My personal top 5: 1.Christian McBride Big band 2.Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big band 3.Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra 4.Jimmy Heath Big Band 5.Mingus Big band
All great bands, thanks for compiling this! The missing group that I love the most the the jazz orchestra of the fabulous composer/arranger/saxophone player Christine Jensen.
To be fair, I think the point of this video was to expose lesser-known bands. JALC is the pinnacle, and is therefore known by almost everyone, making it too "obvious" of an answer. This video was refreshing.
U.S. Navy Band Jazz Commodores.... Not only great musicians but they can play any style.... Like 1920's Fletcher Henderson stuff to any modern day chart....Best of the service jazz bands.
WDR Big Band (NDR-SWR-HR-RIAS) (=1#) Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra * Metropole Orkest Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra Vanguard Orchestra (=2#) The DIVA Jazz Orchestra (!) Peter Herbolzheimer Rhythm Combination & Brass (=1#) Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Big Band (=2#) Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band (=1#) Monk Orchestra * Don Ellis Orchestra Tubby Hayes Big Band Quincy Jones Orchestra Stan Kenton Orchestra Duke Ellington Orchestra * Count Basie Orchestra *
Yeah! Instead of just another hard-blowing band, John Clayton always brings out the musicality of the songs. Likewise, Jeff Hamilton is the most expressive and musical of drummers.
This is really a video dealing more with big bands doing modern sounding big band works - hence "killing the game right now". Also, I doubt if most people haven't heard of J@LC (they don't need the shout out). If you look at the majority of video descriptions, "Bernie" puts a disclaimer ALL the time saying this isn't all that's out there. To that point, I second Jacob Mann Big Band. After reading a couple of the comments here, I really want to say I don't understand why jazz musicians keep doing this to themselves. There's no need for any negative comments here. There are tons of musicians to choose from, you're not always going to see YOUR favorite and yes, we all wish there were more female jazz instrumentalists. The people checking this out are already hardcore jazz fans that seek this out this music. The market/audience for this stuff is so small already, why fragment it more? I don't see why people don't use this as the resource it's intended to be rather than a reason to cut down musicians providing great, individualistic music and a channel that's providing a platform for getting to know even more, classic and modern, jazz artists. My $0.02...
My vote goes to WDR. Jazz has always been a reflection of a time period and they're not afraid to mix it up with modern jazz artists of today, as well as a lot of the more standard stuff. I'd love to see them with Robert Glasper. Jazz purists may not love it but it's time for them to get with the times. I highly doubt Charlie Parker and Coltrane would be playing the same old jazz today. Other vote goes to the Big Phat Band as well as the Lao Tizer band. They're both great.
All fine musicians. I can't help but notice how few women instrumentalists there are in big bands, even after eighty years of big band jazz. This makes me sad.
Not just in the big band scenes, or even just in jazz. Across all genres, besides vocalists, it seems that professional musicians are disproportionately male.
Hilario Duran's band, (when it is a band) is formidable. And of course, Hilario is a force of nature. Keep peeking at the military jazz orchestras. Some of the stuff I've seen on youtube will blow you away.
The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra may be the best at this time. They are also the best at teaching about the history of jazz and, especially, of big band jazz. However, my vote for the MOST IMPORTANT big band at this time is THE SANT ANDREU JAZZ BAND from barcelona in Spain. They also win the 'youngest top-rated big band'. They sound as good, in my opinion, as any band on this list. This is a band of school age kids, they have had members as young as 6 years old and the players generally graduate at about age 21-to try their luck as professional musicians if they wish to do so. The kids start as second part players, advance to section leaders and soloists. Many of them double, such unusual combination of instruments as violin and tenor sax, drums and trumpet, trumpet and sax... Most of the women sing and a few of the young men too leading to some choral numbers. This band, and smaller pieces of it tour around Europe regularly, have not yet come to the US. At this point the most successful alumni are Andrea Motis, trumpet sax and voice, age 24 and Rita Payes, trombone and voice, aged about 20. The band is lead by Joan Chamorro. Check them out. Do not give them a handicap for their youth!
Please, don't forget DR Big Band :) over the years, they have played live/recorded with names like Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Thad Jones, Mike Stern, Michael/Randy Brecker, Michel Camilo, Darcy James Argue, Curtis Stigers, Steve Swallow, Palle Mikkelborg, Lee Konitz, Cory Henry and Elaine Elias: th-cam.com/video/1D1TFW2QDQE/w-d-xo.html
All great bands. Though, most of the selections seemed to be of the "chops" variety. Very few examples of the groups swinging hard. It is because of that I'm disappointed that the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra was not listed. They are the hardest swinging band around in my opinion. Also second the queries as to why JALCO was left of this list. I mean, UNT was impressive chop wise, but hard swinging, to me, is where the rubber meets the road with big bands.
While it is a band connected to an educational institution (like UNT), the NCCU Big Band deserves to be included in this fine cavalcade of jazz!! I'll find some footage for you!! Starting with this: th-cam.com/video/c29fn-lO8g4/w-d-xo.html
Sorry, but I have issues with big band conductors out in front of the band waving their arms around. Get her out from in front of the band!! How distracting. With members such as Donny McCaslin (on 2nd Tenor ta boot) in the band, I think they can keep their own time... and if they can't, they shouldn't be in the band in the first place.
Scott Baiar Maria Schneider is the composer. She can interact with her music however she wants. Not to mention, her music is rarely straight ahead. I'm curious if you would say the same thing about Thad Jones? Stan Kenton? Bob Curnow? How 'bout Don Ellis? They all conducted their bands - they did so quite emphatically, in fact. Maria Schneider is not keeping time for them...she is participating.
MrBoch Point taken. Maybe it's her bare arms and the wide sweeping brush strokes... I just find her distracting... So shoot me. Lol And Malthus, maybe you're right, it's not about keeping time, so why is she trying to wave down a taxi or direct a fighter jet on a flight deck?! Lol Sorry. I AM asking myself the question though, why am I annoyed by her in particular? Not completely sure. Now that I look back, I've seen quite a few leaders conducting from up front. I think my experience from in the band as well as without has been leaders/conductors taking more of a back seat, incognito approach as opposed to batting at flies.
The is proof positive that big band jazz continues to leave out female big bands. One of the best and most creative is The Diva Orchestra lead by drummer Sherri Maricle.
This is the best YT channel i ever seen about jazz music. I love it! Keep doing' please!
My personal top 5:
1.Christian McBride Big band
2.Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big band
3.Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
4.Jimmy Heath Big Band
5.Mingus Big band
the song that got me into big bands was by mingus big band!! i was blown away by how good it was
Thanks for making my day! Big band fan since the 60's....Ferguson, Herman, Kenton, Basie, Ellis, Rich.
finally, the big band video! do one on the best sax solis maybe?
I used to miss my 1 pm class regularly, just to feel the excitement of the UNT/NTSU 1"o Clock Lab Band -
Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra . They ARE still playing. I just saw them in Monterey in Sept.
All great bands, thanks for compiling this! The missing group that I love the most the the jazz orchestra of the fabulous composer/arranger/saxophone player Christine Jensen.
I loved Kendrick Oliver and the New Life Jazz Orchestra, out of Boston, Massachusetts. I wonder if they're still playing together.
How can you forget the Mingus Big Band?
METROPOLE ORCHESTRA. Don't forget it.
Jacob Mann Big Band is p cool too
Love this band as well as Max Ox.
Great diversity, Mr. Sanders Since I studied jazz at UNTEXAS I am glad you included the 1:00 Band
Glad to hear all of them and glad there are so many! Vanguard is the best!
Fantastic collection - Thanks!
This video made me happy because it has a lot of trumpet.
But it needs MORE COWBELL!!!
Jk same I love the trumpet
Metropole Orkest - like WDR, originally a radio big band but now pretty much independent
Which band is it , where conductor is pianist also and they playing lot of latino ?
Lot of excellent Tenor players. Really liked some of your choices. Thanks for your compilation!!!
This is way cool! Thanks for putting together,
Close correlation between musical style and dress style.
J@LCO is the only one which dares to acknowledge the roots of jazz - their ragtime & Jelly Roll programs are wonderful.
What do you think about the NDR Bigband?
What do you think about big bang theory? ;)
Sebastian Sprotte just listen to "The Last Concert" of Chet Baker with the NDR - one THE best big bands.
Damn the Vanguard orchestra hits HAM!!!
What about the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra??????????
Awesome stuff. Kind of saddens me to think there is nothing like this anywhere within 500 miles of me.
Marty Keil where tf u at? The Pacific Ocean???
I'm in a backwards underdeveloped area called North Carolina.
Bernie if you are trying to tell us that JALC is not one of the 10 best big bands around today you are out of your damn mind
To be fair, I think the point of this video was to expose lesser-known bands. JALC is the pinnacle, and is therefore known by almost everyone, making it too "obvious" of an answer. This video was refreshing.
Sick video!! I enjoy the JLCO
Thank you for putting vanguard at the last spot. They’re always going to be superior, best sound ever!
SWR big band out of Germany...is a must hear. Sammy Nestico is a big fan of this band and does a lot of writing for the SWR.
U.S. Navy Band Jazz Commodores.... Not only great musicians but they can play any style.... Like 1920's Fletcher Henderson stuff to any modern day chart....Best of the service jazz bands.
All great! My fav is Gordon Goodwin's Phat band.
Yo bernie if you get the chance to track down and post some of the Jason Lindner Big Band stuff it's killinggggg
Snippet from Monkestra shows about 50% what that band is doing. But thanks for posting, enjoyed mucho
The sound of all these bands is amazing!
amazing work ! thanx
WDR Big Band (NDR-SWR-HR-RIAS) (=1#)
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra *
Metropole Orkest
Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra
Vanguard Orchestra (=2#)
The DIVA Jazz Orchestra (!)
Peter Herbolzheimer Rhythm Combination & Brass (=1#)
Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Big Band (=2#)
Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band (=1#)
Monk Orchestra *
Don Ellis Orchestra
Tubby Hayes Big Band
Quincy Jones Orchestra
Stan Kenton Orchestra
Duke Ellington Orchestra *
Count Basie Orchestra *
Jazz at Lincoln Center? The CBO is still going strong too
Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra? Although they may not be the most active these days
Yeah! Instead of just another hard-blowing band, John Clayton always brings out the musicality of the songs. Likewise, Jeff Hamilton is the most expressive and musical of drummers.
Would add The Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra which is excellent. Also I saw the Count Basie Orchestra which still is really good.
no excitement like the great Big Bands - lets hope they always have a place to play ,and the room is full .!!!
The Taylor / Fidyk bigband? Not sure they still going though.
Love their stuff
Why not the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra? Literally the BEST existing big band today.
saw them, loved them and yes they do belong on this list, however i don't consider them the best
This is really a video dealing more with big bands doing modern sounding big band works - hence "killing the game right now". Also, I doubt if most people haven't heard of J@LC (they don't need the shout out).
If you look at the majority of video descriptions, "Bernie" puts a disclaimer ALL the time saying this isn't all that's out there. To that point, I second Jacob Mann Big Band.
After reading a couple of the comments here, I really want to say I don't understand why jazz musicians keep doing this to themselves. There's no need for any negative comments here. There are tons of musicians to choose from, you're not always going to see YOUR favorite and yes, we all wish there were more female jazz instrumentalists. The people checking this out are already hardcore jazz fans that seek this out this music. The market/audience for this stuff is so small already, why fragment it more? I don't see why people don't use this as the resource it's intended to be rather than a reason to cut down musicians providing great, individualistic music and a channel that's providing a platform for getting to know even more, classic and modern, jazz artists. My $0.02...
Leonard Fahrwald too don big band
4:30 Ben Monder on guitar 💪💪
Thanks everyone for all these tremendous leads!
Is he Donny McCaslin at 4:43?
Marco sure was
Yes, that's donny
UMO, Bob Mintzer, JALC, Tom Kubis... You forgot the most important ones! Glad to see you at least got the vanguard and maria schneider in there
Darcy James Argue Secret Society, this sounded like a score from the movie Taxi Driver
My vote goes to WDR. Jazz has always been a reflection of a time period and they're not afraid to mix it up with modern jazz artists of today, as well as a lot of the more standard stuff. I'd love to see them with Robert Glasper. Jazz purists may not love it but it's time for them to get with the times. I highly doubt Charlie Parker and Coltrane would be playing the same old jazz today.
Other vote goes to the Big Phat Band as well as the Lao Tizer band. They're both great.
All fine musicians. I can't help but notice how few women instrumentalists there are in big bands, even after eighty years of big band jazz. This makes me sad.
Not just in the big band scenes, or even just in jazz. Across all genres, besides vocalists, it seems that professional musicians are disproportionately male.
What ever happened to Diva? Great all-womens band!
I Guess its because women are not like men, we naturally take more chances in this world.
"naturally"? I disagree.
what do you disagree about?
Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, I pictured a tap performance
Norrbotten Big Band is killing it!
Hilario Duran's band, (when it is a band) is formidable. And of course, Hilario is a force of nature. Keep peeking at the military jazz orchestras. Some of the stuff I've seen on youtube will blow you away.
You have a very good taste of music are you also musician?
The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra may be the best at this time. They are also the best at teaching about the history of jazz and, especially, of big band jazz. However, my vote for the MOST IMPORTANT big band at this time is THE SANT ANDREU JAZZ BAND from barcelona in Spain. They also win the 'youngest top-rated big band'. They sound as good, in my opinion, as any band on this list. This is a band of school age kids, they have had members as young as 6 years old and the players generally graduate at about age 21-to try their luck as professional musicians if they wish to do so. The kids start as second part players, advance to section leaders and soloists. Many of them double, such unusual combination of instruments as violin and tenor sax, drums and trumpet, trumpet and sax... Most of the women sing and a few of the young men too leading to some choral numbers. This band, and smaller pieces of it tour around Europe regularly, have not yet come to the US.
At this point the most successful alumni are Andrea Motis, trumpet sax and voice, age 24 and Rita Payes, trombone and voice, aged about 20. The band is lead by Joan Chamorro. Check them out. Do not give them a handicap for their youth!
christian mcbride bigband ...😭
1:37 Coltrane playing trumpet
please check out the "Brussels Jazz Orchestra", the best big band in my opinion...
Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band(with Wayne Bergeron on Lead Trumpet
Some of my favorites + SF jazz collective
Numbers 1-8: Gordon Goodwin. #9: Village Vanguard. 10: Anybody besides Maria Schneider, lol...
metropole orkest check out sylva with snarky puppy and with John Scofield
UMO, Norbotten, Dave Liedman to name a few.
Can't forget about BBC's
How about "The Dean Pratt Big Band " ?
MItch winehouse does he thing too with all the big bands
Please, don't forget DR Big Band :) over the years, they have played live/recorded with names like Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Thad Jones, Mike Stern, Michael/Randy Brecker, Michel Camilo, Darcy James Argue, Curtis Stigers, Steve Swallow, Palle Mikkelborg, Lee Konitz, Cory Henry and Elaine Elias: th-cam.com/video/1D1TFW2QDQE/w-d-xo.html
No JLCO, or bob mintzer?
Bob Mintzer is also the current leader of the WDR-BigBand
In my opinion big phat band is easily the most seasoned group on this list
8:34 Adam Binbaum
What about Lucas Pino Nonet?
th-cam.com/video/53g68BQ2AY4/w-d-xo.html
Denada Ensemble?
Is that jazz video guy on the set in #1? 😂
All great bands. Though, most of the selections seemed to be of the "chops" variety. Very few examples of the groups swinging hard. It is because of that I'm disappointed that the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra was not listed. They are the hardest swinging band around in my opinion. Also second the queries as to why JALCO was left of this list. I mean, UNT was impressive chop wise, but hard swinging, to me, is where the rubber meets the road with big bands.
Maybe Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra is the number #11.... Could be? Haha
Check out Central Washington University Jazz 1
Jacob Mann Big Band, Gareth Lockrane Big Band, John Daversa Big Band
Airmen of Note???
While it is a band connected to an educational institution (like UNT), the NCCU Big Band deserves to be included in this fine cavalcade of jazz!! I'll find some footage for you!! Starting with this: th-cam.com/video/c29fn-lO8g4/w-d-xo.html
That's what's up?
A couple more up and coming big bands. The Melting Pot big band Riesterstown MD
The Hank Levy Legacy Orchestra Towson MD
Both can be seen on youtube.
Camillo!!!!!
Jason Lindner Big Band?
The real stars of big bands are the arrangers. So, who are they?
Big Phat Band #4? I don't think so. Nobody can touch those guys. They are the top dog.
Ohhh yeah!!!
Diva!
Of course North Texas is on the list…
Alan Ferber Expanded Ensemble
That darcy james
brussels jazz ocherstra
JLCO!
Sorry, but I have issues with big band conductors out in front of the band waving their arms around. Get her out from in front of the band!! How distracting. With members such as Donny McCaslin (on 2nd Tenor ta boot) in the band, I think they can keep their own time... and if they can't, they shouldn't be in the band in the first place.
Scott Baiar Maria Schneider is the composer. She can interact with her music however she wants. Not to mention, her music is rarely straight ahead. I'm curious if you would say the same thing about Thad Jones? Stan Kenton? Bob Curnow? How 'bout Don Ellis? They all conducted their bands - they did so quite emphatically, in fact. Maria Schneider is not keeping time for them...she is participating.
So says someone who I suspect has never played in or conducted a band. It's not about keeping time.
MrBoch Point taken. Maybe it's her bare arms and the wide sweeping brush strokes... I just find her distracting... So shoot me. Lol And Malthus, maybe you're right, it's not about keeping time, so why is she trying to wave down a taxi or direct a fighter jet on a flight deck?! Lol Sorry. I AM asking myself the question though, why am I annoyed by her in particular? Not completely sure. Now that I look back, I've seen quite a few leaders conducting from up front. I think my experience from in the band as well as without has been leaders/conductors taking more of a back seat, incognito approach as opposed to batting at flies.
DYNAMICS FELLA , THINK DYNAMICS AND TEMPO TOO . YOUR JUST TO BRIGHT FOR US MERE PLAYERS . LEADING KEEPS US TOGETHER WITH PHRASING TOO..
OJM!
А вы говорите.................
Is any one really looking up at her? Give it a rest. May be the trumpet player.
The is proof positive that big band jazz continues to leave out female big bands. One of the best and most creative is The Diva Orchestra lead by drummer Sherri Maricle.
Aside from John Beasley's Monkestra, there's a striking lack of dynamics. Every band goes from f. to fff.
Airmen of note and Lincoln centre jazz are better than several of these bands
I love this music, but most of these people are still reading the charts. I'm sorry, but if you still need the chart you haven't practiced enough.
The John Hoey Orchestra