Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, The Dorsey Brothers, Duke Ellington, and Glenn Miller were musical masters of their eras, enchanting and romancing audiences with their timeless classics. Relive these wonderful songs and memories through The Big Band Reader: Songs Favoured by Swing Era Orchestras and Other Popular Ensembles, a unique and exciting collection of over 140 songs from over seventy bands that are categorised by themes, preferred numbers, and top songs! Paying tribute to better-known swing bands, sweet bands (ensembles favouring softer, more sentimental numbers), and some unheralded bands (good ensembles that did not receive much attention or did not have a well-known leader), this book offers music enthusiasts up to four biographical essays relating to specific groups and their popular hits, giving you historical and informative facts about the songs and the people who performed them.

"Studwell and Baldin have created a useful companion volume to the several excellent books on the big band era and its personalities. By focusing on the tunes that the important bands featured, they have shed some light on an often overlooked component of this fascinating part of America's musical heritage. A valuable addition to the study of the subject." - CHARLES P. CONRAD, Music Director, Indiana Wind Symphony and Indianapolis Youth Wind Ensemble

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