Experimental big bands began to incorporate elements of free jazz and improvisation as early as the '60s, and fueled by the work of smaller avant-garde ensembles and classical composers, increased their scope in the following decades to embrace atonal music, discordance and increasingly complex structures. (read more)

Experimental big bands began to incorporate elements of free jazz and improvisation as early as the '60s, and fueled by the work of smaller avant-garde ensembles and classical composers, increased their scope in the following decades to embrace atonal music, discordance and increasingly complex structures. From the post-bop beginnings of groups like the Sun Ra Arkestra and Carla Bley's big band, to the full-on chaos of the Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra, experimental big bands produce an amazing diversity of sounds within the large group format.(collapse)