April 29th, 2024A century of that big band sound

Michael Gilchrist and his extended family have lived in Broomfield since relocating from Melbourne in 1978.

Michael has taught in secondary schools and lectured in teacher education at Aquinas College, Ballarat. His previous writings have included books on politics, religion and history.

With his latest book, A Century of Big Bands, Michael turns his literary attention to one of his major enthusiasms, besides AFL footy and the Richmond Tigers, namely the big jazz bands.

His book provides an overview of the bands and short biographies of 50 of the most notable bandleaders of the past century. Older readers may be familiar with names like Glenn Miller, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman.

Since he was a teenager in the 1950s, Michael has been collecting big band albums and now has a huge collection in his man cave. Recently, he was persuaded to distil his lifetime’s musical experiences into print.

Once upon a time, says Michael, big bands were the world’s popular music, during the 1930s-1940s swing era. Since then, singers, small groups and rock bands have taken over, although big bands have by no means gone away, even if they no longer figure in top of the pops and face economic challenges to survive.

In his opinion, most of today’s younger generations would be unaware of the big bands’ existence or significance. Yet, with their instrumental variety, creative arrangements, and inventive solos, they provide a far richer listening experience than many of today’s endless guitar-based offerings.

Big bands, Michael says, combine the best qualities of classical music and small group jazz improvisations. They are well worth discovering or rediscovering.

Michael (pictured above) hopes his new book will open more eyes and ears to the glories of big band music, past and present.

A Century of Big Bands can be ordered from www.connorcourtpublishing.com.au

Words: Contributed