StLJN jazz site of the week: The Big Bands Database

The StLJN jazz site of the week is The Big Bands Database, which is described on its main page as "an ongoing project dedicated to Bands, Jazz, and Popular Music History -- the music now known to the world as 'American Popular Song'." It's definitely another handy site to have bookmarked if you have interest in older jazz styles.

Though the site design is a bit dated, with that late-1990s, early-World Wide Web look, it still functions perfectly well, allowing you to search "by band, musician, song, or keyword to learn about the big band era in this country and abroad; study chords; find out about Dixieland, jazz, the Harlem scene, swing,and Latin bands; learn dances; see the charts; find working bands; and lots more." Whether you're a longtime fan doing research on some old favorites; a relative novice seeking to learn more about the historic importance of big bands to American music; or just somebody who enjoys the sound of fifteen or twenty musicians swinging together, there's certainly lots of useful information to be found at The Big Bands Database.