Big Band: from 1920s Chicago to London 2000s
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- Start Date: 03 Nov 2025End Date: 17 Nov 2025Mon (Daytime): 13:00 - 15:00In PersonFull fee £89.00 Senior fee £71.00 Concession £62.00
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What is the course about?
We will identify the distinctive elements of each band by studying a carefully chosen seequence of recordings.
What will we cover?
- The music of the famous and also the many less familiar leaders and ensembles
- Life on the road: first hand accounts of those involved
- Soloists and arrangers: balancing freedom and structure
- The reciprocal influence of dance
- The big band and band singers.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Identify the major bands and soloists
- Place them within their historical context
- Explain the social and economic factors that led to the rise and fall of the big bands
- Leave with an extensive list of recordings to explore the music.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is designed as an overview for absolute beginners. However, we will look at some music manuscripts and learn to identify key features of music notation (how many voices are singing, etc…) so this course will be most suitable for those who are curious and ambitious to learn.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
- Sessions will comprise combinations of lecture, discussion, quizzes, guided listening, video and score study.
- Course materials (handouts, scores, links to online videos) will be shared via google classroom.
- You will be encouraged to do extra reading outside class.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
You may also wish to purchase some of the music books or recordings discussed in class, links to these materials will be available online after each session.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
To find out more about music history classes Music history courses in London and online which lists our full programme of classes ordered by term, and by day of the week. You may then click on each title to read the full course outline.
aLbi is a mostly self-taught saxophonist and composer, obsessed with jazz and its evolution since his early teens when he stumbled across his father’s precious vinyl collection of half a dozen discs. Perhaps something of the emotional nuance and intensity of John Coltrane and Stan Getz resonated with his own adolescent turmoil. aLbi was stunned to discover that Coltrane and Getz were playing the same instrument, tenor sax, so different were the “voices” they projected, and came to understand that the striving for a personal sound and expression were integral to the music. He became immersed in that world and its history. aLbi has formed bands playing original compositions, a sort of neo punk, jazz, reggae, funk, calypso with surreal and comic lyrics, often manically theatrical and at one point popular in the pubs, clubs and colleges of Kent. He has since become involved with theatre companies composing and collaborating and has written, produced and appeared in two original musicals. In 2007 one collaborative project was awarded the Samuel Becket Trust award for new and original theatre. aLbi has taught a variety of jazz history courses at City Lit since 2014.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.