Big Band
A large jazz orchestra of trumpet, trombone, and saxophone sections plus a rhythm section.
What it means
A big band is a large jazz ensemble typically made up of three horn sections – trumpets, trombones, and saxophones – along with a rhythm section of piano, bass, drums, and often guitar. The horns usually play multi-voiced arrangements in tight sections, while soloists improvise individual passages.
The fixed division into horn sections allows powerful, unified blocks of sound, which alternate with soloistic passages to create the big band's characteristic sound.
Musical use
The big band reached its peak during the swing era of the 1930s and 1940s, when orchestras led by bandleaders such as Duke Ellington or Count Basie provided both dance music and sophisticated arrangements. Even after swing's decline, the big band lineup remained alive in jazz, for instance in concert and broadcast orchestras.
It should be distinguished from the small combo with few instruments and greater improvisational freedom, and from the classical symphony orchestra, whose instrumentation and style are fundamentally different.
Performance practice
When you play in a big band, pay close attention to precise ensemble playing within your own horn section, so that homophonic passages blend as one sound. In solos, by contrast, you can move much more freely and improvisationally, without losing balance with the rest of the band.