Making the Scene: Contemporary New York City Big Band Jazz (Roth Family Foundation Music in America Imprint)

The received wisdom of popular jazz history is that the era of the big band was the 1930s and '40s, when swing was at its height. But as practicing jazz musicians know, even though big bands lost the spotlight once the bebop era began, they never really disappeared. __Making the Scene__ challenges conventional jazz historiography by demonstrating the vital role of big bands in the ongoing development of jazz. Alex Stewart describes how jazz musicians have found big bands valuable. He explores the rich "rehearsal band" scene in New York and the rise of repertory orchestras. __Making the Scene__ combines historical research, ethnography, and participant observation with musical analysis, ethnic studies, and gender theory, dismantling stereotypical views of the big band.

"Alex Stewart's excellent book tackles a subject which has been hidden in plain sight: the central importance of the big band, not as dead artifact of the Swing Era, but as a seminal and nurturing force through the entire history of jazz down to our own time. Through an attractive blend of ethnographic participant-observation, historiography, and formal analysis, Stewart puts the big band at the center of jazz, arguing for its indispensability as a locus of instrumental training and rehearsal, composition, legitimation, and professional networking.
Informed and enriched by his own experience as a performer in those worlds as well by his ethnomusicological training, Stewart brings a multi-angled perspective to processes of music-making and career-building that are not often illuminated in scholarly or journalistic literature."—John Gennari, author of Blowin' Hot and Cool: Jazz and Its Critics

"A superb book, combining first-class scholarship with the insights of a musician who was there."—Bill Kirchner, jazz musician, historian, producer

"I finished the book, then ordered two copies to give to friends. It was fascinating—I knew everyone!"—Carla Bley, composer, pianist, bandleader

"Most of the analytical literature of jazz deals with small-group jazz. This book contributes to a new understanding of familiar material by arguing for the continuing relevance of the big band format to current debates about the definition of jazz, the future directions of the jazz tradition, and the relationship between improvisatory freedom and composed order."—John Murphy, University of North Texas

"Alex Stewart has given us an account of the New York big band scene that combines a clear fondness for big band music, and the people who make it, with a razor-sharp analytical intelligence. His book makes the emphatic case that this music deserves serious attention; he has done us all—writers, players and listeners—a great service."—Steve Swallow, bassist, composer

"This is an important contribution to jazz research dealing with a formerly under-explored area. Stewart provides exceptional insight, taking advantage of his insider status as jazz musician/scholar. Variations of big band performance practice and stylistic approaches are explored through a collection of interviews, ethnnographic study, and score analysis. This book greatly complements and enriches the field of music study at large."—Christopher Washburne, Columbia University

The received wisdom of popular jazz history is that the era of the big band was the 1930s and 40s, when swing was at its height. But as practicing jazz musicians know, even though big bands lost the spotlight once the bebop era began, they never really disappeared. Making the Scene challenges conventional jazz historiography by demonstrating the vital role of big bands in the on-going development of jazz. Identifying over eighty contemporary big bands in New York City alone, most of them hidden in plain sight, Alex Stewart describes how jazz musicians have found big bands valuable, not only as compositional and skill-building resources, but for making social contacts. In addition he explores the rich "rehearsal band" scene in New York and the rise of repertory orchestras. A rare example of a holistic approach to musicology, Making the Scene combines historical research, ethnography, and participant observation with musical analysis, ethnic studies, and gender theory, to demolish stereotypical views of the big band. A jazzman himself, Stewart shares insider perspectives on contemporary big bands such as the Vanguard, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and the Mingus Big Band, along with such composers as Maria Schneider, Andrew Hill, Ray Santos, and Carla Bley. Setting a broad new standard for jazz studies, Making the Scene explores the creative interactions of composers and improvising musicians from avant-garde and Latin big bands to mainstream jazz orchestras Cover 1 CONTENTS 10 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 12 LIST OF TABLES 14 PREFACE 16 AUTHOR’S NOTE 20 Intro 22 1. New York City Big Band Scenes 46 2. Behind the Scenes: Training, Rehearsals, and Gigs 61 3. The Rise of Repertory Orchestras 82 4. On the Inside: The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra 111 5. Making It Work: Leaders and Musical Direction 139 6. New Directions in Jazz Composition: Three Portraits 153 7. On the Edge: Sue Mingus and the Mingus Big Band 197 8. “In the Crack” to “Totally Outside”: Avant-Garde Bands 224 9. Jazz and Clave: Latin Big Bands 248 10. Going for It: All-Women Bands 278 11. Blood on the Fields: Wynton Marsalis and the Transformation of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra 299 Outro 330 APPENDIX: SOME NEW YORK CITY BIG BANDS ACTIVE IN 1997–1998 336 NOTES 338 SOURCES 376 SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY 390 CREDITS 394 INDEX 396 A 396 B 397 C 399 D 402 E 403 F 403 G 404 H 405 I 406 J 407 K 407 L 408 M 409 N 412 O 412 P 413 Q 414 R 414 S 415 T 417 U 418 V 418 W 418 X 419 Y 419 Z 419 Challenges conventional jazz historiography by demonstrating the role of big bands in the development of jazz. This book describes how jazz musicians found big bands valuable. It explores the rehearsal band scene in New York and rise of orchestras. It combines historical research, ethnography, and participant observation with musical analysis