A huge musical change happened in the 1940s as the Big Band Sound was ushered in. The main instruments were brass and reeds and a lot of it. Orchestras and bands started getting bigger in the 1930’s and this decade was no exception. It was nothing for a band to have 20 or more musicians. Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James and Benny Goodman, for example, had very popular groups. This was the music of the War Years so it gained a lot of nostalgia. And college campuses went wild for the sound. Now, big-time singers became stars. Doris Day, Mel Torme, Vaughan Monroe, and of course Frank Sinatra took the world by storm. Although vocal groups were featured in earlier years, they really came into their own in the 1940s and included the McGuire Sisters, Ames Brothers, Andrew Sisters, and the close harmony sounds of the Four Freshman and The Modernaires, to name a few. “Evergreen” hits included: Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree, Sincerely, Rum & Coca Cola, I Got You Under My Skin, Moonlight Serenade, and Night & Day.
Mainstream
At this point, “traditional” jazz becomes Mainstream. Although the Big Band sound is still around, the decade again adopts a softer sound with trios and quartets gaining popularity. A “modern”sound evolves and this is where jazz becomes “difficult” for a lot of people because a lot of improvisation occurs. Many mistake this free floating sound as structureless. Actually it has solid musical structure and much of the music is written note for note on the score. Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane became household words (in jazz households that is). It is important to point out that in the decade of the 50’s Rock n Roll became far more popular and from then jazz went one way and R&R, along with Pop took another fork in the road. Also, Duke Ellington deserves special mention. He, along with such jazz superstars as Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, spanned many decades of music, and Ellington in particularl had an evolving music style. Now he was “cool” and such long-standing hits as Solitude and In A Sentimental Mood, took on a whole new flavor with his smaller groups. And who can forget the Dave Brubeck Quartet doing the immortal, “Take Five.” Also, songwriters themselves became very well known. Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer and Cole Porter easily come to mind. Defining Mainstream, otherwise known as “straight ahead jazz,” is a little difficult because, according to a lot of people, it starts with the 50’s and is still continuing. One way to draw a distinction between it and the other types of jazz played today is to compare it with…