your dream big band

[alocispepraluger102]

who would drum? who would piano? at the bass? how many trumpets? at the reeds? strings? y/n? who would arrange???????????????

[John Tapscott]

Well, it's not just a matter of individual musicians, but a group of excellent and compatible musicians working together. Very few did it better, IMO, than the Herman Herd of the Mosaic Select (philips) and Mosaic single (Columbia) period (late '62-'65). And among the arrangers for that band was the incomparable Bill Holman. You've got to start with Holman because musicians love playing his charts. Jake Hanna, Chuck Andrus, Nat Pierce, Bill Chase, Phil Wilson, Sal Nistico, man, those guys were on fire. Woody always had a smile on his face. Who wouldn't?

[alocispepraluger102]

strangely, that herman group, and a few others, came to mind.

[JSngry]

who would arrange???????????????

Would it be their band?

[brownie]

The Duke Ellington Orchestra was my dream band. It still is...

[mikeweil]

Similar thoughts here - there were enough dream bands to keep me from thinking about this, besides Duke, I love Clarke/Boland and Jones/Lewis, Gerald Wilson, Don Ellis ... and some of the Clare Fischer big band recordings. Enough stuff for dreaming, at least for me.

[BillF]

The Terry Gibbs Dream Band was indeed a dream band.

[golfcrazy1984]

Either the 1957-1962 Count Basie Orchestra or the 1956-1959 Duke Ellington Orchestra. Reason being, great sidemen, great charts during this period. And also, the recording quality was excellent (Mosaic Roulette for Basie, Columbia for Duke). I really wish I could have heard these bands live, but I trust the recordings represented them well.

The Woody Herman band of '62-'65 was very good as well.

[JSngry]

I've occasionally wondered what Gerald Wilson arranging for (and interpreted by) Stan Kenton's later-ish bands would have sounded like, and have come to the conclusion that the answer would be Dee Barton.

A win for everybody, that one!

[Larry Kart]

The actual great working bands, of course, from Ellington of several eras, to Basie of the '30s, Hines of several eras, Lunceford, Herman's First Herd, etc. But for bands that were assembled for a specific occasion, I'm very fond of the one that recorded Bill Potts' "Porgy and Bess" settings in 1959 IIRC. Lots of impressive names there, but did they ever play together. And Charlie Persip!

[Clunky]

I'd go for Tadd Dameron as arranger of any dream big band. Bill Holman would also be a good choice.

[sidewinder]

Clarke/Boland comes as near as dammit for me. A dream band, for sure..

[JSngry]

But for bands that were assembled for a specific occasion, I'm very fond of the one that recorded Bill Potts' "Porgy and Bess" settings in 1959 IIRC. Lots of impressive names there, but did they ever play together.

By the same token, the band that played Manny Albam's charts for his West Side Story album...not real crazy about the charts or the solos, but I don't know that I've ever heard a better ensemble blend between players on an album of that nature. All the usual suspects are in place, and it's obvious why the were the usual suspects.

[Larry Kart]

The Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess / Bill Potts (United Artists UAL 4043)

Harry Edison, Art Farmer, Bernie Glow, Marky Markowitz, Charlie Shavers (tp) Jimmy Cleveland, Rod Levitt, Frank Rehak, Earl Swope (tb) Bob Brookmeyer (vtb) Gene Quill, Phil Woods (as) Al Cohn, Zoot Sims (ts) Sol Schlinger (brs) Bill Evans (p) Herbie Powell (g) George Duvivier (b) Charlie Persip (d) Bill Potts (arr, cond)

NYC, Jan. 13 & 15, 1959

[Big Beat Steve]

The Terry Gibbs Dream Band was indeed a dream band.

+1 :tup

Though the others named above (such as Herman, Basie, Clarke/Boland) certainly were no slouches either.

[johnlitweiler]

The Basie band from the day Dicky Wells joined to the day Hershel Evans left.

[JSngry]

The Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess / Bill Potts (United Artists UAL 4043)

Harry Edison, Art Farmer, Bernie Glow, Marky Markowitz, Charlie Shavers (tp) Jimmy Cleveland, Rod Levitt, Frank Rehak, Earl Swope (tb) Bob Brookmeyer (vtb) Gene Quill, Phil Woods (as) Al Cohn, Zoot Sims (ts) Sol Schlinger (brs) Bill Evans (p) Herbie Powell (g) George Duvivier (b) Charlie Persip (d) Bill Potts (arr, cond)

NYC, Jan. 13 & 15, 1959

Collective personnel for Albam's WSS album (overlaps bolded):

Al DeRisi, Bernie Glow, Joe Newman, Ernie Royal, Nick Travis (tp)

Tommy Mitchell, Bob Brookmeyer, Jimmy Cleveland, Jim Dahl, Chauncey Welsch (tbn)

Gene Quill, Sol Schlinger, Al Cohn, Frank Socolow, Eddie Wasserman (ww)

Hank Jones, Eddie Costa - p

Wendell Marshall, Milt Hinton - b

Osie Johnson - d

Between these two albums...who's missing? Not too many...

Edited November 14, 2012 by JSngry

[Tom 1960]

The Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess / Bill Potts (United Artists UAL 4043)

Harry Edison, Art Farmer, Bernie Glow, Marky Markowitz, Charlie Shavers (tp) Jimmy Cleveland, Rod Levitt, Frank Rehak, Earl Swope (tb) Bob Brookmeyer (vtb) Gene Quill, Phil Woods (as) Al Cohn, Zoot Sims (ts) Sol Schlinger (brs) Bill Evans (p) Herbie Powell (g) George Duvivier (b) Charlie Persip (d) Bill Potts (arr, cond)

NYC, Jan. 13 & 15, 1959

I know how some here feel about Fresh Sound, but would this be a good alternative to the Capitol issue?

[John Tapscott]

Get it, Tom! My view is that if Capitol won't keep the thing in print, then we should be glad that someone has made it available.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Funny no one's mentioned the Billy Eckstine band of early 1945. Fats Navarro, Shorty McConnell, Gail Brockman, Boonie Hazel, Gerald Valentine, Taswell Baird, Howard Scott, Chips Outcalt, Budd Johnson, Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, Leo Parker (Jesus!!!), John Malachi, Connie Wainwright, Tommy Potter, Art Blakey.

MG

[medjuck]

But for bands that were assembled for a specific occasion, I'm very fond of the one that recorded Bill Potts' "Porgy and Bess" settings in 1959 IIRC. Lots of impressive names there, but did they ever play together.

By the same token, the band that played Manny Albam's charts for his West Side Story album...not real crazy about the charts or the solos, but I don't know that I've ever heard a better ensemble blend between players on an album of that nature. All the usual suspects are in place, and it's obvious why the were the usual suspects.

Has that album ever been available on cd?

[JSngry]

Not that I'm aware of...but supposedly Bernstein heard it and flipped over it, for whatever that's worth.

[Larry Kart]

But for bands that were assembled for a specific occasion, I'm very fond of the one that recorded Bill Potts' "Porgy and Bess" settings in 1959 IIRC. Lots of impressive names there, but did they ever play together.

By the same token, the band that played Manny Albam's charts for his West Side Story album...not real crazy about the charts or the solos, but I don't know that I've ever heard a better ensemble blend between players on an album of that nature. All the usual suspects are in place, and it's obvious why the were the usual suspects.

Has that album ever been available on cd?

Yes:

http://www.freshsoundrecords.com/west_side_story_&_steves_songs_2_lp_on_1_cd-cd-5248.html

[JSngry]

No wonder my blogged download sounds like a ripped CD!

Whoever Fresh Sounds stole it from did a really good job - the blend is amazing, and the room sound is impeccably balanced into the band sound. Like I said, the actual writing and playing is not really my thing, but still, it's played and recorded so well that it brings a pleasure of its own on those terms.

[Peter Friedman]

The Basie Band when Pres there, Jones-Lewis, Clarke-Boland, various Ellington Bands.