Beats & Pieces Big Band » ep

band on the wall EP release & launch party

Ben — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:57:24 +0000

Very excited to announce details of the release of a live EP next month, which was recorded in June at Band on the Wall in Manchester. You’ll be able to download it from our online shop on Monday 17th October, and there will be an extremely limited edition physical release available alongside the download – more details to follow soon!

We’ll be launching this EP with a big old knees up back at Band on the Wall on Thursday 20th October – tickets available NOW… If you were there in June for the recording, you’ll know that it was a really special night and this promises to be another amazing evening. This will also be our last Manchester date of 2011 which has been an incredible year for us (European Young Artists’ Jazz Award, Ronnie Scott’s twice, live recording etc etc!) so there’ll definitely be a party atmosphere!

See you there…

jazz on 3′s jazzwise chart

Ben — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:38:19 +0000

When I was buying the October issue of Jazzwise (with Charles Lloyd on the front) the other day, I realised I hadn’t actually properly read the previous issue yet (with Soweto Kinch). Finally reading through it today I was excited to see that our EP was again listed in the charts at the front of the magazine, this time listed by the team from BBC Jazz on 3 – cheers guys! Also reminded me I need to check out last week’s show on iPlayer with a live set from the Vandermark 5, highly recommended by Efpi’s Scandinavian correspondent Sam Andreae…

jumping on the bandcamp

Ben — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:20:33 +0000

After hearing loads of good things (including lots from our friends at Concrete Moniker who’ve been using it for a while), I’ve moved the whole operation over to Bandcamp. Ultimately this will lead to the EP no longer being available for free download, although if you still haven’t grabbed it during the 9+ months that its been free you can still do so from Bandcamp – for a limited time only so be quick! – but even once we start charging to download, you’ll still be able to stream it in full for free. You have to give your email address to download, which will mean that you will be added to our mailing list, but of course you will always have the option to unsubscribe at any point. You’ll also notice the newly reissued EP is available to buy and there’s pictures of it in all its glory – exciting!

I’ve been a bit slack recently with recording live gigs for free download (sorry), but I’m planning to get right back on it for upcoming gigs – live recordings will always be there to download free of charge, although of course you’ll always be able to make a donation…

Check out our Bandcamp site here, and as always I’d be interested to hear any comments (good or bad) about the new system – get in touch by emailing info@beatsnpieces.net

remix number three

Ben — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:08:05 +0000

It gives me enormous pleasure to present to you the third (and final… for now!) in the series of Beats & Pieces remixes, and its one I’ve been looking forward to sharing since it arrived in my inbox a few weeks ago. Rodrigo Constanzo has completely reworked ‘broken’ and it sounds awesome, a fitting end to three weeks of exciting remixes – hope you’ve enjoyed them as much as we have! If you missed the previous weeks’ remixes you can download them all in a single zip file here.

As with the other remixes, its been made available to download for free, but if you enjoy it we’d appreciate it if you considered making a donation to support our work by clicking the big yellow ‘Donate’ button on the right hand side of the Efpi site – ta!

remix number two

Ben — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:54:35 +0000

The second in the series of Beats & Pieces remixes is now available to download over on the Efpi website; this week its ‘bake’ that’s been reworked by Dileu (aka Owain Roberts, aka Messner). Many will know that Owain also plays trombone on the EP, so its been really interesting to hear what he’s done with the track!

Again its been made available for you to download for free, but if you enjoy it please consider making a donation to support out work by clicking the big yellow ‘Donate’ button on the right hand side of the Efpi site – ta!

Beats & Pieces EP remixed

Ben — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:31:09 +0000

In the run up to our gig at the Manchester Jazz Festival on Saturday July 31st, and to celebrate both the end of our first UK tour and the 2nd anniversary of our first ever gig at the 2008 festival, we invited some close friends of Efpi to have a go at remixing some of the EP tracks. We’re chuffed with how they’ve turned out, its really exciting for us and we can’t wait for you to hear them!

The first remix (of ‘broken’ by Tullis Rennie) is available to download over at the Efpi Records site, and another remix will be made available each week until the mjf gig. As always, we’ve made the music available for free but if you enjoy it please consider making a donation to support both Beats & Pieces and the Efpi label – there’s a big yellow ‘Donate’ button at the side of every page on the Efpi site.

Thanks again to all the guys for their efforts in remixing, its been a really exciting process!

Go download! Let us know what you think…

tour update & ep shortage…

Ben — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:57:41 +0000

So we’ve now kicked off the tour with gigs in Manchester and Camden which were awesome, and are looking forward to the next leg of gigs beginning this weekend! We’ll be taking in the Groove on the Green festival in Liverpool (Saturday 5th June, onstage 2.15pm til 3pm), before setting off to Dempseys in Cardiff (Tuesday 8th) and Jazzland in Swansea (Wednesday 9th). It’d be great to see you at some of the gigs – if the last two were anything to go by they’ll be amazing nights!

Also we’ve now only got 12 copies left of the limited edition run of 100 handmade EPs so if you’ve still not got one make sure you order one asap or you’ll miss out! No more will be made once we’ve sold all 100, and the EP will also no longer be available for free download. Order now here.

ps note that good friends Go Go Penguin (formally known as the Chris Illingworth Trio) will be playing at Groove on the Green on Sunday 6th so check that out too!

The Jazz Mann review

Ben — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 20:59:01 +0000

Ian Mann (aka The Jazz Mann) has taken a listen to the Beats & Pieces EP for a review on his site… and he liked it a lot!

Beats & Pieces is no polite youth jazz orchestra and this EP is an invigorating and often surprising listen… packed as it is with youthful exuberance, fiery playing and a high degree of technical skill.

You can read the full review here, and whilst you’re there be sure to check out the rest of the site; its a great resource for the latest CD and live reviews, as well as listings for gigs across the country. Ian also checked out the HAQ EP – read that review in full here.

www.thejazzmann.com

all about jazz featured download

Ben — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 14:57:21 +0000

As a lovely little Easter present, All About Jazz (probably the internet’s largest and most well known jazz resource?) has featured ‘bake’ from the Beats & Pieces EP as its egg-citing Download of the Day! Hop on over to the site, download and listen whilst munching on your chocolate… Don’t forget you can check out the rest of the EP from Efpi Records, where its still available to download for free/donation requested. Have a lovely Easter!

Tasty fanzine EP review

Ben — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:54:02 +0000

We’ve just got another great review from Sean Gregson in the Tasty fanzine (www.tastyfanzine.org.uk) – cheers Sean! The opening of the review goes like this:

I’ll admit, I’m an old romantic (which takes less grooming time than a new one). So, when I first heard the Beats and Pieces Big Band, my mind drifted to a future where I could say, ‘Me? Oh, yeah, I’ve been into them since the beginning’. It’s hard to place the music that they create. Attempting to describe is a challenge in itself. Let’s just say, though, this is a beast.

If that opening paragraph has whet your appetite for the rest of the review (which it really should!) then you can check it out in full here. Also take a look at the similarly great review for HAQ (“What’s so impressive about HAQ is their ability to cut through the shit and get right to those basic emotions we all share, each track offering a truly distinctive and unique journey”) that follows just below…