Dominic Halpin | Wedding Entertainment | Function Bands

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Hire the Perfect Jazz Swing Band for your Wedding Entertainment

The right Swing Group can make or break your event - here are some top tips to make selecting your entertainment easier.

Music is a very important part of any event. It can help to create the right atmosphere or mood and can be one of the most memorable parts (positive or negative) that your guests take away from your event. Selecting the right style of entertainment can however be a minefield of choices - styles, types of groups, quality...

Here are a few thoughts on how to select the right Jazz Group for your wedding event that should make things easier.

Why Jazz/Swing?

Hire the Perfect Jazz Swing Band for your Wedding Entertainment
The right Swing Group can make or break your event - here are some top tips to make selecting your entertainment easier.
Music is a very important part of any event. It can help to create the right atmosphere or mood and can be one of the most memorable parts (positive or negative) that your guests take away from your event. Selecting the right style of entertainment can however be a minefield of choices - styles, types of groups, quality...
Here are a few thoughts on how to select the right Jazz Group for your wedding event that should make things easier.
Why Jazz/Swing?
One of the challenges when selecting wedding entertainment is finding something that will appeal to all of your guests. From children to Grand parents, your guests will probably have a wide range of ages and musical tastes. Jazz in its various forms can transcend ages and musical preferences and appeal to most people. Particularly in it's most listener-friendly forms. For a wedding reception, instrumental jazz can add a sense of class and sophistication, whilst classic vocal jazz presented in an easy-listening way can appeal to a wide audience and provide opportunity for dancing. It is for these reasons that Jazz has been and will continue to be a regular feature at wedding events for decades.
Where do I find the right Jazz Swing Group for me?
As always, it is best to get a recommendation from a friend however these days the Internet is a great starting point. A few minutes with google can yield dozens of options for 'Jazz Groups' or 'Jazz bands for wedding function' in your area. Try searching for "Jazz Bands for Hire", "Swing bands for hire", "Wedding bands", "Wedding Music" or variations on these. Myspace, youTube and iTunes are also great places to look. Checking out bands performing in your area is also a great way to discover a jazz group. A professional outfit should have a business card with their web and contact details on so you can find out more about them. You will also discover on the internet that there are an abundance of agents who can suggest Jazz Groups in your area.
What to look for?
Ideally you should look for a Jazz Group that has experience at wedding entertainment and so understands what is required. An experienced group should have references from previous clients available for you to view. Also, look for video and audio examples along with pictures. Be sure that the performers in the video and audio are the ones that will be performing for your special day and not just 'examples of similar standard'. An established group should have their music on iTunes and videos on YouTube. Also, look for online reviews and articles from previous clients. A lot of information from different sources on the internet shows that the act is established. A song list online is also a good thing to look for and helps to give you an idea of what style the Jazz Group play.
Be wary of some agents that assemble Jazz Groups on an ad-hoc gig by gig basis, sometimes sold as "tailored for your event". Naturally it is difficult to be sure of what you are getting in this situation and the end result can often be generic at best and inappropriate at worst.
Always the best option is to arrange to see the Swing Group performing live at an open public event. There really is no substitute for seeing the group in action to get a feel for how they will fit in with your guests.
OK. But what style will be best for me?
There are as many different types of jazz groups and swing bands as there are ideas about what Jazz is. The best starting point is to decide what function you would like your Jazz Group to perform. Often easy-listening instrumental jazz can work really well during a meal or as your guests arrive. For this a trio of piano, bass and drums will work great. Or you may prefer to use saxophone bass and piano as an alternative. The key is looking for a group that can play accessible familiar tunes in a 'friendly' way. Long jazz solos and modern jazz tunes can be inappropriate as wedding entertainment and alienate your guests.
For a featured Swing/Jazz Group for wedding entertainment you will usually require a vocalist. The group playing behind the vocalist can range from two to twenty musicians or more depending on your budget and the size of your venue. Often though, a vocalist with piano, bass, drums and saxophone often works very well and is flexible enough to allow the group to play music that will appeal to many of your guests.
Again, always look for video and audio examples and make sure the examples are of the artists actually performing at your event!
Contracts and booking
Once you have found the perfect Jazz Group for you, it is important for both yourselves and the artists to have an agreement in writing. Established artists should be able to send you a contract, however at the very least, make sure you have an agreement that covers these points:
Date (sounds silly but sometimes not written down - and with bad consequences!)
Venue
Arrival time for artists and time they should be finished setting up.
Performance times, length of sets, how many
Can the artists provide recorded music during their breaks / is this required?
What equipment is provided by the artists? (sound system, lighting)
Artists performance area requirements (stage size, power supply, dressing room, storage for cases etc, meals and or drinks)
What happens if the artist can't perform at your event?
Total fee including all extras. Also how and when this will be paid.
It is always imperative to have the whole agreement written down so both you and the artists know what to expect. The last thing you want is a nasty surprise on your special day!

Final thoughts...
Great entertainment can make or break an event, and be one of the things that people talk about for years to come. I hope these tips help in your selection process, and mostly that this helps you to enjoy finding and booking a Jazz Swing Band for the perfect wedding entertainment.

Function Bands
Looking for a Function Band for your upcoming corporate event? Choosing the right entertainment can be a confusing process with the sea of options available. Also, finding an act or artist that you have the confidence in to do a great job is equally difficult. Here are a few thoughts on choosing and booking corporate entertainment that I hope you will find useful.
What are my options?
Disco bands, swing bands, straight down the middle function bands, pop bands... the list seems endless and there is a never ending supply of options available. Popular choices include jazz bands or instrumental jazz groups, pianists or harpists for cocktail parties. Swing Bands, disco bands, funk/pop bands and big bands work great for larger events like an annual ball or company dinner. The challenge with larger events is finding something that will work with the audience you will be inviting to the event. A swing band is likely to appeal to a wider age range, particularly one that plays a cross section of music. An example of this would be Dominic Halpin and the Honey B’s - www.dominichalpin.com. Although largely thought of as a swing band, they also play a great selection of rock and roll and party tunes to get the audience up dancing. They also interact well with a mixed audience to connect with them. Where do I start looking A 5 minute google search for “swing band”, “Function Band”, “Wedding Reception Band,”will turn up hundreds of options for entertainment or function bands. Personally I think getting the right entertainment that matches the theme / atmosphere of your event is so crucial that there really is no substitute for seeing a band live first before committing to book. This is the best way to really measure them up and see if they will work not only musically, but will look right for your event and are easy to work with and accommodating. A good band will generally have some public shows where you can see them - you never know, they may even offer free tickets for you and a friend to come see them and have a chat in the break! Should I use an agent? Even better than wading through the myriad of options presented by a google search is to get the help of an entertainment agency. A good agency can offer a personal consultation to help you work through your options and find the best solution for your event. Although there are a number of “supermarket” agencies out there that offer hundreds of acts of every style, It is my experience that a small boutique agency can generally offer not only better service, but more consistent quality acts. But I want something really memorable! Of course you want people to remember your event and be talking about it for months to come. A good agency can recommend some really different options for your corporate event. You may consider a dance troupe, a burlesque show, an orchestra (yes there are a few available and no better way to make a great impression!), or even a full big band with a singer. Once again, it is always preferable to see the performer live before booking to ensure you really do know what you are getting. At the least, a good performer / artist / group should have a video sampler to show you what they do.

IPOD WEDDING entertainment
How many times have we been to wedding and there in the corner of the room is the DJ, his little domain filled with black and silver cases, cd’s mini discs, computers, all piled high around him , mission control armed and ready, ready to unleas his barrage of disco mania at people he’s never met and will probably never meet again.

Introducing iWedding
Ipods have come along way since 2001, most people have at least one lying around or know someone with one. More and more are becoming the standard choice for parties and now we see them at weddings.
It makes total sense, collect all your favorite songs , create the playlists to suite , “Over Dinner”, Background Mellow”, 1970’s Disco, Dance floor Fillers, etc, etc, etc....
What this means is thats you dont have to worry about how the DJ might be feeling that day, will he play the right songs, will he mind playing past twelve, will he dress appropriately, Ipods are you friends and the last few wedding Ive attended Ive seen a fantastic live band and then an Ipod during the breaks and afterwards, it makes sense to spend money on the band as thats what you want to make that special impression and create the perfect evening.
Ipod take a bullet to save a life.
When was the last time a DJ took a bullet for you, never and thats exactly what this Ipod did in Iraq , saving the soldier, another reason to go with Ipod.

For the the best in Wedding Entertainment visit www.dominichalpin.com

HISTORY OF SWING MUSIC

Swing Music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States. Swing uses a strong anchoring rhythm section which supports a lead section that can include brass instruments, including trumpets and trombones, woodwinds including saxophones and clarinets or stringed instruments including violin and guitar; medium to fast tempos; and a "lilting" swing time rhythm. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise a new melody over the arrangement. The danceable swing style of bandleaders such as Benny Goodman and Count Basie was the dominant form of American popular music from 1935 to 1945.
The verb "to swing" is also used as a term of praise for playing that has a strong rhythmic " groove" or drive.

1920s: ORIGINS
During the 1920s and early 1930s, filip dance form of jazz was popular. This style used sweet and romantic melody accompanied by lush, romantic string orchestra arrangements. Orchestras tended to stick to the melody as it was written, and vocals would be sung sweetly (often in a tenor voice). Swing music abandoned the string orchestra and used simpler, "edgier" arrangements that emphasized horns and wind instruments and improvised melodies.
The styles of jazz that were popular from the late teens through the late 1920s were usually played with rhythms with a two beat feel, and often attempted to reproduce the style of contrapuntal improvisation developed by the first generation of jazz musicians in New Orleans. In the late 1920s, however, larger ensembles using written arrangements became the norm, and a subtle stylistic shift took place in the rhythm, which developed a four beat feel with a smoothly syncopated style of playing the melody, while the rhythm section supported it with a steady four to the bar....
Louis Armstrong shared a different version of the history of swing during a nationwide broadcast of the Bing Crosby (radio) Show [1] Crosby said, "We have as our guest the master of swing and I'm going to get him to tell you what swing music is." He asked Louis to explain it. Louis said, "Ah, swing, well, we used to call it ragtime, then blues-then jazz. Now, it's swing. Ha! Ha! White folks yo'all sho is a mess. Ha! Ha! Swing!"

1935: BIRTH OF SWING
The overall effect is a more sophisticated sound than the styles of the 1920s, but with an exciting feel of its own that really makes you want to dance. Most jazz bands adopted this style by the early 1930s, but "sweet" bands remained the most popular for white dancers until Benny Goodman's appearance at the Palomar Ballroom in August 1935. The audience of young white dancers favored Goodman's "hot" rhythms and daring swing arrangements. "Hot Swing" and Boogie Woogie remained the dominant form of American popular music for the next ten years.
With the wider acceptance of swing music around 1935, larger mainstream bands began to embrace this style of music. Large orchestras had to reorganize themselves in order to achieve the new sound. These bands dropped their string instruments, which were now felt to hamper the improvised style necessary for swing music. This necessitated a slightly more detailed and organized type of composition and notation than was then the norm. Band leaders put more energy into developing arrangements, perhaps reducing the chaos that might result from as many as 12 or 16 musicians spontaneously improvising. But the best swing bands at the height of the era explored the full gamut of possibilities from spontaneous ensemble playing to highly orchestrated music in the vein of European art music.

BENNY GOODMAN one of the first swing bandleaders to achieve widespread fame.
A typical song played in swing style would feature a strong, anchoring rhythm section in support of more loosely tied wind, brass, and later, in the 1940s, string and/or vocals sections. The level of improvisation that the audience might expect at any one time varied depending on the arrangement, the band, the song, and the band-leader.
The most common style consisted of having a soloist take center stage, and improvise a solo within the framework of her or his bandmates playing support. As a song progressed, multiple soloists might be expected to take over and individually improvise their own part; however, it was not unusual to have two or three band members improvising at any one time.
Swing jazz began to be embraced by the public around 1935. Prior to that, it had had limited acceptance, mostly among African American audiences. Radio remotes increased interest in the music, and it grew in popularity throughout the States. As with many new popular musical styles, it met with some resistance from the public because of its improvisation, fast erratic tempos, lack of strings, occasionally risqué lyrics and other cultural associations, such as the sometimes frenetic swing dancing that accompanied performances. Audiences who had become used to the romantic arrangements (and what was perceived as classier and more refined music), were taken aback by the often erratic and edginess of swing music.
In his autobiography W.C. Handy wrote, "This brings to mind the fact that prominent white orchestra leaders, concert singers and others are making commercial use of Negro music in its various phases. That's why they introduced "swing" which is not a musical form."[3]

Harsher conflicts arose when Swing spread to other countries; for example, in Germany it was forbidden by the Nazi regime on the basis of its connection to African and Jewish musicians (see Swing Kids). And, while jazz music was initially embraced during the early years of the Soviet Union, it was soon forbidden as a result of being deemed politically unacceptable.
In the US, by the late 1930s and early 1940s, swing had become the most popular musical style and remained so for several years, until it was supplanted in the late 1940s by the pop standards sung by the crooners who grew out of the Big Band tradition that swing began. Bandleaders such as the Dorsey Brothers often helped launch the careers of vocalists who went on to popularity as solo artists, such as Frank Sinatra.
Swing music began to decline in popularity during World War II because of several factors. Most importantly it became difficult to staff a "big band" because many musicians were overseas fighting in the war. Also, the cost of touring with a large ensemble became prohibitive because of wartime economics. These two factors made smaller 3 to 5 piece combos more profitable and manageable. A third reason is the recording bans of 1942 and 1948 because of musicians' union strikes. In 1948, there were no records legally made at all, although independent labels continued to bootleg records in small numbers. When the ban was over in January 1949, swing had evolved into new styles such as jump blues and bebop.

CROSS-GENRE SWING
Many of the crooners who came to the fore after the swing era had their origins in swing bands. An example is Bing Crosby. Frank Sinatra used the swing-band approach to great effect in almost all of his recordings and kept this style of music popular even after the rock 'n' roll era.
In country music, artists such as Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican and Bob Wills introduced many elements of swing along with blues to create a genre called western swing. Like Sinatra did, Moon Mullican went solo from the Cliff Bruner band, had a successful solo career that included many songs that maintained a swing structure. Artists like Willie Nelson and Jerry Lee Lewis have kept the swing elements of country music present into the rock 'n' roll era. Nat King Cole followed Sinatra into the pop music world bringing with him a similar combination of swing bands and ballads. Like Moon Mullican, he was important in bringing piano to the fore of popular music.
Rock 'n' roll era hitmakers like Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent and Elvis Presley also found time to include many swing-era standards into their repertoire. Presley's hit "Are you lonesome tonight" is an old swing standard and Lewis' "To make love sweeter for you" is a new song but in the old style. Among the critically acclaimed band leaders of the 1930s and 1940s whose performances included elements of both "Sweet Band" music and traditional swing music was Shep Fields.

LATE 1990s: SWING REVIVAL
Although ensembles like the Count Basie Orchestra and the Stan Kenton Orchestra survived into the 1950s by incorporating new musical styles into their repertoire, they were no longer the hallmark of American popular music. In the late 1990s (1998 until about 2000) there was a short-lived "Swing revival" movement, led by bands such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Royal Crown Revue, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, the Lucky Strikes and Brian Setzer. The style also revived swing dancing, both in a traditional style, and in hybrid approaches which blended 1930s dancing with 2000-era dance styles.
In 2001 Robbie Williams released his fifth studio album consisting mainly of popular swing covers titled "Swing When You're Winning" which proved to be popular in many countries selling over 7 million copies worldwide.
In recent years Swing music has become fairly popular in Germany. Singers Roger Cicero and Tom Gaebel have attained large followings both in their native country and world wide. Cicero’s style is predominantly that of 1940s and 1950s swing music, combined with German lyrics; he became Germany's participant for the Eurovision Song Contest

Source: Wikipedia

© 2008 Halpin Media. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. WEDDING ENTERTAINMENT SWING BAND

One of the challenges when selecting wedding entertainment is finding something that will appeal to all of your guests. From children to Grand parents, your guests will probably have a wide range of ages and musical tastes. Jazz in its various forms can transcend ages and musical preferences and appeal to most people. Particularly in it's most listener-friendly forms. For a wedding reception, instrumental jazz can add a sense of class and sophistication, whilst classic vocal jazz presented in an easy-listening way can appeal to a wide audience and provide opportunity for dancing. It is for these reasons that Jazz has been and will continue to be a regular feature at wedding events for decades.

Where do I find the right Jazz Swing Group for me?

As always, it is best to get a recommendation from a friend however these days the Internet is a great starting point. A few minutes with google can yield dozens of options for 'Jazz Groups' or 'Jazz bands for wedding function' in your area. Try searching for "Jazz Bands for Hire", "Swing bands for hire", "Wedding bands", "Wedding Music" or variations on these. Myspace, youTube and iTunes are also great places to look. Checking out bands performing in your area is also a great way to discover a jazz group. A professional outfit should have a business card with their web and contact details on so you can find out more about them. You will also discover on the internet that there are an abundance of agents who can suggest Jazz Groups in your area.

What to look for?

Ideally you should look for a Jazz Group that has experience at wedding entertainment and so understands what is required. An experienced group should have references from previous clients available for you to view. Also, look for video and audio examples along with pictures. Be sure that the performers in the video and audio are the ones that will be performing for your special day and not just 'examples of similar standard'. An established group should have their music on iTunes and videos on YouTube. Also, look for online reviews and articles from previous clients. A lot of information from different sources on the internet shows that the act is established. A song list online is also a good thing to look for and helps to give you an idea of what style the Jazz Group play.

Be wary of some agents that assemble Jazz Groups on an ad-hoc gig by gig basis, sometimes sold as "tailored for your event". Naturally it is difficult to be sure of what you are getting in this situation and the end result can often be generic at best and inappropriate at worst.

Always the best option is to arrange to see the Swing Group performing live at an open public event. There really is no substitute for seeing the group in action to get a feel for how they will fit in with your guests.

OK. But what style will be best for me?

There are as many different types of jazz groups and swing bands as there are ideas about what Jazz is. The best starting point is to decide what function you would like your Jazz Group to perform. Often easy-listening instrumental jazz can work really well during a meal or as your guests arrive. For this a trio of piano, bass and drums will work great. Or you may prefer to use saxophone bass and piano as an alternative. The key is looking for a group that can play accessible familiar tunes in a 'friendly' way. Long jazz solos and modern jazz tunes can be inappropriate as wedding entertainment and alienate your guests.

For a featured Swing/Jazz Group for wedding entertainment you will usually require a vocalist. The group playing behind the vocalist can range from two to twenty musicians or more depending on your budget and the size of your venue. Often though, a vocalist with piano, bass, drums and saxophone often works very well and is flexible enough to allow the group to play music that will appeal to many of your guests.

Again, always look for video and audio examples and make sure the examples are of the artists actually performing at your event!

Contracts and booking

Once you have found the perfect Jazz Group for you, it is important for both yourselves and the artists to have an agreement in writing. Established artists should be able to send you a contract, however at the very least, make sure you have an agreement that covers these points:

Date (sounds silly but sometimes not written down - and with bad consequences!)

Venue

Arrival time for artists and time they should be finished setting up.

Performance times, length of sets, how many

Can the artists provide recorded music during their breaks / is this required?

What equipment is provided by the artists? (sound system, lighting)

Artists performance area requirements (stage size, power supply, dressing room, storage for cases etc, meals and or drinks)

What happens if the artist can't perform at your event?

Total fee including all extras. Also how and when this will be paid.

It is always imperative to have the whole agreement written down so both you and the artists know what to expect. The last thing you want is a nasty surprise on your special day!

Final thoughts...

Great entertainment can make or break an event, and be one of the things that people talk about for years to come. I hope these tips help in your selection process, and mostly that this helps you to enjoy finding and booking a Jazz Swing Band for the perfect wedding entertainment.

Function Bands

Looking for a Function Band for your upcoming corporate event? Choosing the right entertainment can be a confusing process with the sea of options available. Also, finding an act or artist that you have the confidence in to do a great job is equally difficult. Here are a few thoughts on choosing and booking corporate entertainment that I hope you will find useful.

What are my options?

Disco bands, swing bands, straight down the middle function bands, pop bands... the list seems endless and there is a never ending supply of options available. Popular choices include jazz bands or instrumental jazz groups, pianists or harpists for cocktail parties. Swing Bands, disco bands, funk/pop bands and big bands work great for larger events like an annual ball or company dinner. The challenge with larger events is finding something that will work with the audience you will be inviting to the event. A swing band is likely to appeal to a wider age range, particularly one that plays a cross section of music. An example of this would be Dominic Halpin and the Honey B’s - www.dominichalpin.com. Although largely thought of as a swing band, they also play a great selection of rock and roll and party tunes to get the audience up dancing. They also interact well with a mixed audience to connect with them.

Where do I start looking

A 5 minute google search for “swing band”, “Function Band”, “Wedding Reception Band,”will turn up hundreds of options for entertainment or function bands. Personally I think getting the right entertainment that matches the theme / atmosphere of your event is so crucial that there really is no substitute for seeing a band live first before committing to book. This is the best way to really measure them up and see if they will work not only musically, but will look right for your event and are easy to work with and accommodating. A good band will generally have some public shows where you can see them - you never know, they may even offer free tickets for you and a friend to come see them and have a chat in the break!

Should I use an agent?

Even better than wading through the myriad of options presented by a google search is to get the help of an entertainment agency. A good agency can offer a personal consultation to help you work through your options and find the best solution for your event. Although there are a number of “supermarket” agencies out there that offer hundreds of acts of every style, It is my experience that a small boutique agency can generally offer not only better service, but more consistent quality acts.

But I want something really memorable!

Of course you want people to remember your event and be talking about it for months to come. A good agency can recommend some really different options for your corporate event. You may consider a dance troupe, a burlesque show, an orchestra (yes there are a few available and no better way to make a great impression!), or even a full big band with a singer. Once again, it is always preferable to see the performer live before booking to ensure you really do know what you are getting. At the least, a good performer / artist / group should have a video sampler to show you what they do.

IPOD Wedding Entertainment

How many times have we been to wedding and there in the corner of the room is the DJ, his little domain filled with black and silver cases, cd’s mini discs, computers, all piled high around him , mission control armed and ready, ready to unlease his barrage of disco mania at people he’s never met and will probably never meet again.

Introducing iWedding

Ipods have come along way since 2001, most people have at least one lying around or know someone with one. More and more are becoming the standard choice for parties and now we see them at weddings.

It makes total sense, collect all your favourite songs , create the playlists to suite , “Over Dinner”, Background Mellow”, 1970’s Disco, Dance floor Fillers, etc, etc, etc....

What this means is thats you don’t have to worry about how the DJ might be feeling that day, will he play the right songs, will he mind playing past twelve, will he dress appropriately, Ipods are you friends and the last few wedding Iv’e attended Iv’e seen a fantastic live band and then an Ipod during the breaks and afterwards, it makes sense to spend money on the band as thats what you want to make that special impression and create the perfect evening.

Ipod take a bullet to save a life.

When was the last time a DJ took a bullet for you, never and thats exactly what this Ipod did in Iraq , saving the soldier, another reason to go with Ipod.

For the the best in Wedding Entertainment visit www.dominichalpin.com

HISTORY OF SWING MUSIC

Swing Music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and had solidified as a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States. Swing uses a strong anchoring rhythm section which supports a lead section that can include brass instruments, including trumpets and trombones, woodwinds including saxophones and clarinets or stringed instruments including violin and guitar; medium to fast tempos; and a "lilting" swing time rhythm. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise a new melody over the arrangement. The danceable swing style of bandleaders such as Benny Goodman and Count Basie was the dominant form of American popular music from 1935 to 1945.

The verb "to swing" is also used as a term of praise for playing that has a strong rhythmic " groove" or drive.

1920s: ORIGINS

During the 1920s and early 1930s, filip dance form of jazz was popular. This style used sweet and romantic melody accompanied by lush, romantic string orchestra arrangements. Orchestras tended to stick to the melody as it was written, and vocals would be sung sweetly (often in a tenor voice). Swing music abandoned the string orchestra and used simpler, "edgier" arrangements that emphasized horns and wind instruments and improvised melodies.

The styles of jazz that were popular from the late teens through the late 1920s were usually played with rhythms with a two beat feel, and often attempted to reproduce the style of contrapuntal improvisation developed by the first generation of jazz musicians in New Orleans. In the late 1920s, however, larger ensembles using written arrangements became the norm, and a subtle stylistic shift took place in the rhythm, which developed a four beat feel with a smoothly syncopated style of playing the melody, while the rhythm section supported it with a steady four to the bar....

Louis Armstrong shared a different version of the history of swing during a nationwide broadcast of the Bing Crosby (radio) Show [1] Crosby said, "We have as our guest the master of swing and I'm going to get him to tell you what swing music is." He asked Louis to explain it. Louis said, "Ah, swing, well, we used to call it ragtime, then blues-then jazz. Now, it's swing. Ha! Ha! White folks yo'all sho is a mess. Ha! Ha! Swing!"

1935: BIRTH OF SWING

The overall effect is a more sophisticated sound than the styles of the 1920s, but with an exciting feel of its own that really makes you want to dance. Most jazz bands adopted this style by the early 1930s, but "sweet" bands remained the most popular for white dancers until Benny Goodman's appearance at the Palomar Ballroom in August 1935. The audience of young white dancers favored Goodman's "hot" rhythms and daring swing arrangements. "Hot Swing" and Boogie Woogie remained the dominant form of American popular music for the next ten years.

With the wider acceptance of swing music around 1935, larger mainstream bands began to embrace this style of music. Large orchestras had to reorganize themselves in order to achieve the new sound. These bands dropped their string instruments, which were now felt to hamper the improvised style necessary for swing music. This necessitated a slightly more detailed and organized type of composition and notation than was then the norm. Band leaders put more energy into developing arrangements, perhaps reducing the chaos that might result from as many as 12 or 16 musicians spontaneously improvising. But the best swing bands at the height of the era explored the full gamut of possibilities from spontaneous ensemble playing to highly orchestrated music in the vein of European art music.

BENNY GOODMAN

one of the first swing bandleaders to achieve widespread fame.

A typical song played in swing style would feature a strong, anchoring rhythm section in support of more loosely tied wind, brass, and later, in the 1940s, string and/or vocals sections. The level of improvisation that the audience might expect at any one time varied depending on the arrangement, the band, the song, and the band-leader.

The most common style consisted of having a soloist take center stage, and improvise a solo within the framework of her or his bandmates playing support. As a song progressed, multiple soloists might be expected to take over and individually improvise their own part; however, it was not unusual to have two or three band members improvising at any one time.

Swing jazz began to be embraced by the public around 1935. Prior to that, it had had limited acceptance, mostly among African American audiences. Radio remotes increased interest in the music, and it grew in popularity throughout the States. As with many new popular musical styles, it met with some resistance from the public because of its improvisation, fast erratic tempos, lack of strings, occasionally risqué lyrics and other cultural associations, such as the sometimes frenetic swing dancing that accompanied performances. Audiences who had become used to the romantic arrangements (and what was perceived as classier and more refined music), were taken aback by the often erratic and edginess of swing music.

In his autobiography W.C. Handy wrote, "This brings to mind the fact that prominent white orchestra leaders, concert singers and others are making commercial use of Negro music in its various phases. That's why they introduced "swing" which is not a musical form."[3]

Harsher conflicts arose when Swing spread to other countries; for example, in Germany it was forbidden by the Nazi regime on the basis of its connection to African and Jewish musicians (see Swing Kids). And, while jazz music was initially embraced during the early years of the Soviet Union, it was soon forbidden as a result of being deemed politically unacceptable.

In the US, by the late 1930s and early 1940s, swing had become the most popular musical style and remained so for several years, until it was supplanted in the late 1940s by the pop standards sung by the crooners who grew out of the Big Band tradition that swing began. Bandleaders such as the Dorsey Brothers often helped launch the careers of vocalists who went on to popularity as solo artists, such as Frank Sinatra.

Swing music began to decline in popularity during World War II because of several factors. Most importantly it became difficult to staff a "big band" because many musicians were overseas fighting in the war. Also, the cost of touring with a large ensemble became prohibitive because of wartime economics. These two factors made smaller 3 to 5 piece combos more profitable and manageable. A third reason is the recording bans of 1942 and 1948 because of musicians' union strikes. In 1948, there were no records legally made at all, although independent labels continued to bootleg records in small numbers. When the ban was over in January 1949, swing had evolved into new styles such as jump blues and bebop.

CROSS-GENRE SWING

Many of the crooners who came to the fore after the swing era had their origins in swing bands. An example is Bing Crosby. Frank Sinatra used the swing-band approach to great effect in almost all of his recordings and kept this style of music popular even after the rock 'n' roll era.

In country music, artists such as Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican and Bob Wills introduced many elements of swing along with blues to create a genre called western swing. Like Sinatra did, Moon Mullican went solo from the Cliff Bruner band, had a successful solo career that included many songs that maintained a swing structure. Artists like Willie Nelson and Jerry Lee Lewis have kept the swing elements of country music present into the rock 'n' roll era. Nat King Cole followed Sinatra into the pop music world bringing with him a similar combination of swing bands and ballads. Like Moon Mullican, he was important in bringing piano to the fore of popular music.

Rock 'n' roll era hitmakers like Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent and Elvis Presley also found time to include many swing-era standards into their repertoire. Presley's hit "Are you lonesome tonight" is an old swing standard and Lewis' "To make love sweeter for you" is a new song but in the old style. Among the critically acclaimed band leaders of the 1930s and 1940s whose performances included elements of both "Sweet Band" music and traditional swing music was Shep Fields.

LATE 1990s: SWING REVIVAL

Although ensembles like the Count Basie Orchestra and the Stan Kenton Orchestra survived into the 1950s by incorporating new musical styles into their repertoire, they were no longer the hallmark of American popular music. In the late 1990s (1998 until about 2000) there was a short-lived "Swing revival" movement, led by bands such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Royal Crown Revue, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, the Lucky Strikes and Brian Setzer. The style also revived swing dancing, both in a traditional style, and in hybrid approaches which blended 1930s dancing with 2000-era dance styles.

In 2001 Robbie Williams released his fifth studio album consisting mainly of popular swing covers titled "Swing When You're Winning" which proved to be popular in many countries selling over 7 million copies worldwide.

In recent years Swing music has become fairly popular in Germany. Singers Roger Cicero and Tom Gaebel have attained large followings both in their native country and world wide. Cicero’s style is predominantly that of 1940s and 1950s swing music, combined with German lyrics; he became Germany's participant for the Eurovision Song Contest

Source: Wikipedia

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