Why not more Big-Band Jazz?

[garfield]

Watching Ken Burns' The War and enjoying some of the toe-tapping sounds of 1940s Swing and Jazz. I haven't searched the archives but wonder why we don't hear more of that sound on the field? Surprisingly (and I can't believe I'm saying this) I can imagine a sax or clarinet soloist sounding quite good when backed by 65 or 70 horns doing a "Jazz and Dinner Club"-type show.

Why not more foot-tappers from the '40's?

[Old School Contra Guy]

Watching Ken Burns' The War and enjoying some of the toe-tapping sounds of 1940s Swing and Jazz. I haven't searched the archives but wonder why we don't hear more of that sound on the field? Surprisingly (and I can't believe I'm saying this) I can imagine a sax or clarinet soloist sounding quite good when backed by 65 or 70 horns doing a "Jazz and Dinner Club"-type show.

Why not more foot-tappers from the '40's?

Because Drum Corps music must be obscure. (for the most part)

[Big Bad Bari]

Watching Ken Burns' The War and enjoying some of the toe-tapping sounds of 1940s Swing and Jazz. I haven't searched the archives but wonder why we don't hear more of that sound on the field? Surprisingly (and I can't believe I'm saying this) I can imagine a sax or clarinet soloist sounding quite good when backed by 65 or 70 horns doing a "Jazz and Dinner Club"-type show.

Why not more foot-tappers from the '40's?

Sax or Clarinet? lol

Just playing... I am with you... My favorite music is big band jazz... The shout section is yesteryears rock and roll!

[skewerz]

Bluecoats used to play some big band...dunno why the quit..

[garfield]

Sax or Clarinet? lol

Just playing... I am with you... My favorite music is big band jazz... The shout section is yesteryears rock and roll!

Yeah, I'm with you, and I deserve a good poking for the reeds comment.

But if they're going to have reeds IN THE PIT (!), big band jazz and swing would be my preference.

I'll never hear them if they're allowed on the field, that much I can guarantee.

[mobrien]

Watching Ken Burns' The War and enjoying some of the toe-tapping sounds of 1940s Swing and Jazz. I haven't searched the archives but wonder why we don't hear more of that sound on the field? Surprisingly (and I can't believe I'm saying this) I can imagine a sax or clarinet soloist sounding quite good when backed by 65 or 70 horns doing a "Jazz and Dinner Club"-type show.

Why not more foot-tappers from the '40's?

Because the melodic lines and chorus lengths of big band are typically slower developing than the current drum corps judging/staff tastes decree "competitive" for uptempo tunes. They want an impact point every 12 seconds.

Current drum corps can do much better with jazz pieces that aren't geared to swing or uptempo BB. I know people were hating on Devils all year long, but the "Laura" arrangement was top notch, in my opinion, being a new look at a standard that embraced both new and old.

Edited September 11, 2010 by mobrien

[Big Bad Bari]

Yeah, I'm with you, and I deserve a good poking for the reeds comment.

But if they're going to have reeds IN THE PIT (!), big band jazz and swing would be my preference.

I'll never hear them if they're allowed on the field, that much I can guarantee.

It's all in good fun my friend... I am well documented as saying I will still support the activity if and after reeds are allowed... And I DO NOT WANT TO TAKE YOUR THREAD IN THAT DIRECTION!!!! PLEASE!!!!!

[Stu]

Herein lays a huge problem within the current DCI judging system. Nowhere on the critique sheets does it say that judges should require corps to have musical impact points at certain intervals, that certain types of music are not appealing to the ADD audience and corps should stay away from those charts, that every corps has to esoterically educate the masses, that stating mirrors have more GE impact than a unison 360 corps spin. The judges were never intended to be a part of the design process dictating what they want to hear and see, but were supposed to only evaluate the quality of what they hear and see in an unbiased manner! It is supposed to be a situation where judges make the unbiased evaluation on how well Regiment did their Classical oriented show compared to how well the Devils did their Big Band oriented show. Somewhere down the line DCI gave way too much implicit design control over to the judging community.

Edited September 11, 2010 by Stu

[TAFL]

Why not more foot-tappers from the '40's?

The fans might pass out from hearing accessible music. Too big an insurance risk. Can't do it.

I've taken up taxi driving, which allows me to program the music I want to listen to all day. I have a lot of jazz from the 20s through 40s that I play. I've gotten comments from several passengers about the music. What tickles me to death is that they've universally been positive comments, to the point of asking what radio station it might be and who was performing--indicating an interest in further listening.

That includes the Stan Kenton Orchestra. Folks aren't left cold by the dissonance Kenton's band played, nor are they put off by not recognizing the tunes. They *like* that unknown, dissonant jazz. Well, they like it when it's arranged in an easily accessible fashion. If you're putting off listeners with Kenton's music during a show, you're doing something wrong, I'm thinking.

Sort of speaks to the notion that arguing for accessible arrangements means only familiar tunes can be used. It also speaks to the notion that dissonance is automatically going to turn off listeners and thus limit what can be played in shows. Both of those notions are shown to be unsupportable, at least, in the setting of my taxi. Folks like dissonant tunes that they don't know, if those tunes are arranged in a fashion they can relate to. At least, that's how it works out in my taxi. One can argue that only weirdos from other planets ride in my taxi and so it has no bearing on the rest of the world, though one shouldn't then be surprised by lots of people laughing nearby.

I get much the same response from the music of Basie's band, Ellington's band, Miller's band, and even a whole slew of earlier bands unrecognized by almost everybody. (Except for the elderly. Had a wonderful chat about KC jazz with a lovely lady who grew up listening to Bennie Moten's band, the Clouds of Joy, Jay Shann, and so on. I found that I have one of her favorite tunes by Moten's band in my collection. Bonding over music with a woman almost twice my age--she's almost ninety--was cool.)

Edited September 11, 2010 by TAFL

[Big Bad Bari]

Herein lays a huge problem within the current DCI judging system. Nowhere on the critique sheets does it say that judges should require corps to have musical impact points at certain intervals, that certain types of music are not appealing to the ADD audience and corps should stay away from those charts, that every corps has to esoterically educate the masses, that stating mirrors have more GE impact than a unison 360 corps spin. The judges were never intended to be a part of the design process dictating what they want to hear and see, but were supposed to only evaluate the quality of what they hear and see in an unbiased manner! It is supposed to be a situation where judges make the unbiased evaluation on how well Regiment did their Classical oriented show compared to how well the Devils did their Big Band oriented show. Somewhere down the line DCI gave way too much implicit design control over to the judging community.

The fans might pass out from hearing accessible music. Too big an insurance risk. Can't do it.

I've taken up taxi driving, which allows me to program the music I want to listen to all day. I have a lot of jazz from the 20s through 40s that I play. I've gotten comments from several passengers about the music. What tickles me to death is that they've universally been positive comments, to the point of asking what radio station it might be and who was performing--indicating an interest in further listening.

That includes the Stan Kenton Orchestra. Folks aren't left cold by the dissonance Kenton's band played, nor are they put off by not recognizing the tunes. They *like* that unknown, dissonant jazz. Well, they like it when it's arranged in an easily accessible fashion. If you're putting off listeners with Kenton's music during a show, you're doing something wrong, I'm thinking.

Sort of speaks to the notion that arguing for accessible arrangements means only familiar tunes can be used. It also speaks to the notion that dissonance is automatically going to turn off listeners and thus limit what can be played in shows. Both of those notions are shown to be unsupportable, at least, in the setting of my taxi. Folks like dissonant tunes that they don't know, if those tunes are arranged in a fashion they can relate to. At least, that's how it works out in my taxi. One can argue that only weirdos from other planets ride in my taxi and so it has no bearing on the rest of the world, though one shouldn't then be surprised by lots of people laughing nearby.

I get much the same response from the music of Basie's band, Ellington's band, Miller's band, and even a whole slew of earlier bands unrecognized by almost everybody. (Except for the elderly. Had a wonderful chat about KC jazz with a lovely lady who grew up listening to Bennie Moten's band, the Clouds of Joy, Jay Shann, and so on. I found that I have one of her favorite tunes by Moten's band in my collection. Bonding over music with a woman almost twice my age--she's almost ninety--was cool.)

Well I tried to keep it from going downhill but well... ummmmm... others didn't