big band music (30's & 40's era) (needing your help)

chadwick

http://youtu.be/WGmHaMRAXuI

so my 15 yrs old nephew, "little champion," is throughly into this music. sinatra, the ink spots & so on. am i right in saying this is big band music? i was very surprised that he digs this stuff. yes i am sure the game, "fallout" gave him his first taste of this music.

is frank sinatra big band? what kind of big band & 30's & 40's musicians can you good people suggest so that i can widen my nephew's enjoyment of such music? i'll compile the list, promise. maybe even find him some cds for christmas or birthdays.

thank you for your time,
chad

Bronx Bombers

Frank was only in it at the beginning of his career, you wanna start with Glenn Miller, The Dorsey Brothers and Duke Ellington.

chadwick

Bronx Bombers wrote:

Frank was only in it at the beginning of his career, you wanna start with Glenn Miller, The Dorsey Brothers and Duke Ellington.

thank you!

i've heard of those musicians. so what was frank in after he was into his career a bit?

Bronx Bombers

chadwick wrote:

Bronx Bombers wrote:

Frank was only in it at the beginning of his career, you wanna start with Glenn Miller, The Dorsey Brothers and Duke Ellington.

thank you!

i've heard of those musicians. so what was frank in after he was into his career a bit?

Frank was classic pop, swing and jazz

narnia

My parents listened to this music when I was growing up, and I really got into it. It's great to see your nephew is open-minded enough to listen to it and enjoy it.

I would consider Sinatra Big Band from the era when he sang with Harry James and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (late 30s & early 40s). Big band music was born from the Swing Era, which started in the 20s, and of course there's a big jazz influence in both.

One classic album he should have in his collection is the live recording of Benny Goodman's ("The King of Swing") 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall, featuring the legendary Lester Young, Lionel Hampton, and Gene Krupa (I was lucky enough to see the 40th anniversary reunion at Carnegie Hall).

As for other recommendations, it depends on his preference. Does he like singers? One of the best is Billie Holiday, "Lady Day." She sang with various orchestras and also had a solo career that spanned from the 30s to the late 50s, singing with some of the greatest musicians, like Teddy Wilson (piano) and Lester Young (Pres., short for President) on tenor sax. She was inspired by a singer from the 20s & 30s, Bessie Smith. There's Louis Armstrong (his early career), Artie Shaw and his Orchestra, Glen Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey.

There are tons of YouTube videos of these musicians you can watch with your nephew and see who his favorites are if you want to buy him some recordings. Hope this helps!

DM213518

You should check out Frank Bennet. Although he is not from that era you and your nephew might get a kick out of his music. He does covers and puts a Frank Sinatra/Tony Bennet spin on them. If I remember correctly he did Better Man. If you like it, another guy is Richard Cheese. He does pretty much the same thing.

chadwick

you all are beautiful. i'm happy uncle over here. this is cool

thank you

brianlux

Most records stores refer to Sinatra, Ink Spots, etc. as "Vocal" or "Vocalists" although Sinatra appears under jazz in the Jazz edition of the All Music Guide.

Big band is great stuff. Because jazz was created by black artists, I tend to lean strongly toward the music of primarily African American big bands led by the likes of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Earl "Fatha" Hines, and Cab Calloway. Big band music was given a huge cosmic lift in the 60's through the early 90's by Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra. Although Ra's music was often a far stretch from swing and early big band music, his work was strongly rooted in those and New Orleans big band music. The arc is less than might first be perceived. For example, here is Ra and Archestra covering the standard tune, Tenderly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpxeZGtwOmg

chadwick

brianlux wrote:

Most records stores refer to Sinatra, Ink Spots, etc. as "Vocal" or "Vocalists" although Sinatra appears under jazz in the Jazz edition of the All Music Guide.

Big band is great stuff. Because jazz was created by black artists, I tend to lean strongly toward the music of primarily African American big bands led by the likes of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Earl "Fatha" Hines, and Cab Calloway. Big band music was given a huge cosmic lift in the 60's through the early 90's by Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra. Although Ra's music was often a far stretch from swing and early big band music, his work was strongly rooted in those and New Orleans big band music. The arc is less than might first be perceived. For example, here is Ra and Archestra covering the standard tune, Tenderly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpxeZGtwOmg

thanks, brian.

ya see my nephew (& his younger brother) don't have their dad (my brother) around, he died when they were quite young. my nephew says this music makes him calm & relaxed. this statement speaks volumes to me. he misses his dad so much. what a terrible thing to go through

the oldest one remembers his dad quite well whereas the younger one doesn't remember much.

Pingfah

There's two ways to approach this I find, to look for band leaders you like, and to look for vocalists you like. Of course, some vocalists work better with particular band leaders than with others.

Artie Shaw was mentioned up thread, I highly recommend checking him out, he is a band leader and a magnificent clarinetist. In my opinion he really stands out from the crowd because he pushed the envelope for his entire career. If you pick up a chronological collection of his works you'll notice there is a constant evolution to his sound, and his work becomes consistently more daring and avant garde.

My two favourite vocalists are Helen Forrest and Al Bowlly. Forrest has a beautiful sweet voice, she's probably one of the most accomplished female vocalists of her time, having performed with many of the really big names, but her work with Shaw particularly is fantastic.

Bowlly, I don't believe ever worked with Shaw, but he has a very distinctive voice. Have you ever heard the track One More Kiss Dear from the Blade Runner soundtrack? That track was modeled, in my opinion, on the vocal performances of Bowlly. Wonderful singer.

The other thing I would say is that there is a very marked difference between early and later big band. In the 20s it was a lot more childlike, the melodies were often reminiscent of nursery rhymes, and lyrics often twee. It wasn't until the 30s and 40s that the music and lyrical themes started to become a little more mature. For this reason my collection leans heavily towards the later decades, but a child might find more to appreciate in the earlier works.

brianlux

chadwick wrote:

thanks, brian.

ya see my nephew (& his younger brother) don't have their dad (my brother) around, he died when they were quite young. my nephew says this music makes him calm & relaxed. this statement speaks volumes to me. he misses his dad so much. what a terrible thing to go through

the oldest one remembers his dad quite well whereas the younger one doesn't remember much.

So sorry to hear your nephews lost their dad/ you your brother, Chadwick. You're a wonderful uncle for looking out for them.

curmudgeoness

I don't know if I can help as much as some of the other posters, but I thought I would share a few things I like. These are a bit later, but all are classics:

Frank Sinatra, "Songs for Swingin' Lovers"
Vince Guaraldi Trio's soundtrack to "A Charlie Brown Christmas" -- classic jazz
Louis Armstrong -- I have a "greatest hits" CD with a lot of classic songs, I think it really meets your needs: "Louis Armstrong's All-Time Greatest Hits."

http://www.kplu.org/listen-live -- Way back, when I lived in Seattle and Pearl Jam was the biggest band on the planet, I actually spent a good chunk of my time listening to KPLU. I learned to love jazz in Seattle. That was a while ago, but it looks like they still play jazz -- classic jazz.

If you have satellite radio, look and see if there is a '30s-'40s station. I know there is a "Radio Classics" station that plays radio shows from the '30s-'50s (my kids love that stuff). At any rate, listening there for a bit might give you or the kids some other ideas.

Depending on the kids, old movies might be appealing, too. The "Thin Man" movies from the '30s-'40s are fun detective movies, and I think all feature music from that era.

chadwick

curmudgeoness wrote:

I don't know if I can help as much as some of the other posters, but I thought I would share a few things I like. These are a bit later, but all are classics:

Frank Sinatra, "Songs for Swingin' Lovers"
Vince Guaraldi Trio's soundtrack to "A Charlie Brown Christmas" -- classic jazz
Louis Armstrong -- I have a "greatest hits" CD with a lot of classic songs, I think it really meets your needs: "Louis Armstrong's All-Time Greatest Hits."

http://www.kplu.org/listen-live -- Way back, when I lived in Seattle and Pearl Jam was the biggest band on the planet, I actually spent a good chunk of my time listening to KPLU. I learned to love jazz in Seattle. That was a while ago, but it looks like they still play jazz -- classic jazz.

If you have satellite radio, look and see if there is a '30s-'40s station. I know there is a "Radio Classics" station that plays radio shows from the '30s-'50s (my kids love that stuff). At any rate, listening there for a bit might give you or the kids some other ideas.

Depending on the kids, old movies might be appealing, too. The "Thin Man" movies from the '30s-'40s are fun detective movies, and I think all feature music from that era.

thank you kindly
i'll snoop around & see what i can dig up

oceaninmyeyes

So here's a funny story, in a weird kinda way. My father-in-law died a few years back, and he has the "honor" to rest in peace next to Latin jazz/salsa band leader Tito Puente. This month his son is coming to our town with his band the Pacific Mambo Orchestra. We are going and dragging our kids along. My 15 yo is a percussionist. Should be a good time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZQh4IL7unM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuZrSh9Qi3s

ratmando

chadwick wrote:

http://youtu.be/WGmHaMRAXuI

so my 15 yrs old nephew, "little champion," is throughly into this music. sinatra, the ink spots & so on. am i right in saying this is big band music? i was very surprised that he digs this stuff. yes i am sure the game, "fallout" gave him his first taste of this music.

is frank sinatra big band? what kind of big band & 30's & 40's musicians can you good people suggest so that i can widen my nephew's enjoyment of such music? i'll compile the list, promise. maybe even find him some cds for christmas or birthdays.

thank you for your time,
chad

Duke Ellington by far is the most amazing. But I have some 45s of the Platters, if you'd like me to send them to you for him. Also, my husband is a straight ahead jazz standards musician who plays like Art Tatum and people from that generation. If your son visits JonesJazz.com and emails Mike, I'm sure he could give him some names of bands he may never have heard of... I like the Dorsey band, anything with Ella Fitzgerald, and Dinah Shore. Later bands that took into that style include the Stray Catz and some of their music has some direct references to the exact era
Hope that helps.

gabers

I've been into a Swing Jazz mood lately myself. My wife and I are going to a WWII era themed USO dance next month and I'm trying to get my mind right. We're also going to take some crash course swing dance lessons. She already knows a bit but I have a long way to go. We'll have fun trying anyway. I have a playlist that iTunes recommended a few years ago. Here's what I have so far:

Artie Shaw - Begin the Beguine
Benny Goodman - Sing Sing Sing
Count Basie - Lester Leaps In
Count Basie - Jumpin' at the Woodside
Django Reinhardt - Honeysuckle Rose
Duke Ellington - It Don't Mean a Thing
Glenn Miller - In the Mood
Illinois Jacquet - Flying Home
Louis Jordan - Choo Choo Ch' Boogie
Louis Prima - Jump Jive an' Wail
Stan Kenton - Artistry in Rhythm
Tommy Dorsey - I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
Woody Herman and his Orchestra - Four Brothers

Also I bought this today on Amazon. Looks pretty promising.

http://www.amazon.com/All-Time-Greatest ... B78NDCPKAZ

chadwick

nicely done, thank you everyone. very nice.
good luck, gabers. let us know how it goes. maybe a short video of this?
enjoy your time & thanks again for the list of musicians & songs

chadwick

woody herman live in england 1964
http://youtu.be/R8Ycbrwqh5w
i am amazed my 16 year old nephew (AKA: 'little champion' or 'little E') is into this kind of music. it is super. he actually got me into listening to this stuff my-own-damn-self. often i find myself on here thumbing through this kind of sound. these dudes are tight as shit.

good job & thank you, everyone, for the suggestions. nicely done. as a matter of fact, i just phoned E & had him write down this title so he could check it out after dinner.