The 8-Bit Big Band is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

pops orchestra A pops orchestra is an orchestra that plays popular music (generally traditional pop) and show tunes as well as well-known classical works. Pops orchestras are generally organized in large cities and are distinct from the more "highbrow" symphony ...

directed by Charlie Rosen that specializes in jazz

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

s of

video game music Video game music (VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to t ...

. The band won the

Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement (and its subsequent name changes) has been awarded since 1963. The award is presented to the arranger(s) of the music. Only songs or tracks are eligible, no longer works (e.g. albums). The perfo ...

in 2022 and were nominated for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals in 2024.

History

The 8-Bit Big Band was founded in 2017 by Charlie Rosen, who also serves as the

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. He did not initially anticipate that the project would be successful in the long term, but it received a positive community response online– particularly on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, which he likened to the "

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

". Primarily based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the band plays

s of popular video game songs– which Rosen refers to as "the great video game songbook"– from titles such as ''

Mario Kart 64 is a 1996 kart racing game for the Nintendo 64 (N64). Developed and published by Nintendo, it is the second installment in the ''Mario Kart'' series after 1992's '' Super Mario Kart''. The game retains the gameplay of its predecessor: the play ...

''(1996) and '' The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time''(1998). Rosen's background in

Broadway theater Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), many of the extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatr ...

music led him to incorporate elements of its musical style in his work. Will Friedwald of ''

The New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative Online newspaper, news website and former newspaper based in Manhattan, Manhattan, New York. From 2009 to 2021, it operated as an (occasional and erratic) onlin ...

'' compared many of the band's arrangements to the compositions of

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

. The band features around 30 performers, most of whom join temporarily, or are hired locally when the band tours. The band's live performances also feature guest performers such as

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982), also known as Grace of Monaco, was an American actress and Princess of Monaco as the wife of Prince Rainier III from their marriage on April 18, 1956, until her death in 1982. ...

and

Leo Pellegrino Leonardo Antonio Pellegrino, also known as Leo P, is an American baritone saxophonist from Pittsburgh who is based in New York City. He is a member of the "brass house" band Too Many Zooz and former member of the Lucky Chops brass band. He is ...

. In a collaboration with Button Masher, the band arranged the song " Meta Knight's Revenge", from the game ''

Kirby Super Star ''Kirby Super Star'', released as ''Kirby's Fun Pak'' in PAL regions, is a 1996 anthology Action game, action-Platformer, platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is part ...

''(1996), which appeared on their studio album ''Backwards Compatible'' in 2021. In 2022, it was awarded the

, one of the few times a video game score had been considered at the event, and the first time a song from a

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

game had won. In 2023, the band covered the song " Last Surprise", from ''

Persona 5 is a 2016 role-playing video game developed by P-Studio and published by Atlus. The game is the sixth installment in the ''Persona'' series, itself a part of the larger ''Megami Tensei'' franchise. It was released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStat ...

''(2016); ''

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...

'' Mollie Taylor appreciated the reworking, finding "extra jazzy vibes along with a sprinkling of some more retro digitized sound bites." The arrangement received a nomination for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals in 2024.

Accolades

Discography

* ''Press Start!'' (2018) * ''Choose Your Character!'' (2019) * ''Backwards Compatible'' (2021) * ''Game Changer'' (2023) * ''Orchestrator Emulator'' (2025)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:8-Bit Big Band, The Modern big bands Video game music cover bands Pops orchestras Musical groups established in 2017 Orchestras based in New York City Jazz ensembles from New York City