Beats & Pieces Big Band » misc

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.

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…

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!

happy new year! + cheers 2011…

Ben — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:22:12 +0000

In our customary belated style let us be one of the last people to wish you a Happy New Year! The 3rd of January seems as good a time as any (?) to reflect on the past 12 months, an amazing year for us as a band – things that happened in the first few months of 2011 seem such a long time ago now and maybe thats because so much else has happened as the year went on!

In January we played our first gig of 2011 and our first gig at Ronnie Scott’s in London, a gig that we all really enjoyed and that seemed to go down well too… Then in March we were off to Germany (kindly supported by the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund) to compete in the final of the European Young Artists’ Jazz Award in Burghausen – which we won! This meant that we got a giant novelty cheque (below) and the honour of opening the Burghausen Jazzwoche, performing a full set before Chick Corea & Gary Burton in a concert that was recorded for TV and radio. We all had an amazing time in when we were over in Germany, check out some of the best photos here (or if you’re really keen, here’s the complete gallery from days 1, 2, 3 & 4).

The next major thing on the horizon for us was in June when we played a really special gig at Band on the Wall in Manchester that was recorded and released as an extremely limited edition live DVD in October. We’ve still got a few left – head on over to our shop to get your hands on one! Here’s one of the tracks:

Over the summer we played in Norwich, in a field in Cheshire, and had a great day at Mostly Jazz in Birmingham, and then in August we were invited back to Ronnie Scott’s for their annual celebration of all things British in a double bill with the amazing Kairos 4tet - again this was another brilliant night, with some really nice reviews!

At the beginning of November we were busy recording our debut full length album, which was a hectic few days to say the least… Its all come together nicely though, and will be out in February – more information to follow shortly! Here’s us all at the end of the session at Livingston Studios in London with producer Tony Platt and engineer Simone Filiali – more photos from the weekend in our gallery here and on our tumblr blog here.

Finally, we ended our year at the London Jazz Festival with an amazing gig at Kings Place which was a fantastic way to round off 2011! As for 2012, we’ve already announced some gigs at some lovely venues and as I’ve mentioned above, our album will be released in February – its already shaping up to be an exciting year. Thanks for your support in 2011 and we hope you enjoy what we’ve got lined up for you in 2012!

Efpi Christmas Message 2011

Ben — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:23:04 +0000

Merry Christmas! Here’s the Efpi Records Christmas Message which we filmed the other day in a Beats & Pieces festive gathering – ‘We Wish You An Atonal Christmas’…

Hope it gets you in the festive spirit!

little bits of news

Ben — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 10:18:42 +0000

This is possibly old news if you’re signed up to our newsletter (if you didn’t receive it last week you can read it and sign up for the next ones here), but thought I’d write it here too cos both of these things are pretty exciting…

Firstly you’ll be able to hear a track from our forthcoming live EP for the first time ever anywhere in the world on Mike Chadwick’s Cutting Edge show on Jazz FM from 10pm TONIGHT! (Sunday 9th). Mike is also in charge at Band on the Wall in Manchester, where we recorded the EP in June and where we’ll be launching it with another special gig on Thursday 20th October – get your tickets in NOW…

Secondly, very pleased to announce that we’re heading into the studio next month to record for a new full length album which will be released early next year – can’t wait to get in there and get started!

Burghausen TV broadcast

Ben — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:51:38 +0000

Its a shame I’m in Manchester over the weekend and not in Bavaria for a few reasons – better availability of quality weissbier over there, and an admittedly neglible weather improvement (4 degrees warmer and a bit less rainy according to the BBC), but mainly because if I was in Bavaria I’d be able to watch our gig from the Burghausen International Jazz Festival in March, which is broadcast almost in its entirety on BR-alpha on Sunday evening (September 18th) at 21.15 – click here for the details.

As many will know, we were in Burghausen to play in the final of the European Young Artists’ Jazz Award, which we were fortunate enough to win! Applications are now open for next year’s competition, and I can’t recommend it highly enough – its an amazing opportunity for any emerging acts. The deadline is November 1st, all the info is here. Good luck!

band on the wall pictures

Ben — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:59:52 +0000

I’ve just uploaded a load of pictures from our gig at Band on the Wall in June – there’s few below but check out the rest in our photo gallery. As well as photos from the gig, we also had a quick photoshoot in the morning while microphones were being set up for the recording, and I’ve also uploaded the pick of the bunch from that! All photos are by the rather excellent Martin Wilson.

Also keep an ear to the ground for news about the recording from the night, which you’ll be able to hear very very soon…!