The James Last Orchestra is a German big-band orchestra with strings. The orchestra was established in 1964 as a studio orchestra, led by 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...

 musician Hans Last

James Last

James Last is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark...

. The orchestra started touring in 1968, and has been extremely popular in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and all over the world.

Around 1970 the rhythm section was reorganized as a rock group (lead guitar: Helmuth Franke, rhythm guitar: Peter Hesslein, drums: Barry Roy Reeves, bass: Benny Bendorff

Benny Bendorff

Joachim "Benny" Bendorff is a German bass guitarist, vocalist, trumpeter and composer, best-known for his long tenure as bassist for the James Last Orchestra....

, percussion: Christian Lembrecht and later Herbert Bornholdt).