What is the best big band jazz album of all time?

Big band jazz is music at its most majestic — dozens of musicians swinging in perfect unison, building to huge ensemble climaxes. From Ellington's elegance to Buddy Rich's firepower, vote for the greatest.

1

Ellington at Newport

Duke Ellington's 1956 Newport performance — big band's most legendary live document.

2

The Atomic Mr. Basie

Count Basie's 1958 album — big band swing at its most explosive.

3

Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert

Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall concert — jazz's arrival in the concert hall.

4

Out of the Cool

Gil Evans's 1961 arranger's-jazz masterpiece — subtle, sophisticated, stunning.

5

Concert in the Garden

Maria Schneider Orchestra's 2004 Grammy-winning modern big band masterpiece.

6

Big Swing Face

Buddy Rich Big Band's 1967 live album — the most thunderous big band drumming ever recorded.

7

Black, Brown and Beige

Duke Ellington's 1958 sacred jazz suite with Mahalia Jackson — spiritual big band.

8

Consummation

Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra's 1970 Blue Note date — post-bop big band's masterpiece.

9

Sketches of Spain

Miles Davis and Gil Evans's 1960 orchestral masterwork — Spanish tone poems in jazz form.

10

Porgy and Bess

Miles Davis and Gil Evans's 1959 reimagining of Gershwin — big band lyricism.

11

Thundering Herds

Woody Herman's great post-war bands captured in their full swinging power.

12

Infernal Machines

Darcy James Argue's Secret Society 2009 debut — big band reinvented for the 21st century.