History Of The Big Band Era

By | August 6, 2019

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King And Carter Jazzing Orchestra. Source: (Wikipedia.org)

Big Band music has been well loved by many even before the Big Band Era (1933-1947) began. This little known Jazz band, “King and Carter Jazzing Orchestra” was obviously a small group but even though they were small, there were those who loved Jazz music even in the 1920s. This picture was taken in 1921 somewhere in Texas, possibly Brownsville, Texas.  

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Dizzy Gillespie. Source: (pinterest.com)

“Dizzy” John Birks Gillespie was a bandleader as well as one of the best trumpet players in history. Gillespie was a gifted child as far as musical talent was concerned. He was able to teach himself how to play trombone and trumpet at age 12 after having learned to play the piano at age four. His dream of becoming a jazz player came true for him, and despite hitting a few bumps along the way, he managed to become quite a successful bandleader as well. Once, in 1953, someone accidentally sat on his trumpet and bent the bell part, but he actually liked the way it sounded after that so he would purposely bend his trumpet bells after that. His fame became so worldwide that he even became the leader of the United Nations Orchestra in the 1980s. He died in 1993 at age 75.