A
big band is a type of
musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the
Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late 1940s. Big Bands evolved with the times and continue to today. A big band typically consists of approximately 12 to 25 musicians and contains
saxophones,
trumpets,
trombones, and a
rhythm section. The terms
jazz band,
jazz ensemble,
stage band,
jazz orchestra, and
dance band are also used to refer to this type of ensemble. This does not, however, mean that each one of these names is technically correct for naming a 'big band" specifically.