The NDR Bigband is a big band with currently 17 permanent musicians of the NDR in Hamburg - 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, 5 saxophones, piano, bass, guitar, percussion. The position of the drummer is not fixed. Since recording guitarist Sandra Hempel in January 2018, the NDR Big Band is no longer a pure male ensemble. The NDR Bigband was created by the Radio-Tanzorchester Hamburg, which was founded in May 1945 and is first mentioned on June 6, 1945 as "Kapelle Steiner" in the program flags. It was the "Radio Dance Orchestra under the direction of Willy Steiner ". The orchestra with strings sometimes had up to 45 musicians. One of the first violinists in this orchestra was Alfred's home . Clarinet and saxophone played Franz Thon . The saxophonist Kurt Wege was in charge of the "small cast" of the orchestra (brass section and rhythm section)). In the summer of 1946 he took over the overall management of Steiner. However, there soon came into conflict over the role of the strings and the direction of the music, which in 1947 led to strong listener complaints. Letters to the audience rejected any jazz orientation of the orchestra; On the other hand, there were numerous petitions by jazz fans . Within the orchestra now the string section grew by Alfred home; in the era of Harry Hermann Spitz in 1948, the "Great Dance and Entertainment Orchestra of the NWDR under the direction of Alfred home" (ways was just as the Refrainsängerin Dorle Rath on leave).
Discography
