Summer of the Big Bands

A RARE RUN OF BRIGHT BRASS JAZZ

The Miami Jazz Cooperative permanently occupies the Monday night slot at the Open Stage Club on Galiano street, and every week they bring in some of the best curated jazz trios, quartets and quintets in South Florida, let alone Coral Gables. This summer, however, they are outdoing themselves with a series of big band jazz presentations.

Anyone who has not listened to a big band jazz orchestra is in for a unique experience. A standard, full-size jazz band means 17 or 18 musicians, including four trumpets, four trombones, four saxophones, a piano, a bass, drums, and a couple of wild cards, either more brass or a vocalist, guitarist, percussionist – any number of ad hoc musicians. Altogether, they blast out a wall of bright, crisp, electrifying sound. “All the different bands this summer will be playing different kinds of charts,” says Rick Katz, the executive director of the Miami Jazz Cooperative. “For all those people who love the combinations of multiple horns and individual solos, there’s nothing like this.”

What makes the Summer of the Big Bands so unique, says Katz, is that big bands just don’t perform any longer on a regular basis. This summer’s ensembles are composed of musicians who have joined up for what amount to rare performances.

“It’s not like this is their main musical occupation,” Katz. “They are out playing, or teaching, and they come together as a big band sometimes as infrequently as a few times a year.” In past decades, the big band was a regular feature in night club entertainment, but that era has long passed. “There was a time in the 40s and into the 50s – and it started in the 30s – when you had bands like Glenn Miller’s and Count Basie’s, and they performed together on a non-stop basis. And that was their sole gig,” says Katz. “Then the jazz world changed in the 50s.” That’s when soloists took center stage, talents like Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz. “There is still a Count Basie band that does a tour, but even that is not non-stop,” he says.

So, now is your chance to both trip back in time and hear the latest in jazz styles and arrangements.

Summer of the Big Bands Miami Jazz Coop 2018, Open Stage Club

Already performed: Miami Big Sound Orchestra (June 4) Ed Calle’s MAMBLUE (June 11) Javier Nero Jazz Orchestra (June 25) July 23: Melton Mustafa Jazz Orchestra July 30: Horizons Jazz Orchestra August 6: Raices Jazz Orchestra August 13: Stephen Guerra Big Band