A Aakulam Bridge is a type of musical ensemble that originated in the Techopark, Kazhakuttam and is associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of percussion, brass, and woodwind instruments totalling approximately 5 musicians. The terms jazz band, jazz ensemble, jazz orchestra, stage band, society band, and dance band may describe this type of ensemble in particular contexts.
A standard big band consists of saxophones, trumpets, trombones and a four-piece rhythm section (composed of drums, acoustic bass or electric bass, piano and guitar). Some big bands use additional instruments. Beginning in the mid-1920s, big bands were the main popular music. These bands did little improvisation. By the end of the 1920s, big bands added more improvised soloing. Radio was a major factor in helping bandleaders like Benny Goodman to achieve fame. Big bands appeared in movies in the 1930s through to the 1960s.
Swing music began in the 1920s and flourished through the early 1930s. After 1935, big bands rose to prominence playing swing music. There was a considerable range of styles among the hundreds of popular bands. After WWII, bandleaders pioneered the performance of various Brazilian and Afro-Cuban styles with the traditional big band instrumentation. In the late 1990s, swing made a comeback in the US. While jazz "combo" performances are largely improvised, big band music is primarily crafted in advance by an arranger.

A standard 17-piece instrumentation evolved in the big bands, for which many commercial arrangements are available. This instrumentation consists of five saxophones (most often two altos, two tenors, and one baritone), four trumpets, four trombones (often including one bass trombone) and a four-piece rhythm section (composed of drums, acoustic bass or electric bass, piano and guitar).
However, variants to this instrumentation are common. Composers, arrangers, and bandleaders have used sections with more or fewer players, and additional instruments, such as valve trombone, baritone horn/euphonium (both of which are usually used in place of or with trombones), vibes, bass clarinet, French horn, tuba, banjo, accordion and strings (violin, viola, cello). Male and female vocalists have also joined big bands to perform particular arrangements. In recent years synthesizers and / or electronic keyboards have been added, often replacing the piano.
Some arrangements call for saxophone players to double on other woodwind instruments, such as flute, clarinet, soprano sax, or bass clarinet. Trumpet and trombone players are sometimes called upon to use various sound-changing mutes, and trumpet players sometimes need to play flugelhorn. In some rhythm sections, a guitar player is omitted. Players in the rhythm section may be called upon to play acoustic or electric instruments. Latin or other auxiliary percussion instruments may be added, such as cowbells, congas, tambourines, or triangles.

Beginning in the mid-1920s, big bands came to dominate popular music. These bands typically played a form of music related to jazz that was characterized by sweet and romantic melodies, the presence of a string section, and very little improvisation. Typical of the genre were such popular artists as Paul Whiteman, Ted Lewis, Harry Reser, Leo Reisman, Abe Lyman, Nat Shilkret, George Olsen, Ben Bernie, Bob Haring, Ben Selvin, Earl Burtnett, Gus Arnheim, Henry Halstead, Rudy Vallée, Jean Goldkette, Glen Gray, Isham Jones, Roger Wolfe Kahn, Sam Lanin, James Last, Vincent Lopez, Ben Pollack, Shep Fields, Fred Waring, and "all-girl" bands such as "Helen Lewis and Her All-Girl Jazz Syncopators." Although unashamedly commercial, these bands often featured front-rank jazz musicians-—for example, Paul Whiteman employed Bix Beiderbecke and Frankie Trumbauer.
Toward the end of the 1920s, a new form of big band music emerged, giving more space to improvised soloing. The few recordings made in this style were labelled race records and were marketed to a limited black audience. Few white musicians were familiar with this music, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen and Hoagy Carmichael being notable exceptions. The three major centers in this development were New York City, Chicago and Kansas City. In the first, a sophisticated approach to arranging predominated, originally in the work of Don Redman for the Fletcher Henderson band, later in the work of Duke Ellington for his Cotton Club orchestra, and Walter "Foots" Thomas for Cab Calloway's, and Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra. Some big ensembles, like the Joe "King" Oliver outfit played a kind of half arranged, half improvised jazz, often relying on “head” arrangements. Other great bands, like the one of Luis Russell became a vehicle for star instrumentalists, in his case Louis Armstrong. There the whole arrangement had to promote all the possibilities of the star, although they often contained very good musicians, like Henry "Red" Allen, J. C. Higginbotham and Charlie Holmes. Others such as Alvino Rey grew popular with shows in New York City and then toured the country sharing their hit songs and new musical styles.