Big Band Scene Saxophonist Patrick Billingham continues his monthly column with a look at The Ronnie Smith Big Band and The Phoenix Big Band. Was there ever a big band ‘Golden Age’? I like to think so. From the 1930s to the 1950s. Many large towns and cities had at least one […]
Saxophonist Patrick Billingham continues his monthly column with a look at The Les Paul Big Band and The South Coast Big Band. The Brighton Festival is over for another year. The election has been and gone. So it’s back to business as usual, with some glad news, and some sad news. First […]
Saxophonist Patrick Billingham continues his monthly column with a look at The Studio 9 Orchestra and Straight No Chaser. This month we feature two exciting regular Brighton based big bands, plus an overwhelming ad hoc ultra big band which, it is hoped, will become a regular feature of the May jazz scene in Brighton. […]
Saxophonist Patrick Billingham begins his new monthly column with a look at The Sussex Jazz Orchestra and The Brighton Big Band. This is the first of what I hope is to be a regular monthly column relating to big bands based in Sussex. I shall start by defining what I mean by a […]
Tina May sings ACJ St. John’s Church, Brighton Saturday 8th November 2014 This was the third in a series of concerts featuring the music of Antônio Carlos Jobim arranged, with one exception, by multi-instrumentalist Robin Blakeman for the nine piece Luis Bonfá Society together with vocalist Tina May. The evening opened with […]
Tina May sings Antonio Carlos Jobim The Brunswick, Hove Sunday 27th April, 2014 Antonio Carlos Jobim wrote some of his biggest hits, such as Desafinado and The Girl From Ipanema more than half a century ago. In the hands of master arranger Robin Blakeman his music still has a fresh sound. So it […]