BBC Big Band
Encyclopedia
The BBC Big Band, originally known as the BBC Radio Big Band is a British
big band
run under the auspices of the BBC
. Widely regarded as the UK’s leading and most versatile jazz orchestra, the band broadcasts exclusivley on BBC Radio, particularly on BBC Radio 2
's long running series Big Band Special
. It consists of professional jazz
musicians and is directed by a number of conductors. These include arranger and composer Barry Forgie, who has been the band's Musical Director since 1977, American jazz trombonist Jiggs Whigham
and guest musical directors.
before Henry Hall (bandleader)
took over in 1932. In the 1950s the format and purpose of the Dance Orchestra was changed and modernised, and it became a big band with strings in the Billy May
style, known as the BBC Showband, under the leadership of Cyril Stapleton
. The band, featuring many British jazz stars, was heavily featured on the BBC Light Programme
and also began to be used widely in television in the company of homegrown talent, including a then unknown Matt Monro
, and with international stars such as Frank Sinatra
and Nat ‘King’ Cole.
The BBC Big Band came into existence in 1964 when the Showband was broken up and the existing BBC Variety Orchestra and BBC Revue Orchestra were amalgamated creating the BBC Radio Orchestra
. .
The Radio Orchestra
. was a large flexible studio ensemble in the Nelson Riddle
/ Henry Mancini
mode, with a full jazz Big Band and symphonic strings. The BBC Big Band made up the orchestra's brass, reed and rhythm sections, and was nominally the orchestra's jazz wing. The various sections of the Radio Orchestra, prefixed A-D, could be used for different kinds of recordings and the "C1" section of the Radio Orchestra was known as the BBC Radio Big Band. The orchestra was initially directed by Malcolm Lockyer
, who had previously directed the BBC Showband and BBC joined by various arrangers and guest conductors, including Barry Forgie in 1977, who remains the big band’s Musical Director to this day. At the outset, the big band was sometimes known within the BBC as the 'Radio Dance Orchestra' or 'Radio Showband', utilising some of the names the band had been previously known under, but it was officially called the Radio Big Band from 1964.
For the most part it has been a standard-sized big band, comprising Four Trumpets, Four Trombones, five saxophones (all of whom double on various reed and wind instruments) and a rhythm section of piano (doubling keyboards), guitar, double bass (doubling bass guitar), drums and percussion (including vibes and Latin instruments). For various projects the band has also seen regular augmentation with additional instruments including French horns, tubas, extra wind and on occasion large groups of strings, particularly the BBC Concert Orchestra
, (effectively recreating the line-up of the BBC Radio Orchestra).
The BBC Radio Big Band was also complemented by similar ensembles throughout the UK, including the BBC Northern Dance Orchestra
in Manchester and the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra
in Glasgow (which was also known as the Radio Scotland Big Band).
The band was used across a huge variety of BBC Radio programmes, its main features included Jazz Parade, Saturday Swings and Saturday Night, accompanying singers and performing instrumental versions of popular tunes. Though staffed with many strong jazz soloists, the band had little in the way of dedicated jazz output and was used primarily as a light-music ensemble and dance band. But in 1979 a significant development took place which led to the band establishing its own identity as a dedicated jazz orchestra when Big Band Special
took to the airwaves. Originally commissioned as a series of 12 shows, such was the impact made by the BBC Big Band in this show that the run was extended. So much so that over 30 years later, Big Band Special remains an important part of Monday night listening on BBC Radio 2
and is one of the station's only year-round jazz programmes. It is presented by jazz singer and broadcaster Clare Teal
. The band also found a home on BBC Radio 3
's Jazz Parade.
In a shake-up of musical policy at the BBC, the corporation disbanded the BBC Radio Orchestra in 1991, retaining the Big Band. But, in 1994, the BBC once again announced that it had decided to dismantle the Big Band. However, due to overwhelming public opposition to the decision, an agreement was reached, whereby the band would continue to exist, but would be managed outside the BBC and its musicians would be freelance rather than BBC staff. As well as continuing its Big Band Special programme, the band now also appears frequently on Friday Night is Music Night
on Radio 2, has a BBC Radio 3
home on Jazz Line Up, appears regularly at the BBC Proms and can be heard frequently on BBC Radio Scotland's Jazz House programme. It also reaches worldwide audiences through the BBC World Service
, satellite radio and the Internet http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/bigband. The BBC Big Band has been voted the best Big Band in the British Jazz Awards in 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2007.
The band has played with jazz stars such as Van Morrison
, Michael Bublé
, Tony Bennett
, George Shearing
, Michel Legrand
, Cleo Laine
, John Dankworth
, Lalo Schifrin
, Dr. John
, Mel Torme
, Ray Charles
, Kurt Elling
, Mark Murphy
, Jack Bruce
, Ed Thigpen
, Monty Alexander
, Norma Winstone
, Clark Terry
, Amy Winehouse
, Koop
, Claire Martin
, Ian Shaw
, Lea Delaria
, Manhattan Transfer
, Buddy Greco
, Phil Woods
and New York Voices
. The band regularly features on the UK jazz festival circuit, and concert tours with major artists have taken the band all over the world in addition to its regular concert recordings throughout the UK for BBC Radio. It also links, from time to time, with the BBC Concert Orchestra
, for concerts and broadcasts.
The band has also been conducted by such luminaries of the big band and jazz world as Billy May
, Robert Farnon
, Les Brown
, Tommy Watt
, Angela Morley
, Stan Tracey
, Bob Brookmeyer
, Bill Russo, Gerald Wilson
, Roy Hargrove
, Thad Jones
, John Clayton
, Brian Fahey, Steve Gray
, Bob Florence
, Sammy Nestico
, Jiggs Whigham
, Mark Nightingale
and Steve Sidwell
. The band is also directed on occasions by its longstanding baritone saxophonist Jay Craig.
Since 2007, the BBC Big Band has been an Associate Ensemble at Birmingham Town Hall
, performing regularly in concert and participating in community and education projects.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
run under the auspices of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. Widely regarded as the UK’s leading and most versatile jazz orchestra, the band broadcasts exclusivley on BBC Radio, particularly on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
's long running series Big Band Special
Big Band Special
Big Band Special is a BBC Radio 2 series which launched in 1979 as a showcase for the BBC Big Band in session and in concert. Big Band Special is a 30 minute programme broadcast on Monday nights at 9.30pm and has been presented by Clare Teal since April 2006...
. It consists of professional jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musicians and is directed by a number of conductors. These include arranger and composer Barry Forgie, who has been the band's Musical Director since 1977, American jazz trombonist Jiggs Whigham
Jiggs Whigham
Jiggs Whigham is an American jazz trombonist living in Europe.Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he began his professional career at age 17, joining the Glenn Miller/Ray Mckinley orchestra in 1961...
and guest musical directors.
History
The BBC Big Band’s origins lie in the earliest days of the BBC when the BBC Dance Orchestra was formed in 1928 under the leadership of Jack PayneJack Payne
Jack Payne was a British dance music bandleader.-Career:John Wesley Vivian Payne was born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, the only son of a music warehouse manager...
before Henry Hall (bandleader)
Henry Hall (bandleader)
Henry Hall was a British bandleader. He played from the 1920s to the 1950s.-Biography:Henry Hall was born in Peckham, South London and served in both the Salvation Army and the British Army...
took over in 1932. In the 1950s the format and purpose of the Dance Orchestra was changed and modernised, and it became a big band with strings in the Billy May
Billy May
William E. "Billy" May was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music, for The Green Hornet , Batman , and Naked City and collaborated on films, such as Pennies from Heaven , and orchestrated Cocoon, and Cocoon: The Return among...
style, known as the BBC Showband, under the leadership of Cyril Stapleton
Cyril Stapleton
Cyril Stapleton was an English violinist and jazz bandleader.Born in Mapperley, Nottingham, Stapleton began playing violin at age 7, and played on local radio at the age of 12. He performed on the BBC Radio often in his teenage years, and played in film orchestras accompanying silent films...
. The band, featuring many British jazz stars, was heavily featured on the BBC Light Programme
BBC Light Programme
The Light Programme was a BBC radio station which broadcast mainstream light entertainment and music from 1945 until 1967, when it was rebranded as BBC Radio 2...
and also began to be used widely in television in the company of homegrown talent, including a then unknown Matt Monro
Matt Monro
Matt Monro was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s...
, and with international stars such as Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and Nat ‘King’ Cole.
The BBC Big Band came into existence in 1964 when the Showband was broken up and the existing BBC Variety Orchestra and BBC Revue Orchestra were amalgamated creating the BBC Radio Orchestra
BBC Radio Orchestra
The BBC Radio Orchestra was a broadcasting orchestra based in London, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1965 until 1991....
. .
The Radio Orchestra
Radio orchestra
A radio orchestra is an orchestra employed by a radio network in order to provide programming as well as sometimes perform incidental or theme music for various shows on the network. In the heyday of radio such orchestras were numerous, performing classical, popular, light music and jazz...
. was a large flexible studio ensemble in the Nelson Riddle
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
/ Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
mode, with a full jazz Big Band and symphonic strings. The BBC Big Band made up the orchestra's brass, reed and rhythm sections, and was nominally the orchestra's jazz wing. The various sections of the Radio Orchestra, prefixed A-D, could be used for different kinds of recordings and the "C1" section of the Radio Orchestra was known as the BBC Radio Big Band. The orchestra was initially directed by Malcolm Lockyer
Malcolm Lockyer
Malcolm Lockyer was a film composer and conductor.In his early years he developed an interest in dance and from here gathered an interest in music. At the age of nineteen he became a musician in the Royal Air Force and in 1944 joined the Buddy Featherstonhaugh Sextet...
, who had previously directed the BBC Showband and BBC joined by various arrangers and guest conductors, including Barry Forgie in 1977, who remains the big band’s Musical Director to this day. At the outset, the big band was sometimes known within the BBC as the 'Radio Dance Orchestra' or 'Radio Showband', utilising some of the names the band had been previously known under, but it was officially called the Radio Big Band from 1964.
For the most part it has been a standard-sized big band, comprising Four Trumpets, Four Trombones, five saxophones (all of whom double on various reed and wind instruments) and a rhythm section of piano (doubling keyboards), guitar, double bass (doubling bass guitar), drums and percussion (including vibes and Latin instruments). For various projects the band has also seen regular augmentation with additional instruments including French horns, tubas, extra wind and on occasion large groups of strings, particularly the BBC Concert Orchestra
BBC Concert Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five which is not a full-scale symphony orchestra....
, (effectively recreating the line-up of the BBC Radio Orchestra).
The BBC Radio Big Band was also complemented by similar ensembles throughout the UK, including the BBC Northern Dance Orchestra
BBC Northern Dance Orchestra
The BBC Northern Dance Orchestra was a big band run by the BBC and formed in 1951 as the successor to the BBC's Northern Variety Orchestra. Known to listeners as the NDO, it broadcast on the radio daily from the Playhouse Theatre in Hulme before moving to the BBC studios in Oxford Road...
in Manchester and the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra
BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra
The BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra was a light music broadcasting orchestra based in Glasgow, Scotland, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1940 until disbandment in 1981.-History:...
in Glasgow (which was also known as the Radio Scotland Big Band).
The band was used across a huge variety of BBC Radio programmes, its main features included Jazz Parade, Saturday Swings and Saturday Night, accompanying singers and performing instrumental versions of popular tunes. Though staffed with many strong jazz soloists, the band had little in the way of dedicated jazz output and was used primarily as a light-music ensemble and dance band. But in 1979 a significant development took place which led to the band establishing its own identity as a dedicated jazz orchestra when Big Band Special
Big Band Special
Big Band Special is a BBC Radio 2 series which launched in 1979 as a showcase for the BBC Big Band in session and in concert. Big Band Special is a 30 minute programme broadcast on Monday nights at 9.30pm and has been presented by Clare Teal since April 2006...
took to the airwaves. Originally commissioned as a series of 12 shows, such was the impact made by the BBC Big Band in this show that the run was extended. So much so that over 30 years later, Big Band Special remains an important part of Monday night listening on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
and is one of the station's only year-round jazz programmes. It is presented by jazz singer and broadcaster Clare Teal
Clare Teal
Clare Teal is an English jazz singer who has become famous not only for her singing, but also for having signed the biggest ever recording contract by a British jazz singer.-Biography:...
. The band also found a home on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
's Jazz Parade.
In a shake-up of musical policy at the BBC, the corporation disbanded the BBC Radio Orchestra in 1991, retaining the Big Band. But, in 1994, the BBC once again announced that it had decided to dismantle the Big Band. However, due to overwhelming public opposition to the decision, an agreement was reached, whereby the band would continue to exist, but would be managed outside the BBC and its musicians would be freelance rather than BBC staff. As well as continuing its Big Band Special programme, the band now also appears frequently on Friday Night is Music Night
Friday Night is Music Night
Friday Night is Music Night is a long running live BBC radio concert programme featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra, broadcast most Fridays on BBC Radio 2 at 8.00pm. It is the world's longest-running live music radio programme....
on Radio 2, has a BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
home on Jazz Line Up, appears regularly at the BBC Proms and can be heard frequently on BBC Radio Scotland's Jazz House programme. It also reaches worldwide audiences through the BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
, satellite radio and the Internet http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/bigband. The BBC Big Band has been voted the best Big Band in the British Jazz Awards in 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2007.
The band has played with jazz stars such as Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...
, Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, George Shearing
George Shearing
Sir George Shearing, OBE was an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s...
, Michel Legrand
Michel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
, Cleo Laine
Cleo Laine
Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth, DBE is a jazz singer and an actress, noted for her scat singing and vocal range...
, John Dankworth
John Dankworth
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE , known in his early career as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinetist...
, Lalo Schifrin
Lalo Schifrin
Lalo Schifrin is an Argentine composer, pianist and conductor. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations...
, Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
, Mel Torme
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé , nicknamed The Velvet Fog, was an American musician, known for his jazz singing. He was also a jazz composer and arranger, a drummer, an actor in radio, film, and television, and the author of five books...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Kurt Elling
Kurt Elling
Kurt Elling is an American jazz vocalist, composer, lyricist and vocalese performer. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Rockford, Elling first became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church...
, Mark Murphy
Mark Murphy
Mark Murphy may refer to:*Mark Murphy , American ice hockey player who plays for the DEG Metro Stars *Mark Murphy , retired American football player, now President and CEO of the Green Bay Packers...
, Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
, Ed Thigpen
Ed Thigpen
Edmund Leonard "Ed" Thigpen was an American jazz drummer, best-known for his work with the Oscar Peterson trio from 1959 to 1965...
, Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander
Monty Alexander is a jazz pianist and melodica player. His playing has a strong Caribbean influence and swinging feeling, but he has also been influenced by Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly, and Ahmad Jamal.-Biography:Alexander discovered the piano at the age of 4, taking classical music...
, Norma Winstone
Norma Winstone
Norma Ann Winstone MBE is a British jazz singer and lyricist. In a career spanning over forty years she is best known for her wordless improvisations....
, Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
, Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
, Koop
Koop
-People:*C. Everett Koop, the Surgeon General of the United States from 1982-1989*Wanda Koop, a Canadian painter*Booba, a French rapper also known as B2O and Élie Yaffa-Culture and entertainment:...
, Claire Martin
Claire Martin (singer)
Claire Martin, OBE is an English jazz singer, born in Wimbledon, South London, England.Claire Martin grew up in a house "full of music", and claims to have learned all of Judy Garland´s songs by the time she was 12...
, Ian Shaw
Ian Shaw (singer)
Ian Shaw is a Welsh jazz singer, record producer, and former stand up comedian.Shaw was born at St. Asaph, Wales, and his career in performance began on the Alternative Cabaret Circuit, alongside such performers as Julian Clary, Rory Bremner and Jo Brand.In his music career he has recorded and...
, Lea Delaria
Lea DeLaria
Lea DeLaria is an American comedienne, actress, and jazz musician. The "famously controversial" DeLaria was "the first openly gay comic to break the late-night talk-show barrier" with her 1993 appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show....
, Manhattan Transfer
Manhattan Transfer
Manhattan Transfer may refer to:* Manhattan Transfer , a Pennsylvania Railroad station in New Jersey* Manhattan Transfer , a 1925 novel by John Dos Passos* The Manhattan Transfer, a jazz, swing, R&B and pop group founded in 1969...
, Buddy Greco
Buddy Greco
-Biography:He was born Armando Greco in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Greco began playing piano at the age of four. His first professional work was playing with Benny Goodman's band. Most of Greco's work has been in the jazz and pop genres...
, Phil Woods
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
and New York Voices
New York Voices
New York Voices is an American vocal music group. The group was formed in 1987 from an Ithaca College alumni group. The original group consisted of Darmon Meader, Peter Eldridge, Kim Nazarian, Caprice Fox and Sara Krieger. They released their first, self-titled album on GRP Records in 1989...
. The band regularly features on the UK jazz festival circuit, and concert tours with major artists have taken the band all over the world in addition to its regular concert recordings throughout the UK for BBC Radio. It also links, from time to time, with the BBC Concert Orchestra
BBC Concert Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five which is not a full-scale symphony orchestra....
, for concerts and broadcasts.
The band has also been conducted by such luminaries of the big band and jazz world as Billy May
Billy May
William E. "Billy" May was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music, for The Green Hornet , Batman , and Naked City and collaborated on films, such as Pennies from Heaven , and orchestrated Cocoon, and Cocoon: The Return among...
, Robert Farnon
Robert Farnon
Robert Joseph Farnon was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. As well as being a famous composer of original works , he was recognised as one of the finest arrangers of his generation...
, Les Brown
Les Brown
Les Brown may refer to:*Les Brown , U.S. Big Band leader, or his son, Les Brown Jr., leader since 2001*Les Brown , American author-See also:*Leslie Brown...
, Tommy Watt
Tommy Watt
Tommy Watt was a Scottish jazz bandleader.Watt was hired as a pianist by Carl Barriteau at age 17, and served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He moved to London following the war, where he played with Ambrose, Harry Roy, and Ken Mackintosh...
, Angela Morley
Angela Morley
Angela Morley was an English composer and conductor. Morley was born in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1924, and played saxophone in a number of dance bands, and in 1944 became a member of Geraldo's band....
, Stan Tracey
Stan Tracey
Stanley William Tracey CBE is a British jazz pianist and composer, most influenced by Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk.-Early career:...
, Bob Brookmeyer
Bob Brookmeyer
Robert Brookmeyer is an American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer.-Biography:Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public attention as a member of Gerry Mulligan's quartet from 1954 to 1957. He later worked with Jimmy Giuffre...
, Bill Russo, Gerald Wilson
Gerald Wilson
Gerald Stanley Wilson is an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer/arranger, 8 time Grammy nominee, and educator. He has been based in Los Angeles since the early 1940s....
, Roy Hargrove
Roy Hargrove
Roy Anthony Hargrove is an American jazz trumpeter. He won worldwide notice after winning two Grammy Awards for differing types of music, in 1997, and in 2002...
, Thad Jones
Thad Jones
Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader.-Biography:Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan to a musical family of ten . Thad Jones was a self taught musician, performing professionally by the age of sixteen...
, John Clayton
John Clayton (bassist)
John Travis Clayton Jr. is an American jazz and classical double bassist.-Music:John Travis Clayton Jr. began seriously undertaking the study of double bass at age 16, studying with bass legend Ray Brown...
, Brian Fahey, Steve Gray
Steve Gray
Steven Gray is a New Zealand television presenter and blogger who most recently co-hosted the weekday morning show, Good Morning. Before promotion to the show, Gray was its long-serving film and DVD reviewer and gossip columnist....
, Bob Florence
Bob Florence
Bob Florence was an American jazz arranger and pianist. He began taking piano lessons at five and initially intended to be a concert pianist. However, on taking classes with Bob McDonald he changed direction toward jazz.At the beginning of his career Florence worked as a pianist and arranger with...
, Sammy Nestico
Sammy Nestico
Samuel "Sammy" Louis Nestico is a prolific and well known composer and arranger of big band music...
, Jiggs Whigham
Jiggs Whigham
Jiggs Whigham is an American jazz trombonist living in Europe.Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he began his professional career at age 17, joining the Glenn Miller/Ray Mckinley orchestra in 1961...
, Mark Nightingale
Mark Nightingale
Mark Daryl Nightingale is an English jazz trombonist.Nightingale began on trombone at age nine, and played in the Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra and the National Youth Jazz Orchestrain his teens. He attended Trinity College of Music from 1985-88...
and Steve Sidwell
Steve Sidwell
Steven James "Steve" Sidwell is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Fulham in the Premier League. His previous clubs include Arsenal, Reading, Chelsea and Aston Villa.-Arsenal:...
. The band is also directed on occasions by its longstanding baritone saxophonist Jay Craig.
Since 2007, the BBC Big Band has been an Associate Ensemble at Birmingham Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall is a Grade I listed concert and meeting venue in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It was created as a home for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival established in 1784, the purpose of which was to raise funds for the General Hospital, after St Philip's Church became...
, performing regularly in concert and participating in community and education projects.
Trumpets
- Derek Watkins
- Mike Lovatt
- Martin Shaw
- Brian Rankine