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58-642: A jazz band ( jazz ensemble or jazz combo ) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a horn section . The size of a jazz band is closely related to the style of jazz they play as well as the type of venues in which they play. Smaller jazz bands, also known as combos , are common in night clubs and other small venues and will be made up of three to seven musicians; whereas big bands are found in dance halls and other larger venues. Jazz bands can vary in size from

116-437: A flute , an oboe , a clarinet , and a bassoon . A brass quartet features two trumpets , a trombone , and a tuba (or French horn (more commonly known as "horn") ). A saxophone quartet consists of a soprano saxophone , an alto saxophone , a tenor saxophone , and a baritone saxophone . The string quintet is a common type of group. It is similar to the string quartet, but with an additional viola, cello, or more rarely,

174-405: A "very delicate and a very sad piece." Stravinsky felt that the jazz musicians would have a hard time with the various time signatures. Saxophonist Flip Philips said: "During the rehearsal [...] there was a passage I had to play there and I was playing it soft, and Stravinsky said 'Play it, here I am!' and I blew it louder and he threw me a kiss!" Stravinsky observed the massive amount of smoking at

232-469: A Concord Jam, Vol. I . Wilson's review says that the recording presents a band that is less frenetic than his bands from the forties to the seventies. Instead, it takes the listener back to the relaxed style of Herman's first band of the thirties that recorded for Decca. Herman continued to perform into the 1980s, after the death of his wife and with his health in decline, chiefly to pay back taxes that were owed because of his business manager's bookkeeping in

290-476: A big band, to a smaller trio or quartet. Some bands use vocalists, while others are purely instrumental groups. Jazz bands and their composition have changed many times throughout the years, just as the music itself changes with personal interpretation and improvisation of its performers. It is common for musicians in a combo to perform their music from memory. The improvisational nature of these performances make every show unique. The rhythm section consists of

348-462: A chamber orchestra). Larger orchestras are called symphony orchestras (see below) or philharmonic orchestras. A pops orchestra is an orchestra that mainly performs light classical music (often in abbreviated, simplified arrangements) and orchestral arrangements and medleys of popular jazz, music theater, or pop music songs. A string orchestra has only string instruments, i.e., violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. A symphony orchestra

406-627: A child, Woody Herman worked as a singer and tap-dancer in vaudeville , then started to play the clarinet and saxophone by age 12. In 1931 he met Charlotte Neste, an aspiring actress; the couple married on September 27, 1936. Woody Herman joined the Tom Gerun band and his first recorded vocals were " Lonesome Me " and "My Heart's at Ease". Herman also performed with the Harry Sosnick orchestra, Gus Arnheim and Isham Jones . Jones wrote many popular songs (including " It Had to Be You ") and at some point

464-536: A cover band, doing songs by other Decca artists. The first song recorded was "Wintertime Dreams" on November 6, 1936. In January 1937, George T. Simon ended a review of the band with the words: "This Herman outfit bears watching; not only because it's fun listening to in its present stages, but also because it's bound to reach even greater stages." After two and a half years on the label, the band had its first hit, " Woodchopper's Ball " recorded in 1939. Herman remembered that "Woodchopper's Ball" started out slowly. "[I]t

522-537: A form of male rebellion vis-à-vis female bedroom culture." In popular music, there has been a gendered "distinction between public (male) and private (female) participation" in music. "[S]everal scholars have argued that men exclude women from bands or the bands' rehearsals, recordings, performances, and other social activities." "Women are mainly regarded as passive and private consumers of allegedly slick, prefabricated – hence, inferior – pop music..., excluding them from participating as high-status rock musicians." One of

580-421: A high prominence in many popular music styles as singers. However, professional women instrumentalists are uncommon in popular music, especially in rock genres such as heavy metal . "[P]laying in a band is largely a male homosocial activity, that is, learning to play in a band is largely a peer-based... experience, shaped by existing sex-segregated friendship networks." As well, rock music "...is often defined as

638-470: A jazz vocalist can be unclear because jazz has shared a great deal with blues and pop music since the 1920s. In their book Essential Jazz , Henry Martin and Keith Waters identify five main characteristics that identify jazz singing, three of which are: "Loose phrasing [...], use of blue notes [...], [and] free melodic embellishment." Often the human voice can act in place of a brass section in playing melodies, both written and improvised. Scat singing

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696-406: A leader. In jazz bands, rock and pop groups, and similar ensembles, this is the band leader . In classical music, orchestras, concert bands, and choirs are led by a conductor . In orchestra, the concertmaster (principal first violin player) is the instrumentalist leader of the orchestra. In orchestras, the individual sections also have leaders, typically called the "principal" of the section (e.g.,

754-464: A reconstituted Woody Herman band played at Carnegie Hall in New York City, celebrating Herman's fortieth anniversary as a bandleader. By the 1980s, Herman had returned to more straight-ahead jazz but augmented with rock and fusion. Herman signed a recording contract with Concord Records around 1980. In 1981, John S. Wilson reviewed one of Herman's first Concord recordings Woody Herman Presents

812-522: A singer, instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader." According to Auslander, she was "kicking down the male door in rock and roll and proving that a female musician  ... and this is a point I am extremely concerned about ... could play as well if not better than the boys". Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in

870-663: Is an ensemble usually comprising at least thirty musicians; the number of players is typically between fifty and ninety-five and may exceed one hundred. A symphony orchestra is divided into families of instruments. In the string family, there are sections of violins (I and II), violas, cellos (often eight), and basses (often from six to eight). The standard woodwind section consists of flutes (one doubling piccolo), oboes (one doubling English horn), soprano clarinets (one doubling bass clarinet), and bassoons (one doubling contrabassoon). The standard brass section consists of horns, trumpets, trombones, and tuba. The percussion section includes

928-553: Is known as a clarinetist. Originally, the clarinet was a central instrument in jazz, beginning with the New Orleans players in the 1910s. It remained a signature instrument of jazz through much of the big band era into the 1940s. Larry Shields was the clarinetist for the Original Dixieland Jazz Band , the first jazz band to record commercially in 1917. The American players Ted Lewis and Jimmie Noone were pioneers of

986-413: Is rare, except for the nonet (nine musicians). In most cases, a larger classical group is referred to as an orchestra of some type or a concert band. A small orchestra with fifteen to thirty members (violins, violas, four cellos, two or three double basses, and several woodwind or brass instruments) is called a chamber orchestra . A sinfonietta usually denotes a somewhat smaller orchestra (though still not

1044-399: Is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Though scat singing is improvised, the melodic lines are often variations on scale and arpeggio fragments, stock patterns and riffs , as is the case with instrumental improvisers. The deliberate choice of scat syllables is also a key element in vocal jazz improvisation. Syllable choice influences

1102-706: The Hollywood Forever Cemetery . Awards won by the Woody Herman orchestras with major publications: "Voted best swing band in 1945 DownBeat poll; Silver Award by critics in 1946 and 1947 Esquire polls; won Metronome poll , band division, 1946 and 1953. A documentary film titled Woody Herman: Blue Flame – Portrait of a Jazz Legend was released on DVD in late 2012 by the jazz documentary filmmaker Graham Carter, owner of Jazzed Media, to salute Herman and his centenary in May 2013. Gold Records (Songs that reached

1160-656: The Three Blazers also performed that same day. Herman's other bands include the Third Herd (1950–1956) and various later editions during the 1960s. In the 1950s, the Third Herd successfully toured Europe. He was known for hiring the best young musicians and using their arrangements. In the early and mid 1960s, Herman fronted a Herd featuring Michael Moore , drummer Jake Hanna , tenor saxophonist Sal Nistico , trombonists Phil Wilson and Henry Southall and trumpeters like Bill Chase , Paul Fontaine and Duško Gojković . By 1968,

1218-418: The percussion , double bass or bass guitar , and usually at least one instrument capable of playing chords , such as a piano , guitar , Hammond organ or vibraphone ; most will usually have more than one of these. The standard rhythm section is piano, bass, and drums. The horn section consists of a woodwind section and a brass section , which play the melody . The banjo has been used in jazz since

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1276-455: The timpani , bass drum , snare drum , and any other percussion instruments called for in a score (e.g., triangle, glockenspiel , chimes, cymbals, wood blocks, etc.). In Baroque music (1600–1750) and music from the early Classical period music (1750–1820), the percussion parts in orchestral works may only include timpani. A wind orchestra or concert band is a large classical ensemble generally made up of between 40 and 70 musicians from

1334-422: The wind machine or cannons . When orchestras perform music from the 20th century or the 21st century, occasionally instruments such as electric guitar, theremin , or even an electronic synthesizer may be used. A vocal group is a performing ensemble of vocalists who sing and harmonize together. The first well-known vocals groups emerged in the 19th century, and the style had reached widespread popularity by

1392-430: The wind quintet , usually consisting of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn; the brass quintet , consisting of two trumpets, one horn, a trombone, and a tuba; and the reed quintet, consisting of an oboe, a soprano clarinet, a saxophone, a bass clarinet, and a bassoon. Classical chamber ensembles of six (sextet), seven (septet), or eight musicians (octet) are fairly common; the use of latinate terms for larger groups

1450-574: The 1940s. Vocal groups can come in several different forms, including: A group that plays popular music or military music is usually called a band; a drum and bugle corps is a type of the latter. These bands perform a wide range of music, ranging from arrangements of jazz orchestral, or popular music to military-style marches. Drum corps perform on brass and percussion instruments only. Drum and Bugle Corps incorporate costumes, hats, and pageantry in their performances. Other band types include: See List of musical band types for more. Women have

1508-498: The 1960s. Herman owed the IRS millions of dollars and was in danger of eviction from his home. With this added stress, Herman still kept performing. In a December 5, 1985, review of the band at the Blue Note jazz club for The New York Times , John S. Wilson pointed out: "In a one-hour set, Mr. Herman is able to show off his latest batch of young stars—the baritone saxophonist Mike Brignola ,

1566-586: The Animals , is called an undecet , and a group of twelve is called a duodecet (see Latin numerical prefixes ). A soloist playing unaccompanied (e.g., a pianist playing a solo piano piece or a cellist playing a Bach suite for unaccompanied cello ) is not an ensemble because it only contains one musician. A string quartet consists of two violins , a viola , and a cello . There is a vast body of music written for string quartets, making it an important genre in classical music . A woodwind quartet usually features

1624-462: The Herman library came to be heavily influenced by rock and roll . He was also known to feature brass and woodwind instruments rarely associated with jazz, such as the bassoon, oboe and French horn. In concert, as the evening wore on and the crowd started dissipating, Herman would often leave the stage and let the band continue the last set on its own; but Terry Gibbs confirmed that the band never sounded

1682-400: The addition of a double bass. Terms such as " piano quintet " or "clarinet quintet" frequently refer to a string quartet plus a fifth instrument. Mozart 's Clarinet Quintet is similarly a piece written for an ensemble consisting of two violins, a viola, a cello, and a clarinet, the last being the exceptional addition to a "normal" string quartet. Some other quintets in classical music are

1740-508: The band won DownBeat , Metronome , Billboard and Esquire polls for best band, nominated by their peers in the big band business. Classical composer Igor Stravinsky wrote the Ebony Concerto , one in a series of compositions commissioned by Herman with solo clarinet, for this band in 1945. Herman recorded the work at Belock Recording Studio in Bayside, New York. Herman called it

1798-474: The bassist Bill Moring , the pianist Brad Williams, the trumpeter Ron Stout—and to remind listeners that one of his own basic charms is the dry humor with which he shouts the blues." Wilson also spoke about arrangements by Bill Holman and John Fedchock for special attention. Wilson spoke of the continuing influence of Duke Ellington on Woody Herman bands from the 1940s to the 1980s. Before Woody Herman died in 1987 he delegated most of his duties to leader of

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1856-675: The big-band era ended, when seven other bands, in addition to Herman's, dissolved. In 1947, Herman organized the Second Herd. This band was also known as "The Four Brothers Band". This derives from the song recorded December 27, 1947, for Columbia Records, " Four Brothers ", written by Jimmy Giuffre , featuring the saxophone section of Zoot Sims , Serge Chaloff , Herbie Steward , and Stan Getz . The other musicians of this band included Al Cohn , Gene Ammons , Lou Levy , Oscar Pettiford , Terry Gibbs , and Shelly Manne . Among this band's hits were " Early Autumn ", and "The Goof and I". The band

1914-427: The decline of the big bands' popularity in the late 1940s, the clarinet faded from its prominent position in jazz and the saxophone rose in importance in many jazz bands, probably because it uses a less complicated fingering system. But the clarinet did not entirely disappear. In the late 50s, traditional jazz experienced a revival, with the notable example of clarinetist Acker Bilk 's Bristol Paramount Jazz Band. Some of

1972-513: The earliest jazz bands. The earliest use of the banjo in a jazz band was by Frank Duson in 1917, however Laurence Marrero claims it became popular in 1915. There are three common types of banjo, the plectrum banjo , tenor banjo , and cello banjo . Over time, the four-stringed tenor banjo became the most common banjo used in jazz. The drum-like sound box on the banjo made it louder than the acoustic guitars that were common with early jazz bands, and banjos were popular for recording. Beginning in

2030-421: The early 1950s, some jazz bass players began to use the electric bass guitar in place of the double bass. Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion, usually the drum set , in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz-rock fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz . Stylistically, this aspect of performance was shaped by its starting place, New Orleans, as well as numerous other regions of

2088-409: The former Hollywood home of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall . One reason Herman may have disbanded was his wife Charlotte's growing alcoholism and pill addiction. Charlotte Herman joined Alcoholics Anonymous and gave up everything she was addicted to. Woody said, laughing: "I went to an AA meeting with Charlotte and my old band was sitting there." Many critics cite December 1946 as the actual date

2146-490: The gender composition of heavy metal bands , it has been said that "[h]eavy metal performers are almost exclusively male" "...[a]t least until the mid-1980s" apart from "...exceptions such as Girlschool ". However, "...now [in the 2010s] maybe more than ever–strong metal women have put up their dukes and got down to it," "carv[ing] out a considerable place for [them]selves". When Suzi Quatro emerged in 1973, "no other prominent female musician worked in rock simultaneously as

2204-417: The instrument in jazz bands. The B ♭ soprano clarinet was the most common instrument, but a few early jazz musicians such as Alcide Nunez preferred the C soprano clarinet, and many New Orleans jazz brass bands have used an E ♭ soprano clarinet. Swing clarinetists such as Benny Goodman , Artie Shaw , and Woody Herman led successful big bands and smaller groups from the 1930s onward. With

2262-529: The late 1930s and was active until his death in 1987. His bands often played music that was cutting edge and experimental; their recordings received numerous Grammy nominations. Herman was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin , on May 16, 1913. His parents were Otto and Myrtle (Bartoszewicz) Herrmann. His mother was born in Poland. His father had a deep love for show business and this influenced Woody at an early age. As

2320-649: The leader of the viola section is called the "principal viola"). Conductors are also used in jazz big bands and in some very large rock or pop ensembles (e.g., a rock concert that includes a string section , a horn section , and a choir that accompanies a rock band's performance). In Western classical music, smaller ensembles are called chamber music ensembles. The terms duo , trio , quartet , quintet , sextet , septet , octet , nonet , and decet describe groups of two up to ten musicians, respectively. A group of eleven musicians, such as found in The Carnival of

2378-489: The opening twelve bars and the eight bar tag." "But the most amazing thing on the record was a soaring eight bar passage by trumpets near the end." These eight measures have wrongly been attributed to a Gillespie solo, but were in fact originally written by Neal Hefti . George T. Simon compares Hefti with Gillespie in a 1944 review for Metronome magazine saying, "Like Dizzy [...], Hefti has an abundance of good ideas, with which he has aided Ralph Burns immensely". In 1946,

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2436-429: The personnel included Sonny Berman , Pete Candoli , Bill Harris , Flip Phillips , Billy Bauer (later replaced by Chuck Wayne ), Ralph Burns , and Davey Tough . On February 26, 1945, in New York City, the Woody Herman band recorded "Caldonia". Neal Hefti and Ralph Burns collaborated on the arrangement of "Caldonia" that the Herman band used. "Ralph caught Louis Jordan [singing "Caldonia"] in an act and wrote

2494-421: The pitch articulation , coloration, and resonance of the performance. Another important aspect of jazz is improvisation (" jams "). Bands playing in this fashion fall under the category of jam bands . A common way to incorporate improvisation is to feature solo performances from band members made up on the spot, allowing them to showcase their skill. Musical ensemble Music ensembles typically have

2552-401: The reasons that there are rarely mixed gender bands is that "bands operate as tight-knit units in which homosocial solidarity – social bonds between people of the same sex... – plays a crucial role." In the 1960s pop music scene, "[s]inging was sometimes an acceptable pastime for a girl, but playing an instrument...simply wasn't done." "The rebellion of rock music was largely a male rebellion;

2610-524: The recording session: "the atmosphere looked like Pernod clouded by water." Ebony Concerto was performed live by the Herman band on March 25, 1946, at Carnegie Hall . Despite the Carnegie Hall success and other triumphs, Herman was forced to disband the orchestra in 1946 at the height of its success. This was his only financially successful band; he left it to spend more time with his wife and family. During this time, he and his family had just moved into

2668-523: The reed section, Frank Tiberi . Tiberi leads the current version of the Woody Herman orchestra. Tiberi said at the time of Herman's death that he would not change the band's repertoire or library. Herman died on October 29, 1987, and had a Catholic funeral on November 2 at St. Victor's in West Hollywood, California . He is interred in a niche in the columbarium behind the Cathedral Mausoleum in

2726-696: The same without Herman being present. In the early 1970s, he toured frequently and began to work more in jazz education , offering workshops and taking on younger sidemen. For this reason, he got the nickname Road Father and the bands were known as the "Young Thundering Herds." In January 1973, Herman was one of the featured halftime performers at Super Bowl VII . In 1974, Woody Herman's band appeared without their leader for Frank Sinatra 's television special The Main Event and album The Main Event – Live . Both were recorded mainly on October 13, 1974, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. On November 20, 1976,

2784-457: The timpani, bass drum, snare drum, and any other percussion instruments called for in a score (e.g., triangle, glockenspiel, chimes, cymbals, wood blocks, etc.). When orchestras perform baroque music (from the 17th century and early 18th century), they may also use a harpsichord or pipe organ , to play the continuo part. When orchestras perform Romantic-era music (from the 19th century), they may also use harps or unusual instruments such as

2842-435: The use of the violin or electric violin to improvise solo lines. Although the violin has been used in jazz recordings since the first decades of the 20th century, it is more commonly associated with folk music than jazz. Jazz musician Milt Hinton claimed that the decline in violin players coincided with the introduction of sound movies , as many violin players were used as accompaniment for silent films . The definition of

2900-602: The women—often, in the 1950s and '60s, girls in their teens—in rock usually sang songs as personæ utterly dependent on their macho boyfriends..." Philip Auslander says that "Although there were many women in rock by the late 1960s, most performed only as singers, a traditionally feminine position in popular music." Though some women played instruments in American all-female garage rock bands , none of these bands achieved more than regional success. So they "did not provide viable templates for women's on-going participation in rock". About

2958-786: The woodwind, brass, and percussion families, along with the double bass. The concert band has a larger number and variety of wind instruments than the symphony orchestra but does not have a string section (although a single double bass is common in concert bands). The woodwind section of a concert band consists of piccolo, flutes, oboes (one doubling English horn), bassoons (one doubling contrabassoon), soprano clarinets (one doubling E ♭ clarinet, one doubling alto clarinet), bass clarinets (one doubling contrabass clarinet or contra-alto clarinet), alto saxophones (one doubling soprano saxophone), tenor saxophone, and baritone saxophone. The brass section consists of horns, trumpets or cornets, trombones, euphoniums, and tubas. The percussion section consists of

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3016-399: The works of Bilk's jazz band reached the pop charts. In the saxophone section, all of the saxophones will play a similar melodic line, but the baritone sax doubles by occasionally joining in with the bass trombone and bass to play the bass line. A big band saxophone section typically consists of two alto saxophones , two tenor saxophones , and one baritone saxophone. Jazz violin is

3074-510: The world, including other parts of the United States , the Caribbean , and Africa . Jazz required a method of playing percussion different from traditional European styles, one that was easily adaptable to the different rhythms of the new genre, fostering the creation of jazz drumming's hybrid technique. The clarinet is a woodwind instrument with a single-reed mouthpiece. A clarinet player

3132-611: Was "Laura", the theme song of the 1944 movie . Herman's version was so successful that it made Columbia hold from release the arrangement that Harry James had recorded days earlier. The Columbia contract coincided with a change in the band's repertoire. The 1944 group, which he called the First Herd, was known for its progressive jazz . The First Herd's music was heavily influenced by Duke Ellington and Count Basie . Its lively, swinging arrangements, combining bop themes with swing rhythm parts, were greatly admired. As of February 1945,

3190-471: Was not used at the time. "Down Under" was recorded July 24, 1942. Herman's commissioning Gillespie to write arrangements for the band and hiring Ralph Burns as a staff arranger heralded a change in the style of music the band was playing. In February 1945, the band started a contract with Columbia Records . Herman liked what drew many artists to Columbia, Liederkranz Hall , at the time the best recording venue in New York City. The first side Herman recorded

3248-558: Was popular enough that they went to Hollywood in the mid-1940s. Herman and his band appear in the movie New Orleans (1947) with Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong . In 1947, Herman was Emcee and also played at the third Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. on September 7, 1947. The Valdez Orchestra , The Blenders, T-Bone Walker , Slim Gaillard , The Honeydrippers , Johnny Otis and his Orchestra , Sarah Vaughn and

3306-952: Was really a sleeper. But Decca kept re-releasing it, and over a period of three or four years it became a hit. Eventually it sold more than five million copies—the biggest hit I ever had." In January 1942, Herman would have his highest rated single (No. 1 in the Billboard charts ), singing Harold Arlen 's " Blues in the Night " backed by his orchestra. Other hits for the band include "Blue Flame" and " Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me ". Musicians and arrangers that stood out included Cappy Lewis on trumpet and saxophonist/arranger Deane Kincaide . " The Golden Wedding " (1941), arranged by James "Jiggs" Noble, featured an extended (34 bars) drum solo by Frankie Carlson . The trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie wrote three arrangements for Herman, " Woody'n You ", "Swing Shift" and "Down Under". These were arranged in 1942. "Woody'n You"

3364-511: Was tiring of the demands of leading a band and wanted to live off the residuals of his songs. Herman saw the chance to lead his former band and eventually acquired the remains of the orchestra after Jones' retirement. Herman's first band became known for its orchestrations of the blues , and was sometimes billed as "The Band That Plays the Blues". This band recorded for the Decca label, at first serving as

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