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Chapter 6: The Golden Era of Big Band Swing: The 1930s and Beyond
The saxophonists
Gifted saxophonists of the era included the following folks:
� Coleman Hawkins (1904–1969): This saxophonist pointed the way
toward modern saxophone with his phenomenal 1939 reinvention of the
song “Body and Soul,” improvising new melodies over the original
chords. His strong, melodic sound was suited to a big band because it
could blend with a saxophone section or stand out during solos.
� Lester Young (1909–1959): He played tenor saxophone with a smooth
and sweet sound. Young (see Figure 6-4) made breakthroughs in music
by varying the length of his phrases so that they overlapped breaks
between key passages in the music.
Like many great soloists of his era, Young was schooled in big bands.
When he was tapped in 1934 to replace Coleman Hawkins in Fletcher
Henderson’s big band, Young lasted only a short while — his light, airy
sound and unconventional phrasing wasn’t accepted by his bandmates.
Although Young is generally known for the music he made during the
1940s, he continued to record excellent albums during the 1950s, when his
style was emulated by cool jazz players like Paul Desmond and Stan Getz.
� Johnny Hodges (1907–1970): Hodges, an alto saxophonist and a
member of Duke Ellington’s orchestra, was one of the first to elevate the
saxophone to a lead instrument. He began on clarinet and studied with
Sidney Bechet. After switching to saxophone, he developed a warm
sound that was perfectly suited to ballads. In addition to his recordings
with Ellington’s big band, Hodges made several fine recordings during
the 1950s with small groups of Ellington band players.
The trumpeters
Important trumpeters of the era included the following players:
� Harry “Sweets” Edison (1915–1999) added bluesy riffs to Basie’s band
from 1938 to 1950.
� Roy Eldridge (1911–1989) invented fleet, technically adept solos with
Elmer Snowden’s band, McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, and Fletcher
Henderson, and was also a driving force in 1940s bebop (which I cover
in Chapter 7).
� Orin “Hot Lips” Page (1908–1954) was a star soloist in Midwest territory
bands led by Walter Page and Bennie Moten. He later played with
Count Basie and Artie Shaw.
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