whats some good big band music?

http://www.bigbandsandbignames.com/

Glenn Miller is good stuff and easily accessible, as is The Dorsey Brothers (both together and later separately).

Start there, and then follow the people in those bands forwards and backwards as they flow through time. You may want to check at the music stores for a 'Big Band Collection' type CD that has modern bands covering a wide variety of older stuff, that way you can determine what style you like and find the original recordings.

 

Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington...

 

Oh, also, not much in the way of big band music from the 20s... The 30s and 40s are where you'll find the good stuff.

 

Hard driving big band of a more current era....

Buddy Rich
Maynard Ferguson
"Burning for Buddy" Tribute CD's (great tracks with different drummers, and current!)
Chick Corea "The Electric Band". (Not really big band, more electronic, but v-good!)

These bands span the 70's all the way to the 90's, so the quality is better.

 

Tillman's suggestion is good, Glenn Miller is a great place to start.

A great place to explore is eMusic.com. They do a lot of indie rock, but also have a huge jazz collection. $10 per month, you can download 40 MP3's per month, they are high quality and not copy protected.

 

Gene Krupa, "Sing, Sing, Sing"

 

Gordon Goodwins Big Phat Band.
It is filled with the same guys that spend all day making movie soundtracks

Xeno

 

.

 

Gene Kruppa and Buddy Rich will be good!

 

Late 20s-late 40's is what you want for a intro.

Fletcher Henderson
Benny Goodman
Count Basie
Duke Ellington
Woody Herman
Artie Shaw
Glen Miller
Bob Crosby and the Bobcats

 

Preach it, Brother! I've lost count of how many times I've told these fellers to hie thee selves over to that site.

You can download first 25 for free. Cancel before 26 if you're a cheapskate, or if you elect to stay on - once you download 26, you're subscribed.

I used emusic for several years when downloads were unlimited.

emusic was the first service to sell digital MP3 downloads.

emusic is Independent Label Central.

You have to understand that the majority of hundreds of labels were independents.

Fantasy
Prestige
Pablo
Playboy... hundreds more.

As for newer bands - White Stripes, Moby are on there, for starters.

Anyhoo - as time marched on, Independent labels were bought out, merged and so forth, and rather than many recordings becoming obscure and hard to find, they've been cleaned up, digitized and are ready to go.

Glenn Miller does nothing for me.

Were I to narrow it down to downloading one Big Band album from emusic - I'd still get the Greatest Big Band Composer's 2 disc set:

Duke Ellington
The Carnegie Hall Concerts
January 1943

... as this contains shall we say, a few signature pieces at the height of his power.

But, if you're going to search for one in stores - the must-have would be:

Ellington at Newport 1956.

Big Band music was on it's way out, oh, was it all but a goner...

But, this band got warmer and warmer and hotter that night and so did the crowd... listen... to see... and you'll listen again and again because you'll want to... and see... and wish you'd been there.

Yeah - Ellington at Newport 1956 is probably the best one to start with if you're sticking your toes in the water and want something to blow your mind with possibilities. Damn.

 

for a nice vocal big band compendium of 40's - at least the ones popular on the radio - check out the CD "Songs that got us through WW 2" - Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Harry James, Ink Spots, Dinah Shore, Peggy Lee and many of the big names of the period. It will give you an entirely new appreciation for this wonderful music and the cosmic talent of the era.
It was America's finest moment on so many levels that brought out the best in everyone.
1. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - Andrew Sisters
2. I'll Be Seeing You - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra (Frank Sinatra vocals)
3. Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Never No Lament) - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
4. Till Then - Mills Brothers
5. G.I. Jive - Johnny Mercer
6. I'll Walk Alone - Martha Tilton
7. When The Lights Go On Again (All Over The World) - Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra
8. Yours - Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra
9. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive - Johnny Mercer
10. I Don't Want To Walk Without You - Harry James & His Orchestra (w. Dinah Shore - terrific!)
11. I Wonder - Louis Armstrong
12. Long Ago (And Far Away) - Jo Stafford
13. I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You) - Ink Spots
14. (There'll Be Blue Birds Over)The White Cliffs Of Dover - Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra
15. Comin' In On A Wing And A Prayer - The Song Spinners
16. Sentimental Journey - Les Brown & His Orchestra (Doris Day - wow!!!)
17. Waitin' For The Train To Come In - Peggy Lee (this woman defines the sexy voice)
18. It's Been A Long, Long Time - Harry James & His Orchestra (my favorite - with Dinah Shore)
.

 

Good choice for the "sweet" stuff.

For the swinging Big Band sound, listen to the soundtrack from the movie "Swing Kids" to get a decent introduction. The recordings are not orginal by any means, but you'll get a decent combination of some of the best bands of the time. Pick the ones you like and go to town on the original recordings and recording artists. Goodman's "Life Goes To a Party" + Basie's "Jumping at the Woodside" = awesome arrangement.

Edit: In retrospect, just looked at the titles on the CD. I thought there was more variety, but it's very heavy on the Benny Goodman.

 

It's not big band per se, but check out Esquivel. I bet you'll dig his music. I do.

 

"In the Mood" by Glen Miller.

 

+1! Awesome band!

When I was with 5.1 Entertainment a few years ago, they were working on Gordon's album. So, once in a while I would sit down at the mixing console with the head engineer and listen as he mixed the master into 5.1 surround sound. I've seen Gordon a few times in concert and this sounded just as good!
Gordon and I both got our degrees in music at CSUN playing sax, but quite a few years apart.

 

I always liked this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KTJaW36_dA

And this version too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XEqkLe8XeQ&mode=related&search=