In many years of arranging jazz bands for all sorts of events I am struck by the similarity of how the request is made by most of our clients.
It goes something like this: "We are looking for a jazz band to play at our wedding / book launch / family fun day / sixtieth birthday/ store opening etc."?"oh yes, we say, what style of jazz band ?"?"Er, not quite sure. What styles have you got?"
It was because of this exchange I felt this article would be helpful in choosing the right kind of jazz band for your party, celebration or event.
Rather than go through a history of the development of jazz from the purists angle it would be easier to list a number of types of event and match them up to styles of jazz band with a short description of the jazz band most likely to suit the occasion. Lets start with the wedding.
You are most likely to want a jazz band at your wedding at two points in the days proceedings.
The reception. You and your partner have just left the church and your guests are nearly back at the place you have chosen for the celebrations. What better way than to have them met by a jazz band.
As champagne and Pimms is handed out the band just adds a perfect happy backdrop to the moment. There are two main types of jazz band that can suit the moment:
A Dixieland band or a swing band.
Dixieland Jazz. This is jazz from the early twenties. The musicians will happily dress up in stripy blazers or waistcoats and play lovely old jaunty tunes from that era such as "When the Saints Come Marching In" "The Charleston" "Bill Bailey Won't You Please Come Home" and "Five Foot Two Eyes Of Blue". The instrumentation is usually banjo, sousaphone (a tuba that you can wear) and a frontline instrument or two such as trumpet, sax or trombone. The band is mobile and acoustic and can move around the site entertaining guests in different locations. Artists associated with the genre include Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke and Fats Waller.
Swing Jazz. Names of musicians associated with this style of jazz band are Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Count Basie. The music is mainly from the late thirties and early forties and is very melodic. Ella Fitzgerald started her career at this time in Harlem and had great success with the Chick Webb band. The jazz band will probably play lots of tunes from Broadway Shows from the time such as "Funny Valentine" "It Had To Be You" "Making Whoopee" " It Don`t Mean A Thing If It Ain`t Got That Swing". This jazz band can be acoustic but will probably include an electric piano, which the musicians will supply along with a speaker. They will need a power supply and logistics of this must be taken into consideration when choosing the jazz band. Are your guests near a power supply, is the reception indoors or outdoors, how does the weather forecast look? Finally, how big should the jazz band be? For both styles a trio or quartet will be fine.
After the wedding Breakfast. Your guests have sat through a gargantuan meal, fine wines and various speeches including a slightly embarrassing one from the best man! They are ready to stretch their legs, use the loos, have a cigarette and carry on chatting to old friends who they may have not seen for some time. They are not yet ready to dance. Your jazz band should know this and should be playing suitable accessible tunes in an unobtrusive way. You don`t want a modern jazz band at this point. Known variously as Be-Bop, Modern Jazz, West Coast and played by such artists as John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, this is music for the concert hall or jazz club. You want sophisticated smoky tunes, maybe with some vocals such as "Let there be love" "The Girl From Ipanema" "My Baby Just Cares For Me". Artists associated with this kind of jazz include Stan Getz, Billie holiday and Nat King Cole. Maybe also think about some Rat Pack tunes that the li
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