BBC big band

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BBC big band
The BBC Big Band at Town Hall Birmingham
The BBC Big Band at Town Hall Birmingham
General information
origin United Kingdom
Genre (s) Jazz , big band
founding 1964
Website http://bigbandspecial.co.uk

The BBC Big Band , also known as the BBC Radio Big Band , is an English big band under the auspices of the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC ). The band plays exclusively for BBC Radio, notably on Big Band Special , which is broadcast on BBC Radio 2 . It consists of well-known jazz musicians and is led by various conductors. These include arranger and composer Barry Forgie , who has been the band's musical director since 1977, the American jazz trombonist Jiggs Whigham and various guest conductors.

history

The origins of the BBC Big Band go back to the early days of the BBC when the BBC Dance Orchestra was founded in 1928 under the direction of Jack Payne before Henry Hall took over the direction in 1932. In the 1950s the format of the BBC Dance Orchestra was changed and modernized to become a big band with Billy May- style strings known as the BBC Showband under the direction of Cyril Stapleton . The band, made up of many British jazz musicians, had a strong presence on the BBC Light Program and was also televised alongside local talent including the then-unknown Matt Monro , as well as international stars such as Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole .

The BBC Big Band was formed in 1964 when the BBC Variety Orchestra and the BBC Revue Orchestra merged to form the BBC Radio Orchestra . This BBC Radio Orchestra was a large, flexible studio ensemble, with a jazz big band and symphonic strings. The BBC Big Band formed the orchestra's wind and rhythm section and was nominally the orchestra's jazz wing . The various sections of the radio orchestra, prefixed with AD, were used for different types of recordings, and section C1 of the BBC Radio Orchestra became known as the BBC Radio Big Band . The orchestra was initially conducted by Malcolm Lockyer , who had previously conducted the BBC show band . To begin with, the Big Band was sometimes known within the BBC as the Radio Dance Orchestra or Radio Showband , using some of the names by which the band was previously known. It was officially referred to as the Radio Big Band in 1964 .

Most of the time it was a full-size big band, with four trumpets , four trombones , five saxophones and a rhythm section with piano , guitar , bass , as well as drums and percussion . For various projects, the band was regularly supplemented with additional instruments such as horns , tubas , and occasionally large groups of strings , especially those of the BBC Concert Orchestra .

The BBC Radio Big Band was also joined by similar ensembles from Great Britain , including the BBC Northern Dance Orchestra in Manchester and the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra in Glasgow (also known as the Radio Scotland Big Band ).

The band has been featured on a variety of BBC radio programs, the most popular programs including the Jazz Parade , Saturday Swings and Saturday Night . They also accompanied singers and played instrumental versions of more popular pieces. Even though she was busy with many jazz soloists, the band played some jazz, but was primarily as a popular music ensemble and dance orchestra used. With the Big Band Special broadcast in 1979, the band managed to build its own identity as a committed jazz orchestra. Originally the series was commissioned with 12 shows; The moderator was Sheila Tracy . Since the show with the BBC Big Band was so well received by the audience, it was continued. The show is so popular to this day that it is still part of the Monday evening program on BBC Radio 2 , making it the only year-round jazz program on the station. It is currently moderated by jazz singer and broadcaster Clare Teal . The band also found a home in BBC Radio 3's Jazz Parade .

With a change in music policy at the BBC, the company dissolved the BBC Radio Orchestra in 1991 . Three years later in 1994 the BBC announced that it had decided to dismantle the big band . However, due to the overwhelming public opposition to the decision, an agreement was reached that the band would continue to exist but would run outside the BBC and their musicians would be more freelancers than BBC employees. In addition to the continuation of their Big Band Special program, the band now appears regularly on the Friday Night Is Music Night program on BBC Radio 2 . The band plays in the Jazz Line Up on BBC Radio 3 , performs regularly at the BBC Proms and can be heard frequently on BBC Radio Scotland's Jazz House program . The band also plays for an international audience on BBC World Service .

The BBC Big Band played concerts with international stars such as Ray Charles , George Benson , Clark Terry , Tony Bennett , George Shearing and Michael Bublé , but also with Cleo Laine and John Dankworth , Wayne Marshall and Claire Martin ; there were performances all over Europe with artists such as The Manhattan Transfer and Lalo Schifrin . The formation worked with major jazz composers such as Bob Brookmeyer , Abdullah Ibrahim and Michael Gibbs and was voted Best Big Band by the audience at the British Jazz Awards in 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2013, 2014 and 2015 .

Since 2007 the BBC Big Band has been a partner ensemble of Birmingham City Hall , in which they also regularly perform and take part in community and educational projects.

Members

Trumpets

  • Mike Lovatt
  • Pat White
  • Brian Rankine
  • Martin Shaw

Trumpets

  • Gordon Campbell
  • Andy Wood
  • Ashley Horton
  • John Higginbotham

Saxophones

  • Howard McGill
  • Sammy Mayne
  • Paul Booth
  • Martin Williams
  • Jay Craig

piano

guitar

  • Tommy Emmerton

bass

  • Jeremy Brown

Drums

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Big Band Special - The BBC Big Band - BBC Radio 2. Retrieved August 25, 2018 (UK English).
  2. ↑ a b The BBC Big Band - A Short History . In: Big Band Special . ( bigbandspecial.co.uk [accessed August 25, 2018]).

Web links