The emergence of Dixieland jazz in the 1920s inspired larger bands to form and develop more extensive and standardized arrangements of Dixieland songs. These big jazz bands–which became known, conveniently, as “Big Bands”–were composed of ten or more musicians who sat or stood in rows while they were performing, much more like musicians in Western Classical orchestras than those of the free-flowing Dixieland ensembles.
Because of their numbers the bands often grouped their instrumentalists together, breaking the band into three sections: BRASS (trumpets, trombones), REEDS (clarinets, saxophones) and RHYTHM (drums, bass, piano and eventually guitar). In this video we we watch Count Basie show you how it’s meant to be done.
