This month Patrick Billingham searches for missing parts and discusses band finances. The end is nigh. Not of civilisation as we know it, although after recent election results . . ., but of 2016. The time of year when bands are preparing for the festive season and, pun intended, blowing the dust of […]
This month Patrick Billingham revisits practice. I am pleased to say that, after the death of its eponymous creator, the Les Paul Big Band is continuing to function. I was at their September gig, and the band sounded pleasingly tight. For me, a high point was a fresh take on their band […]
Les Paul, who died last month at the age of 84, was born in Kolkata India, one of five children of Gerald and Minni Paul. He was studying for an engineering degree when his family decided to move to England in 1951, where they settled in Croydon. He embarked on an apprenticeship and studied […]
This month Patrick Billingham rounds up the latest big band news from around Sussex and profiles The BYG Big Band. The Bonsai, 26 1/2 musicians, version of Terry Pack’s unfeasibly big band Trees were the August element of the Big Band @Brunswick programme last month. For those who have never yet heard […]
Saxophonist Patrick Billingham has another look at big band finances and profiles The Swingin’ Saxophone Big Band. First of all an apology. I made a typing error in last month’s column. Paul Busby’s website from which you can download his excellent big band charts is www.scoredchanges.com. In SJM52 (May), I […]
Saxophonist Patrick Billingham has good news and bad news. He also profiles community group The Wacky Band. Well, that’s it. The referendum is history. And the result, from my point of view, as a big band musician, is worrying. The secretive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) referred to in SJM50 (March) is, […]
Saxophonist Patrick Billingham continues his monthly column discussing Imagine A World. In the listings for this month, there is a ‘new’ local (very) big band Imagine A World 2016. This continues the tradition of the various reincarnations of 100 Saxophones. This year, it is organised by Anne-Marie Roberts (imagineaworld2016@gmail.com) and directed, as the earlier […]
It is May. It is Festival time. Brighton’s major cultural event. Where we look forward to seeing internationally renowned big bands. With the tickets sold out weeks before the concert. But not in 2016. Fortunately there is The Fringe. There are more events listed in the gig guide at the foot of this column […]
Saxophonist Patrick Billingham continues his monthly column with a look at practise. “Maestro*/man† why do you practise every day and for so many hours?” “Because if I didn’t, after one day I would notice, after a week my colleagues would notice and after a month my audience would notice.” I have found this quote […]
In SJM46 (November 2015), I mentioned creating a digital archive of a band’s charts and promised to discuss the issue of copyright. As well as being a legal issue, it is also a moral issue. If you have copied someone else’s work with the intention of profiting from it, then you should pass on some […]