May 23
The University Big Band and Ian Swatman brought live music to the heart of Canterbury on Saturday, when they played as part of ‘The Big Bang!’ event in this year’s Sounds New festival, in Whitefriars. Out in the sunshine, thronging shoppers, tourists and passers-by were treated to a mixture of live big band swing and …
Feb 21
My oh my: the Gulbenkian stage has never seen such a tight squeeze as it did last Friday, with the University Concert Band bursting with players and, as Ian Swatman said, possible the biggest Big Band in the Known Universe taking the stage. A packed audience was treated to a first half including A Night …
Feb 17
…to go until Have A Blast causes a stir at The Gulbenkian Theatre! Don’t miss what promises to be a rip-roaring gig, featuring the vocal talents of Ruby Mutlow and Jo Turner alongside the Concert and Big Bands. Good luck to everyone involved: see you in the bar afterwards…
Feb 14
Spring is in the air, the birds are singing, the days start to feel longer: it must be fast approaching the Concert and Big Band’s annual Gulbenkian Theatre concert. The wonderfully creative technical staff at the Gulbenkian are planning a dazzling array of lighting arrangements for the gig – we can’t reveal the plans here, …
Feb 01
Heads up, jazz fans: the ever-reliable Jazz Line-Up this coming Sunday on Radio 3 features British saxophonist Martin Speake‘s quartet, recorded at last year’s London Jazz Festival. I last heard Speake in a recorded session for Jazz on 3 back in 2009, when he played in a quartet featuring pianist Bobo Stenson, playing his then …
Jan 24
Tuesday 1 February 2011; 6.30 – 9.00 p.m; Darwin College SCR After his sell-out appearance in Keynes College last year, we are delighted to welcome back the Laurie Kay Trio to Darwin College for an informal evening of jazz and swing. All are welcome to come and relax with friends, enjoy some sustaining nibbles and …
Jan 19
Get the date in your diaries now for the customary roof-raising Concert and Big Band Gulbenkian extravaganza! Friday 18 February: book your tickets early, as it’s always a sell-out.
Jan 10
The new concert brochure has today been published on-line, and features the Concert Band and Big Band in their usual barn-storming annual extravaganza at the Gulbenkian Theatre in February, this year explosively titled ‘Have a Blast!’ In a new addition to the concert calendar, the Big Band will also be teaming up with St. Edmund’s School for a …
Jan 06
It’s going to be a busy term for the Concert and Big Bands, with their usual roof-raising Gulbenkian Theatre gig on Friday 18 February, and a charity concert for the Big Band in a joint venture with St. Edmund’s School Big Band; more details about both events to follow. There’ll also be three Jazz @ …
Nov 30
BBC4 are broadcasting one of their occasional ‘Jazz 625’ programmes tonight, a restored programme from 1964 featuring the Dave Brubeck Quartet, with the lyrical tones of saxophonist Paul Desmond in a programme to include Brubeck’s legendary Take Five. The ‘Jazz 625’ series has yielded some classic shows in previous episodes; Dizzy Gillespie, the Oscar Peterson …
