since most of you are music people... the last couple of years or so, i'd start the car and listen to the popular stations and get tired of hearing the same ol' crap. eventually i'd turn the channel to more obscure channels and find some oldies on. i can't remember the am channel off-hand (don't feel like walking out to my car to check the channel i have programmed), but there's this really good station that plays some big band stuff during the day. i'm not sure what decade the stuff is from... 30s, 40s, 50s?... but the stuff is pretty cool. the base is the most distinctive instrument in every song. it's kind of a thum, thum, thum, thum (not a lot of help, but it goes up and down and i guess with out... any kind of variation or something.) anyway, do any of you know any other stations or cds that i can buy from old big bands in this time? the new stuff is getting annoying, though i'm starting to appreciate the ying yang twins ("naked... soak and wet") and mannie fresh ("i'm rich b****... i'm a real big timer"). also, watching that show with the lesser know artists on mtv (forget the name, but it's equivalent to 120 minutes) late at night is too inconvenient... so... no more new stuff for now. big band stuff?
Anything by the Buddy Rich Big Band. Or you can just download "West Side Story" or "Channel One Suite" to get a taste of The Master. "Mister, I am the band. -Buddy Rich
"Swingin' New Big Band" -- my FAVORITE album growing up. That album almost single-handedly got me into the all-state jazz band my senior year too. We had to sight read charts. All of a sudden, out comes "Basically Blues" and I see "As Performed by the Buddy Rich Big Band". I love that album. Terry Gibbs' Dream Band is another good one. Louie Bellison Big Band (incredible drummer, even better person. That man was SO nice to me it wasn't even funny)
I heavily recommend Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Count Basie, Cab Calloway for some old stuff. There is also a very cool compilation available called: "Chips & Cheers" on Blue Note which has big band sounds with a twist. And there is the sister album of that one called "Scotch & Sofa" which is more the calm down cd while "Chips & Cheers" gets you started. Could be some interesting stuff for you. I love this stuff.
thanks for the recommendations guys. definitely planning on hitting cactus on shepard (not sure if there's another one) or the soundwaves on montrose to check out some of these.
i grew up listening to big band music. my father sang with a big band. i'll give the advice he would give if he were talking to you: "son, any band that's fronted by frank sinatra is a damn good band." that is all.
Actually, the comments in this thread reminded me of possibly the best big band album ever: Frank Sinatra & Count Basie: Sinatra At the Sands
holy crap!!! bingo!!! i figured i'd be the only person here who knew of Sinatra at the Sands!! excellent, excellent album. the other album i love, if you like latin jazz, is Sinatra with Carlos Jobim. that version of "Concentrate" on that album is freakiing unreal. that and "The Girl from Impanema" incredible album.
Cool! My Grandfather used to play in Woody Herman's Big Band. OS, on a more modern tip, you could check out anything by Doc Severinsen and His Big Band. You know, the guy from Johnny Carson. I try to see them whenever they come to town. Ditto for Maynard Ferguson.
The Time Warner music channels have a big band and Standards channels. If you have the digital tier you get those free. Buy Gatemouth Brown's American music for a more modern big band swing. So true about Sinatra, his studio bands are the best of the breed. Also, you can't go wrong with Count Basie. My dad sang with the Army Air corps big band in the Pacific during WW2 though when he got home from 4 years overseas he just wanted to get married and never leave home again. He did used to sit in with some bands on some big band cruises during his later years...why can't I sing al lick?
My freshman year of college, one of my teachers introduced it to me. One of the most amazing things I've ever heard. Literally just knocks you back the first time you hear it because it's so amazing.
The internet is a great tool for this as well. Not only can you get streams of some broadcast stations, you also have specialized internet only stations such as Netscape radio and Live365.com, just to name two. I've found a host of interesting Live365 stations playing big band and even earlier jazz from the 1920s.
