MP3 Big Band Sounds - Swing Era 1944-1945 Cd009

This single CD has 24 tracks of professionally recorded, popular, hard-to-find versions of Big Band/Swing Era artists. Its excellent sound and quality are reminiscent of that unique era in American music.

24 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Big Band, JAZZ: Swing/Big Band



Details:
The year, 1944, brought fresh new life to the big bands of the Swing Era. The musicians' union chief, James Petrillo, had managed to keep the musicians out on strike against the record companies for more than two years. Although the bands were active in movies, on radio, at public appearances and wartime camps, they were not given the opportunity to make records as non-union musicians. In November 1944, the last companies finally succumbed to Petrillo's demands for special royalties. The bands rushed to the studios and in the space of a few months recorded many of the songs they had been playing for those years on strike.

Since they had last recorded, the bands had changed through new ideas. New sidemen, replacing those still in the armed services, were heard in the bands of Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Harry James, Gene Krupa and Artie Shaw. Woody Herman, with his unique band, dominated the swing scene for several years. A new jazz was springing forth with Stan Kenton, who was coming into his own. Standard swing was gaining momentum with new techniques, tones and even full-size string sections. There was great hope for salvaging the record buyers lost during the strike. But, this would not be the case even though records of the period possess a special quality about them.