Larry Gianni

Well, I havn't seen one of these question in a while on the site so to keep things " lite " around the old trumpetmaster terrain - lets do one of those survey questions so everyone can have a say.

Here goes:

Which Album/CD best exemplifies a certain well known Big Band's individual style or what would be considered the quintessential recording that comes to mind if you were asked ' What does the " Joe Blow " big band sound like" or " What make the " Joe Blow " big band, the " Joe Blow " Big Band and different than any other "

Now , mind you, that's a little different than the question " what's your favorite album/cd " of a certain big band , I'm asking, stylistically , which one sums it all up in a neat little package. As if you heard one cut off the track, the name of the band would immediately come to mind, without knowing anything else.

Putting it another way - If you think, for example , " The Buddy Rich Big Band" - what's the first album/CD that comes to mind that says " Yeah, this is Buddy Rich alright - nothing says it better than this recording"

Ok, I'll go first on that question :

Buddy Rich - " Roar of '74 "

If you really think about it , this may be a harder question than first anticipated. Bands that have quite a bit of history, may have to given a little latitude as far as just one album best fitting their individual style ie: Woody' band with the different " thundering herds ", but if possible , try just one.
Also, the topic's about all big bands , Kenton, Basie, Herman , James , Thad and Mel, Maynard, etc.. so list them out. I'm anticipating that generationally and maybe even regionally, the answers may be rather different.

Plus, if you can, let us all know why you choose this one certain album as " the one" That may really interesting for the rest of us, plus sharing opinions of this nature, never seems to have a down-side.

Larry