History Main / BigBand

Although the genre has never completely disappeared -- there are still bands touring today -- Big Band lost much of its popularity after World War II. One reason was the rise of the superstar singer, a development prompted as much by Music/FrankSinatra's publicist's [[AstroTurf hiring of dozens of women]] to scream and squeal at his appearances with the Benny Goodman band as it was by the 1942 musician's recording ban, which allowed vocalists to record but not instrumentalists. Within the jazz world, another factor was the emergence of Bebop artists such as Music/CharlieParker. The biggest influence in the demise of Big Band, though, was probably the association many at the time made between the music and the war they'd just endured and now wanted to forget. Most of the bands dissolved after the war; others reformed as smaller jazz bands, while some turned themselves into backup bands, anonymously supporting the singers who once supported them. Such are the vagaries of fame.

->''"[[BrickJoke If you still have to ask, shame on you]]."''

->''"If you still have to ask, shame on you."''

* Count Basie

The most important figure in the typical big band was the bandleader, who was also often the band's composer, booking agent, accountant, general manager, and HR department. Most were instrumentalists who usually played the most prominent solo. If the band had a singer he or she would often come in after the solo, which could be two minutes or more into the song. That arrangement may sound strange to a modern ear but vocalists weren't considered as important at the time as they would become in later decades. The singer was partly an ornament to the band - and not just a musical ornament; an attractive singer could bring in the crowds at a live venue - and partly copyright protection, since in those days copyright only extended automatically to musical compositions accompanied by lyrics. (Cab Calloway was a rare instance of a singer who led a band.)