About the Desk

Toronto Big Band Notebook is an editorial guide written by a small group of Toronto writers who have spent years around big band music, sitting in on rehearsals, dancing at weddings, standing at the back of the Rex on a Tuesday, and keeping the phone numbers of half the trombone section in the city.

What we cover

We write about what a big band is and does. The four trumpets, four trombones, and five saxes that make up a standard section. The charts, from Basie heads to contemporary arrangements. The craft of building a dance evening that keeps the parquet full from the first chorus to the last. And the life of the Toronto jazz scene, the bands, the rooms, and the players who fill those chairs.

Who writes here

The desk is three of us. Two played in community big bands long enough to know what a chart does to a section on a bad sight-read. One plans events for a living and has booked more dance floors than she will admit. We listen, we attend, we take notes, and then we sit down and write.

How an article is made

Every piece starts with a question a reader might actually ask: How many players fit on that bandstand? What should a first dance arrangement sound like? Where can an amateur trumpet player sit in this week? We go to the sources, bandleaders, players, dance callers, recordings, and our own notebooks from gigs. We check names, dates, and repertoire against at least two references. We revise for rhythm on the page, because a sentence should swing like a chart.

When we recommend a band, a room, or a recording, it is because we listened and it held up. When a piece grows stale, we re-read it and put a fresh date on it. That is the whole method: show up, listen carefully, write it down, and leave the reader ready to act.