Submitted by EnderCrystal221 t3_zzz5or in Music
It’s a unique combination of instruments that really wasn’t present in most Big Bands, I would love to hear some songs that used them. Especially with a vocalist as that would make for an interesting combination, a crooner with electric guitars would be super interesting as they are not associated together at all.
Maybe the Brian Setzer Orchestra
More modern but Brian Setzer from the Stray Cats did some big band/swing. I saw them live. Was pretty great. https://youtu.be/aHWcN5YxuYc
Not from Big Band era, but Brian Setzer Orchestra is pretty much Big Band with guitar.
Metallica in the S&M album
I think your terminology is a bit loose here.
Lots of big band guitar players used “electric guitars” — they played guitars that had pickups and amplifiers for additional volume. Most of those guitars were full-depth hollow body guitars with pickups. Think the Gibson ES-175 or a D’angelico archtop. Someone else pointed to Charlie Christian with Benny Goodman in ‘39, but there were other earlier ones.
I think what you’re thinking is electric guitars with more of a rock & roll sound than a jazz sound. You can find examples of that not so much in the big band era, but in the jump blues genre (think Louis Jordan or Louis Prima), where you can here guitar parts that are proto-rock and roll. In fact, Chuck Berry lifted a riff from Carl Hogan, Jordan's guitar player, for Johnny B. Goode.
Here's a sample of Louis Jordan to try out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7M4thNT_EY
Yeah that’s what I’m asking for. I don’t know much about guitars so that’s a much better way to put it. It does make sense that guitars would have microphones or other amplifiers in them before the ones played by guys like Les Paul came into common use. They had to be heard over the orchestra somehow lol.
Galactic is a New Orleans jazz/jam rock fusion. It definitely leans more toward Big Band than Orchestral.
The Paper Bag has something like 50 musicians with all sorts of instruments like that.
Chicago.
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Plays Prog Rock Classics, maybe?
Dick Meldonian Big Jazz Band has some YouTube videos featuring Bucky Pizzarelli. Here’s one: https://youtu.be/F9Y9vLeJe6c
For a long time big bands used banjos because they had the volume advantage.
That’s fascinating, do you know more stuff by Louis Jordan to try out?
It was very difficult before electric guitars came along.
You had to mic an acoustic guitar and then compete with a naturally loud orchestra
Silverchair - Neon Ballroom
Glen Campbell live concert in sioux falls with the South Dakota Symphony
Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.
Not from the heyday of big band, but legendary producer and arranger, Gil Evans, did a big band tribute to Hendrix, complete with electric guitar.
Eldorado by ELO
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Check out Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band.
Jazz Police is a good guitar-centric song of theirs.
Interestingly, that's basically why the electrification of guitars started happening.
When guitarists starting joining big bands during the big band era, it was very hard to hear the guitar player over the orchestra.
Muse have some good bits that merge guitar and orchestral string parts.
Rather surprised this classic wasn't mentioned yet although you may have heard it:
I noticed that there were so few Big Band songs that featured guitars which led me to ask this question. While the guitar isn’t my favorite instrument, it’s certainly a good one and I love a bunch of 1920’s Jazz guitar songs like this of Nick Lucas so I figured I should try to find some electric guitar centric Big Band music. I also really do recommend Nick Lucas if you are interested in Jazz guitar, plus he was a good singer too.
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There’s a band that blends orchestra and death metal, they’re all classically educated and have a dedicated pianist, might not be what you’re looking for, but they do a helluva job
It’s definitely not my kind of music but it’s still cool. I’m curious though, how did you get into such heavy music?
I’ve naturally gravitated toward the heavier genres of music my entire life, I just find the expression and emotion present in furious guitar riffs and screams to work for me better than any singing can. Not to say I don’t appreciate other music, I was just in a musical; and my taste does reach outside the metal bubble. I can’t really provide an explanation, just a feeling honestly.
Yep- beat me too it. Ecstasy of gold intro gets my ass on the treadmill most days.
I feel like I’m missing out on a lot of music due to how my music taste is mostly old Crooners, Big Band/Swing, Opera songs, Doo Wop, Soul, Barbershop Quartets, and Traditional Pop music from the 1940’s to about the 1960’s. I love that stuff but it means that I’m stuck to mainly the early 1900’s to 1960’s with only some outliers. I haven’t been able to get into Rock outside of Journey due to a lot of that stuff being boring to me for some reason. It’s not that I like dislike the instruments used, I just really prefer full orchestration, harmonies, or a lot of vibrato in singing. Music with mainly percussion doesn’t do much for me which kills off my interest in a lot of music. Any tips on how to become more open to different music?
I think the easiest way to get into broader music is not to quit, no skipping around, no stopping halfway through, you appreciate music when you give it time to digest in your mind. Before I decide if I don’t like something, I make sure I’ve listened to a minimum of at least 7 songs, either in one full sitting or mixed into my usual stuff, one shuffled in during every day of the week. That’s for a completely new genre, while more similar stuff I’ll sit down and listen to an album in its entirety before coming to a conclusion.
Wow great explanation, appreciate your knowledge
This is one of my fav bands, this has rock and some orchestra. https://youtu.be/QUvplhHC50s
yes_its_him t1_j2egjko wrote
Here's Charlie Christian playing electric guitar with Benny Goodman in 1939
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgXITGQdlsc