Although the term "Big Band" is commonly used to describe Jazz Orchestras in recent decades, that term does not appear to have been used in the 1930s and 1940s golden era of that genre.
Originally the used were usually "Dance Band / Orchestra" or "Swing Band / Orchestra".
Afterall, a large orchestra was often the 'normal' sized band at that time, so they probably weren't regarded as being "big" relative to the other bands.
My question is: when did the term "Big Band" actually come into use?
The earliest examples that I can find are two records both from 1954:
"Count Basie Big Band" (Clef EP-195) and "Charlie Parker Big Band" (Clef MG C-609). The term seemed to get increasing usage from the mid-1950s onwards.
It seems to me that the term "Big Band" only came into use in the era when most bands were now small bands.
Perhaps they started using this term after the 1940s or 1950s as a way to describe the music. In fact, many 78 rpm records use foxtrot as a genre label, especially when the record companies didn’t quite know how to categorize the style.
Then, in the 1950s, the term big bands was used for music that resembled those classic large ensembles, even though the actual bands were often much smaller.
