By Nilpferd
Perhaps a little context for this week's theme before I begin.
I grew up in a jazz household in the 1970s, and big band music was quite a large part of my listening as a child. However it wasn't the classic big band era – the thirties and forties – but more contemporary groups from the mid-sixties onwards, US and Canadian in the main, clinging on in the face of economic realities while flirting with R&B and pop music, then funk, fusion and disco.
Later on I began to investigate the richness of jazz big band music from earlier decades, as well as the cross-fertilization which Afro-Cuban music and other influences brought, but I'll always have a soft-spot for the thrilling power the later big band era can deliver, even if for many jazz critics they were running on fumes in creative terms at that stage.
As it turns out, none of those bands were nominated, so instead of a personal nostalgia-fest I've had to resort to the tried-and-true "spread of genres across a number of decades" approach while trying to find space for a few legendary recordings.
On to the lists.
All Together A-List Playlist:
The Count Basie Orchestra – Jumpin' at the Woodside (Marconius7)
Count Basie's orchestra made its name with the power of its horn section, the quiet/loud frisson of the leader's minimalist interventions, and the innovative drumming of Jo Jones, whose beat-keeping on hi-hat instead of bass drum got dancers moving faster and looser.
Add platinum soloists, such as Buck Clayton and Lester Young on trumpet and tenor sax respectively, and you have the perfect recipe for ensemble heaven. Just feel the energy as the horns build to a whooping climax over the clarinet of Herschel Evans, before taking things down exquisitely for the finish.
Beny Moré Y Su Orquesta – Mi Saoco (pejepeine)
A great example of the way ensembles can increase the dynamic by continually adding instruments over a constant tempo. A lot of the greatest jazz riffs owe their provenance to Cuban music and this early 1950s hit from Beny Moré's band showcases that sound perfectly.
Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra – Perdido (magicman)
A list like this cannot do justice to all the great jazz big bands (sorry Charles Mingus, Sun Ra, Benny Goodman, Maria Schneider and many others), but I had to find a spot for its greatest leader and composer, who probably more than any other expanded the sound world of the 20th-century large ensemble. Perdido was a Juan Tizol composition for what was one of the greatest Ellington bands, featuring Ben Webster on saxophone.
Henry Mancini Orchestra – Peter Gunn (Marconius7)
My first ever LP was a Christmas gift, The Best of Mancini, featuring this track, which was one of surprisingly few TV themes nominated. Peter Gunn was one of the early TV or film soundtracks to feature electric guitar – nicely doubled here with the piano – and a clear precedent for the Monty Norman-composed James Bond theme. Shrewd borrowing of the wailing saxophones and whooping/wah-wah brass from thirties-era big bands makes this an early kind of hip-hop "maximise the riff" effort.
Tower of Power – What is Hip (amylee)
Next to the surviving seventies jazz big bands, a new generation of ensemble was playing R&B and funk, building on similar foundations. The lyric is about the transience of hipness but this kind of musical quality never goes out of style. Essentially streamlining and concentrating the classic James Brown sound.
The Pogues – White City (ShivSidecar)
There's always plenty of atmosphere in a Pogues song but with this slightly larger ensemble you can literally feel the remnants of a hundred thousand dreams draining away in the bloody rain like ticket stubs amid the rubble. Any time I hear this band I have an overwhelming urge to consume a large malt whisky.
Goran Bregovic and the Tzigane Brass Orchestra – Kalasnjikov (Pop Off!)
Boban Markovic's Tzigane Brass Orchestra as featured in Bregovic's soundtrack recording for Emir Kustirica's Underground, with a slightly modified traditional Balkan theme. The Balkan brass band tradition originally derives from Ottoman military bands, with their blend of brass and reeds. Slivovitz the beverage of choice in this case.
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble feat. Moses Sumney – Soon It Will Be Fire (barbryn)
More brass, this time from Chicago. Sublime combination of Moses Sumney's vocals over the Hypnotic Brass ensemble's insistently rising ostinatos.
Simon Rattle with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra – Two Fanfares for Orchestra: II. Short Ride in a Fast Machine (by John Adams) (Chris7572)
Heart-pounding polyrhythms in this compelling peon to motor-driven speed by John Adams; non-alcoholic beverages only please. Suggested viewing Claude Lelouche's C'était un rendez-vous, then compare notes with Lalo Schifrin's Shifting Gears from the Bullitt OST.
Ella Fitzgerald with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra – SomeoneTto Watch Over Me (ParaMhor)
Ella Fitzgerald worked with a number of bands throughout her "songbooks" series but perhaps the finest combination was with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra on the Gershwin edition, as here. Riddle had a unique sensibility for the components of an orchestra, with flutes, strings and french horn colourings in particular his most effective tools for the creation of lush and seductive soundscapes in support of stellar vocalists.
Tony Allen & The Afro Messengers – No Discrimination (Nicko)
With a more coherent feel than most of the Fela-era recordings – not better, just different – Tony Allen's Afro Messengers created a restless groove. The harmonic instruments meshed into a hypnotic ostinato, subordinated to the leader's all-limb performance. Synth and brass swell and recede over a steady pulse, with tight bass and guitar riffs adding sophistication to the master's quietly shifting rhythms.
The Unthanks – Mount The Air (severin)
There are echoes of Sketches of Spain throughout this exquisitely orchestrated and performed 2015 release. A recording which transcends genre as it gently explores the infinite possibilities of ensemble musical expression. Gorgeous.
Big Band And Beyond B-List Playlist:
Dizzy Gillespie Big Band – Dizzy's Blues (Seth Miller)
Dizzy Gillespie's big band was one of the first and most important post-bebop ensembles, and also played a big role in introducing Cuban styles into jazz.
17 Hippies with Marc Ribot and Jakob Ilja – Leolos Blus (Maki)
Berlin collective 17 Hippies with their beguiling blend of Balkan oriented folk music meets the iconoclastic guitarists Marc Ribot and Jakob Ilja.
Andwella's Dream – World's End (SweetHomeAlabama)
Intriguing and finely orchestrated 1970 release, transitioning to a perhaps inevitable vocals + strums + drums coda.
The Polyphonic Spree – Reach for the sun (ShivSidecar)
Polyphonics throw the instrumental kitchen sink at the sun and manage not to get hit by anything coming back down.
Arctic Monkeys – Body Paint (barbryn)
Freshly released proof that guitar groups can still combine compellingly with orchestras.
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain – Teenage Dirtbag (Suzi)
The single "all on one instrument" representative, after brushing off the stomping broom guys and taking the wind out of the sails of a late appearance from some crazed oboists. (Then surviving a subsequent technical challenge based around whether or not the singer's occasional tapping of her ukulele actually counted as her playing the eighth instrument. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt.)
The Skatalites – Rock Fort Rock (Uncleben)
Brilliant, languid version of an old track with a fascinating history. Originally written in 1943 by Rafael Hernández Marín as an up-tempo Afro-Cuban hit, it was adopted by Sound Dimension in the late sixties to became one of the most popular "riddims" and henceforth became one of the cornerstones of reggae.
Ghost Funk Orchestra – A New Kind of Love (Loud Atlas)
Nobody nominated any Snarky Puppy tracks so this band's great energy will provide the nearest alternative.
Glenn Miller – Moonlight Serenade (MussoliniHeadkick)
Basie had the lindy hoppers tied down but Miller's band offered swooning romance for the slow dancers.
Charlie Parker with strings – Laura (Nicko)
One of the earliest and finest jazz-musician-with-strings albums, although Parker could have played in front of a horde of Christmas-carolling ten-year-olds and still sounded great.
Max Richter – On The Nature of Daylight (ParaMhor)
One of the most celebrated of modern classical pieces, an emotional roller coaster which has been lifted for numerous film and TV scenes.
Herbert Von Karajan/Richard Wagner – Tannhäuser Overture (magicman)
We end on a personal note. It's coming up for the first anniversary of my father's death and this was probably his favourite piece of classical music, so thanks to magicman for allowing me to use it to end this playlist.
Guru’s Wildcard Picks:
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Pieces of eight+: music with ensembles, big bands and orchestras. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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