big band

The large band is a variety of musical ensemble linked with jazz, a type of music which became popular in the Swing Time from the early 1930s till the late 1950s.

Big bands developed with the times and continues to today. A large band often is composed of roughly twelve to twenty-five musicians and contains saxophones, trumpets, trombones, marimba, vocalists ( or vocalists ), and a rhythm section. The terms jazz combo, jazz ensemble, stage band, jazz orchestra, society band and dance band could be used to explain a particular type of gigantic band. In opposition to smaller jazz combos, in which the majority of the music is improvised, or made spontaneously, music played by giant bands is highly “arranged”, or prepared ahead and notated on sheet music.

The music is historically called “charts”. Improvised solos might be played just when requested by the arranger.