Beats & Pieces Big Band » Ben

big ideas in conversation

Ben — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:09:34 +0000

We made this little video with some of us chatting about the album and the band in general, hope you enjoy…

If you like whats on the video, you can hear the rest of the album (and purchase the CD or mp3 download) here.

award nominations

Ben — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:04:24 +0000

Really pleased to announce that we’ve been nominated for not one but two prestigious jazz awards! Firstly we are up for Ensemble of the Year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, ‘Britain’s premier awards for the Jazz loving public and Jazz fans in both Houses’. 1864 members of the public submitted entries for the awards online, and then the shortlist was voted on by the Selection Panel who represent a broad cross-section of backgrounds united in their endeavour for their love and knowledge of jazz. The winners are chosen by judging members of the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group in Parliament and are announced on May 16th – we’ll keep you informed… Congratulations to all the other nominees!

We’ve also been nominated for the second year running for the London Jazz Awards, part of the London Awards for Art and Performance. Last year you were all amazing, showing your support for us by voting online and you can vote again this year, although it doesn’t influence the judging itself – online votes just give the judges a nudge in the right direction… You can vote here, thanks in advance for your help and thanks for your support thats enabled us to be nominated in the first place!

Big Ideas – OUT NOW!

Ben — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:44:41 +0000

Its been a long time coming but we’re all really excited that our debut album Big Ideas is available NOW! You can listen, download and buy from the Efpi online shop or the CD and download is available from most of the usual places (Amazon, iTunes, HMV etc) – although if you order directly from us you receive a free Big Ideas badge, which I’m told is the hip new fashion accessory for the season…

Check out the whole album below and let us know what you think! You can tweet us @beatsnpieces and/or use the hashtag #BigIdeas, or you could write on our facebook wall.

We’re all really proud of what we’ve achieved since our first ever rehearsal just over 4 years ago that has culminated in the release of this album. Thanks so much to you all for your support and we really hope you enjoy our Big Ideas.

live video from Ronnie’s

Ben — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:09:48 +0000

Further to the amazing response that we had from the Big Ideas launch gig at Ronnie Scott’s a couple of weeks ago, here’s a video filmed on the night of our new mystery cover that was suggested by you guys! Serious are now offering you the chance to win a signed CD if you can guess what it is – all the details are here, closing date is tomorrow though (Tuesday 6th) so get cracking.

I also had a little chat with Serious before the gig which you can see below, talking about the genesis of the band, our relationship with Ronnie Scott’s, and the new album – see if you can spot the deliberate mistake in the interview…

jazz on 3 tomorrow & ronnie’s reviews

Ben — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 10:14:15 +0000

Just a reminder that we’ll be featured on BBC Jazz on 3 TOMORROW (Monday 27th) from 11pm – there’ll be tracks recorded live at our RNCM gig a couple of weeks ago as well as a quick delve into my iPod shuffle with Jez Nelson… Anything could come up, you’ll have to tune in to find out what did! If you miss the live broadcast it’ll be available on the iPlayer for 7 days.

There will also be a couple of tracks from Big Ideas played on Helen Mayhew‘s Jazz FM show later this afternoon from 1pm along with a short chat with me about the band and the new album – again this will be available on demand via the link above should you miss the live broadcast.

Finally we were all really pleased to read some really amazing reviews of the Big Ideas launch show at Ronnie Scott’s earlier in the week – thanks once again to everyone for selling out the place and making it such a special night! Check out the Serious blog for a full roundup of everything. Below is a picture of Nick who was already pretty excited about the evening’s gig even before our soundcheck! (picture taken by Owen Bryce)

album launch shows – thank you!

Ben — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:01:54 +0000

Wow – we’ve had an amazing time over the past few days with launch shows for Big Ideas in Manchester at the RNCM and in London at a sold-out Ronnie Scott’s, thanks very much to everyone who made them such special nights! The RNCM gig was recorded for BBC Jazz on 3, check out the broadcast this coming Monday (27th February) at 11pm which will also feature a look through the music on my iPod… Make sure you listen in to see what came up on shuffle!

Here’s some photos from the RNCM gig and soundcheck taken by Peter Fay – there’s plenty more on our photos page. I’ll put up some stuff from the Ronnie’s gig over the next few days when I’ve had chance to recover… But thanks once again for being so good to us!

pre-order Big Ideas NOW!

Ben — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:44:26 +0000

Ahead of the album launch gigs in Manchester and London this week (!) you can now pre-order your copy of our new album Big Ideas from our shop – you get an immediate download of ‘jazzwalk’ (listen below) and then you’ll get an email on the day of release with a link to download the rest of the album. If you order the CD, it will be despatched by first class post for delivery on the morning of the release date (UK only) for you to enjoy with your Frosties or other breakfast of choice…

As an extra bonus for early birds, if you pre-order the CD the postage will be FREE (normally £1 UK, £2 rest of world) and you’ll also receive an exclusive Big Ideas badge (below) to sweeten the deal even more. We’ll also all sign a handful of the CDs and randomly put them in envelopes so you might get one of those! If you’d prefer a copy without our scrawls though make sure you drop us a line… We’ll try to write neatly though, we promise.

RNCM album launch preview

Ben — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:42:05 +0000

Ahead of the first of the launch shows for Big Ideas in Manchester next week, I did a short interview with the guys from the RNCM about our influences and our beginnings in Manchester – check it out below. Should also say that I had a cold at the time hence the slightly snotty quality to my voice, sorry…

what shall we play?

Ben — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:43:37 +0000

Ever wanted to hear your favourite tune given the Beats & Pieces treatment? Here’s your chance… Serious are offering you the opportunity to suggest songs for us to arrange in our own unique way and perform on the rest of our tour. The performance at Ronnie Scott’s on 20th February will be filmed and posted online, and we’ll even throw in a signed album and some other goodies for whoever makes the winning suggestion. Head on over to the Serious blog before Friday 3rd to leave your ideas, there’s some cracking ones already but always room for more!

Southampton

Ben — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:35:47 +0000

Thanks to everyone who came down to our gig at Turner Sims in Southampton over the weekend, it was a great way to kick off our tour! It was also the first time that copies of ‘Big Ideas‘ were available for sale, so a pretty exciting moment for us…

Thought I’d share this photo of Anthony and Simon in our ‘tour bus’ on our journey down – we’ll be trying to post as many pictures, videos and other interesting things as we can. Keep an eye on our tumblr page which is where we’ll upload most stuff, or follow @beatspiecesband on twitter where all the tumblr posts will be automatically tweeted – for a more personal touch follow me (Ben) @beatsnpieces

See you at the next gig in Manchester on Feb 16th!