Big Band

The Fletcher Henderson Band

The Dixieland style moved up the Mississippi River from New Orleans through Kansas City to Chicago throughout the 1910s and 20s. From there, the style made its way to New York City, where it first emerged among the mostly African American neighborhoods of northern Manhattan, which were undergoing a cultural flourishing known as the Harlem Renaissance.

As the genre's popularity grew in New York, musicians began to notate it rather than relying entirely on improvisation. As a consequence, many of the techniques and practices associated with jazz became standardized, the size of ensembles was able to increase. The 1920s and 1930s became known as the Swing Era. A typical jazz group of this time was known as a Big Band: five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones, bass, drum set, and guitar or piano.