The appeal of large ensembles! Recommended masterpieces and popular songs of big bands
As the name suggests, a big band is a band made up of a large ensemble.
While swing jazz from before the modern jazz era is especially well-known, big bands are also a popular format in pop music.
Many will remember that in Showa-era music programs, dedicated big bands performed as backing ensembles for singers.
This time, we’ve gathered a selection of masterpieces born from big band performances.
Many of these pieces are used in commercials and film scores, making this a collection that even beginners can enjoy!
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The Appeal of Large Ensembles! Recommended and Popular Big Band Classics (31–40)
BirdlandMRT BIG BAND
Birdland is a signature song by Weather Report, the legendary jazz fusion group formed around Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter.
Overflowing with captivating pop sensibility, the piece is a classic—its cover by The Manhattan Transfer even won a Grammy Award.
While the melody is simple and easy on the ears, the track offers the enjoyment of various instrumental solos and ensemble passages.
It has been arranged for formats such as wind band and is frequently performed.
BakeBeats & Pieces Big Band
Nocturne in E-flat major (Opus 9 No.
2) is a track included on the jazz album “Chopin Meets The Blues,” released by Criss Cross Jazz in 2010.
Peter Beets is a jazz pianist from The Hague, Netherlands.
The Northern European Jazz Orchestra is a Netherlands-based big band founded in 2011.
The conductor, Kurt Weiss, is an American trumpeter who has lived in the Netherlands since 2001; while touring throughout Europe, he also serves as the conductor of the West Coast Big Band.
Move To The BigbandBen Liebrand feat. Tony Scott
Move To The Bigband is a track by Ben Liebrand released in 1990, an Acid Jazz/Disco-style song featuring Tony Scott.
Ben Liebrand (born 1960) is a remixer, producer, and DJ from Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Tony Scott (born 1921) was a jazz clarinetist and baritone saxophone player from Morristown, New Jersey, USA.
April in ParisCount Basie and his Orchestra
April in Paris, composed by Vernon Duke for the 1932 Broadway musical Walk a Little Faster.
The musical tells the story of a chorus girl who falls in love with a State Department official she meets aboard a ship bound for Paris.
This song brims with vitality, uniting two warm feelings: the thrill stirred by Paris’s gentle spring and the excitement of new love.
Please enjoy this elegant yet modern jazz classic!
Cafe De FloreThe Matthew Herbert Big Band
Cafe De Flore is a track on “The Process, The Parts, The Many And The Few,” released in 2003 in an electronic jazz style.
The Mattes Herbert Big Band is a big band made up of top musicians from the UK jazz big band scene.
Matthew Herbert, born in 1972, is a British electronic music composer.
He is also a remixer and producer, and leads his own big band.
He began working under various names in 1995, and as “Matthew Herbert’s Brexit Big Band,” he also toured Japan.