Modern Big Band

Swing era big bands were primarily concerned with getting people on the dance floor. Modern big bands lead you back to your seat by expanding the jazz vocabulary. Even during the swinging 1940s, Duke Ellington often used his band in purely artistic settings, influencing Gil Evans' interest in orchestral colors and textures. Stan Kenton followed suit with more bombast while Charles Mingus had a lighter, but still complex, touch. Sun Ra and Carla Bley created unique music that challenged even the avant-garde, but Don Sebesky's current work for orchestra will please fans of classic and progressive jazz.