[Fletcher]Henderson's, more than any other, was the band that introduced what became known as the Swing Era. When I first formed a big band in New York, his was the one I wanted mine to sound like. In those days, before electrical amplification, big bands were essential in big ballrooms, and singers had to use megaphones. Ballrooms were very important in the jazz story, and so was the inspiration we derived from the people who danced in them, but not all the bands who worked in them played jazz in the strictest sense of the word. Generally speaking, the black bands led the way, and besides Henderson's there were soon many others that were popular, such as McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Chick Webb's, Charlie Johnson's, Don Redman's, Earl Hines's, Luis Russell's, Bennie Moten's, Claude Hopkins', Alphonso Trent's, Zack Whyte's, Jimmie Lunceford's, and ours. Among the first white bands to get the message were Jean Goldkette's, Ben Pollack's, Paul Tremaine's, and the Casa Loma Orchestra. << less