Big Band

It should be used to describe recordings of a large orchestra that includes a wind section with multiple trumpets and trombones and a large reed section. The function is that whole sections (brass, reeds) often play some parts of the melody in unison, leaving space for soloists at certain times. This style of orchestra began to be developed in the early 1920s by prominent dance band leaders such as Paul Whiteman and Fletcher Henderson, but most dance bands of the 1920s were smaller groups and did not play in the "big band" style. It wasn't until 1929/30 that most dance bands adopted this configuration (examples include Casa Loma Orchestra, Mills Blue Rhthm Band, Duke Ellington's Orchestra) and big bands became the norm by the mid-1930s.