That's exactly what happened. When you are the main pop music of the day and an essential element for one of the main social activities (dancing), you have the financial support to form a team of musicians and then play and develop every day with that same team.julius wrote: I wonder if that had anything to do with its relative popularity -- once the swing craze started, the money to hire enormous bands and write complicated charts was there.
Post-war, big bands fell out of favour and were financially unsustainable to all but a few. Even Count Basie had to break up his big band at the end of the 40s.
The later big bands were arranged to allow a more transient roster. (With a few exceptions) they relied less on individual musicians and relied less on complex ensemble sections that required weeks of rehearsal.julius wrote:(Well, I guess I'm ignoring post-war big band music, which is always heavily arranged. Will have to think about that one.)
Listen to the sax sections of 1930s Jimmie Lunceford's Orchestra (Sleepy Time Gal from 1935 is a good example). No-one has matched it since because no-one can rehearse enough to get it that good.