. There’s only a handful of really top-drawer stuff being made today, and this is right up there. Some of the other stuff I’ve heard is fine, but there aren’t _all_ that many real masters of jazz of any genre playing, let alone stretching out in this format. Joe Henderson’s big band record is a classic by now, even though made not too long ago – every pianist I know or have ever talked to is in love with Chick Corea’s comping on the cuts he made from this album. I’m not that familiar with what Sue Mingus’s “CM Big Band” has on record, but when I used to hear them live they had a revolving-door thing with about every name musician in NY. Maybe the Mingus BB is the only real “band” – aside from a recording group – of the three, but the three taken as a whole represent certainly the top of the art in the past fifteen years (that is, not retro, primarily dance music, but good art). I should make clear this is really only talking about recent stuff – the classics in this genre are easy enough to find and well known beyond belief. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/36 "2009-02-01T02:12:01Z")
I don’t know why, **twicks,** but somehow I think you might like Don Byron’s [Bug Music.](http://www.amazon.com/Bug-Music-Quintette-Orchestra-Ellington/dp/B000002I2Z/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1233453768&sr=1-1) Plenty of chair dancing on this one! My absolute favorite track is “The Quintet Does Carmen.” (Sounds like the title of porn movie, doesn’t it?) When I first got the CD, I didn’t care that much for “Charles Prelude” (because it’s not a chair dancing kind of piece), and then one day the light bulb went on. :smack: It’s based on a Chopin’s “Tristesse” etude, which is one of my favorite Chopin pieces. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/37 "2009-02-01T03:03:42Z")
I listened to the samples – that seems like a fun album! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/38 "2009-02-01T03:59:14Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Calloway is awesome, but I’m not sure he’s really considered typical big band. His music is definitely not swing; I’d say it’s somewhere in between 1920s era hot jazz, for example Jelly Roll Morton’s Hot Peppers, and 1930s era swing. Good point. Not all music played by a section-voiced, brass-and-reeds dance orchestra is “big band music.” It pretty much has to: a) post-date the early 1930s, b) not be overtly “sweet” sounding (ballads are OK though), and c) not use a string section, unless it’s a great big one as in the WW2 era Dorsey & James bands. Furthermore, as **SoP** also perspicaciously points out, not all music that swings is swing music. Calloway’s band always swung, but it did have something of an early 30s sound until well into the _late_ 30s. The key is the “triplet feel” eighth note phrasing. Straight eighth note playing can be very exciting and even persisted well into the swing era with some groups, but it’s not classic swing. For one thing, people today find it a lot harder to dance to, even if they can’t always tell you why. ---
**Author:** ![Tierce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Tierce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tierce)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030/39 "2009-02-08T04:13:49Z")
A late reply, but I just picked this up: > **[Bob Curnow's L.A. Big Band - Music of Pat Metheny - Amazon.com Music](https://www.amazon.com/Music-Pat-Metheny-Lyle-Mays/dp/B0000018LY)** > > Product Description An amazingly successful translation of the inimitable compositions of the Pat Metheny Group into the idiom of big band jazz. Bob Curnow was the producer and arranger of Stan Kenton's acclaimed crossover success, Stan... Bob Curnow was with Stan Kenton way back when. I got to hear this stuff performed live recently at a university jazz festival. This ain’t no easy-listening new-age bullshit. The First Circle, in particular, **rocks**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-big-band-jazz/482030.md?page=1)