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4/02/10 The Spin Off, Bar Santiago, Leeds

21/05/10 The Forge Venue, Camden

We’ll also be playing at the Marlborough Jazz Festival over the weekend of the 9th July – exact day to be confirmed but should be a good one!

Remember, the EP is still available to purchase (£5, handmade limited edition CD) or download for free/flexible price at the Efpi Records site, but if you’re after the limited edition CD then hurry as we’re fast running out!

From its explosive opening bars until its final lingering hum, the Beats & Pieces Big Band’s first EP is nothing less than a bombardment of the senses. The brainchild of Manchester based composer Ben Cottrell, this sizable affair unites the cream of Manchester’s emerging jazz talent, including Sam Andreae (t. sax), Fin Panter (dr), and Graham South (trp).

At its core the ensemble is traditional big band, but by cross-stitching a multitude of genres to its already rich tapestry of sound, something both unique and fresh has emerged. On tracks such as Yafw (part iii) there are reminisces of Quincy Jones’ more malevolent 1970s blaxploitation soundtracks; the underlying latino groove being almost chased along by the dangerously edgy horn section.

Elsewhere, the compositions also show a real elegant restraint, with classy arrangements that show the record’s maturity. This is most notable in the EP’s final track, Broken, which also manages to combine subtle electronic elements successfully. Bjork is evidently an influence, and here the highly lyrical playing is matched with an almost Nordic chill, which acts as calming digestif after some of the more frenzied earlier tracks.

This is a rich and colourful first CD that comfortably combines Hendrixesque guitar riffs, Herbie Hancock style funk, and even inflections of Eno’s ambient music. While for many groups this osmosis of ideas would produce a conflicting overall sound, Beats & Pieces Big Band have created something that’s both catchy and original.

Thought now would be an excellent time to recap all the stuff from the end of 2009 that I’ve been meaning to post, just to close everything off nicely. First of all, I’ve just uploaded a load of photos from the EP launch night on 2nd December to the gallery; the pictures were all taken by Martin Wilson and they’re really good so check them out now… I think that this one is my favourite.

Also it was my birthday just before Christmas, and wanted to share with you this picture of my amazing birthday cake – remind you of anything?? Thanks Lucy!

Thanks to everyone who came to the gig and especially to those who gave up their time and effort to play in the band – it was great to meet and play with you all! Hopefully it won’t be the last gig for the ensemble…

The gig was recorded but unfortunately the sound engineer’s recorder ran out of memory a couple of songs into the set… If I can salvage anything I’ll upload it soon!

Just checked the weather though, here’s the BBC forecast for next Monday…

Good job I’ve been shopping today!

I’m delighted to announce that the debut EP from the Beats & Pieces Big Band is now available to purchase and/or download via the Efpi Records website! You can buy a physical CD as one of a limited edition run of 100 unique handmade packages, or download the EP as high quality MP3s under the ‘honesty box’ model where you choose how much to pay (free if you feel like…). It contains 5 tracks weighing in at just over half an hour’s worth of music, and we’re really proud of it. Tracklisting is as follows:

1. bake

2. yafw (part iii)

3. toan

4. djimi

5. broken

The band features the cream of Manchester’s young improvising talent, many of whom have now moved away to pastures new and are making a mark on jazz scenes in major cities across the continent. The band is as follows:

Ben Cottrell : musical director

Sam Andreae, Kenji Fenton, Sam Healey, Jo McCallum : reeds

Tim Cox, Simon Lodge, Owain Roberts, Paul Strachan : trombones

Owen Bryce, Chris Snead, Graham South, Nick Walters : trumpets

Anton Hunter : guitar

Patrick Hurley : piano, Rhodes

Nick Blacka : bass

Finlay Panter : drums

Hope you enjoy listening to the EP as much as we enjoyed making it!

Photos from the night will be uploaded to the gallery soon…