The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) is a British

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...

 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...

 orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

 founded in 1963 by Bill Ashton

Bill Ashton (jazz musician)

William Michael Allingham Ashton OBE is a British saxophonist and composer, best known for co-founding the London Schools’ Orchestra, now the National Youth Jazz Orchestra , of which he is Musical Director....

.

Based in Westminster, London, NYJO started life as the London Schools' Jazz Orchestra and evolved into becoming the national orchestra. Its aims are to provide an opportunity for gifted young musicians from around the UK to perform big band jazz in major concert halls, theatres, and on radio and television, and to make recordings, commission new works from British composers and arrangers, and to introduce a love of jazz to as wide an audience as possible, but especially to schoolchildren.

The band rehearse every Saturday at the Cockpit Theatre (Marylebone), near Edgware Road, London. Since the band was founded, admission to rehearsals for NYJO and NYJO 2 has been and remains free. There are no auditions to participate in the NYJO rehearsals/learning.

The performing band, NYJO, is selected by audition and invitation.

In 2011, a new band, NYJO London, was created to focus on developing school aged jazz musicians in greater London.

The NYJO's extensive discography, of some 40+ recordings, includes a tribute to British jazz pianist, big band leader and arranger, Harry South

Harry South

Harry South was an English jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, who later moved into work for film and television....

.

The NYJO's members have included many of the major names in British jazz over the last three decades, including 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...

, Guy Barker

Guy Barker

Guy Barker is an English jazz trumpeter and composer. Barker was born in Chiswick, London, the son of an actress and a stuntman. He started playing the trumpet at the age of twelve, and within a year had joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra...

, Richard James Burgess

Richard James Burgess

Richard James Burgess is a studio drummer, music-computer programmer, recording artist, record producer, composer, author, manager, marketer and inventor. He was the producer for Spandau Ballet's first two albums.-Education:...

, Nigel Hitchcock

Nigel Hitchcock

Nigel Hitchcock is an English jazz saxophonist.-Biography:Hichcock began to play alto sax at age 8. In 1982 he and his elder brother Clive joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. After one year Nigel took the lead alto chair for the next 5 years...

, Brian Priestley

Brian Priestley

Brian Priestley is an English jazz writer, pianist and arranger.Priestley began studying music at age 8, and in the 1960s began arranging jazz pieces for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and gained a degree in modern languages from Leeds University...

, Dave O'Higgins

Dave O'Higgins

Dave O'Higgins is a British jazz saxophonist.Born in Birmingham, O'Higgins first emerged on the British jazz scene in the 1980s. After playing in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra for three years O'Higgins joined the band of Jim Mullen before moving on to Martin Taylor's band.O'Higgins performs as...

, Julian Argüelles

Julian Argüelles

Julian Argüelles is a saxophonist. He is currently a member of the HR Big Band in Frankfurt am Main, Germany....

, Jamie Talbot

Jamie Talbot

James Robert "Jamie" Talbot is an English jazz alto saxophonist.Talbot played with the London Schools Symphony Orchestra and then with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra while young.He attended the Royal College of Music in 1978-79, then recorded throughout the decades of the 1980s and 1990s with...

, Simon Phillips

Simon Phillips

Simon Phillips is an English jazz, pop and rock drummer.-Career:Phillips began to play professionally at the age of twelve in his father's Dixieland band for four years. He was then offered the chance to play in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar...

, Steve Hill, Chris Biscoe

Chris Biscoe

Chris Biscoe is an English jazz multi-instrumentalist, a player of the alto, soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, the alto clarinet, piccolo and flute...

, Carol Kenyon

Carol Kenyon

Carol Kenyon , is a British singer. She was born c. 1959.Although primarily known as a session vocalist on many albums and singles by a variety of prominent artists, as well as in many concerts, Kenyon has also released several singles as a solo artist...

, Neil Yates

Neil Yates

Neil Yates is a British Jazz and Folk Musician.- Biography :Yates studied music at Salford University before moving to London to study jazz at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama...

, Frank Ricotti

Frank Ricotti

Frank Ricotti is an English jazz vibraphonist and percussionist.Ricotti played in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra while a teenager, then attended Trinity College of Music...

, Gerard Presencer

Gerard Presencer

Gerard Presencer is an English jazz trumpeter who has also made a name as a session player in pop-music contexts, and as a jazz educator. He currently lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Biography :...

 and Chris White

Chris White (saxophonist)

Chris White English jazz/rock saxophonist who toured with Dire Straits from 1985–1995, and who has played with many bands and artists, including Robbie Williams, Paul McCartney, Chris De Burgh and Mick Jagger.-Biography:...

.

Discography

• 2001: Portraits: NYJO Plays the Music of Harry South - featuring guest artists Georgie Fame
  Georgie Fame
  Georgie Fame is a British rhythm and blues and jazz singer and keyboard player. The one-time rock and roll tour musician, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still a popular performer, often working with contemporaries such as Van Morrison and Bill Wyman.-Early life:Fame took piano lessons from the...
  
  , Ronnie Ross
  Ronnie Ross
  Albert Ronald "Ronnie" Ross was a jazz baritone saxophonist.Ross moved to England in 1946 and began playing tenor saxophone in the 1950s with Tony Kinsey, Ted Heath, and Don Rendell. During his tenure with Rendell he switched to baritone saxophone...
  
   and Dick Morrissey
  Dick Morrissey
  Richard Edwin "Dick" Morrissey was a British jazz musician and composer. He played the tenor sax, soprano sax and flute.- Background :...
  
  .

External links

• Official website
• [ Discography from Allmusic]