Comprising many of Manchester's best musicians, under the direction of composer/conductor Ben Cottrell, Beats & Pieces are one of the most exciting jazz ensembles to emerge from the north of England.
Their music is an expression of the varied musical backgrounds and activities of the band’s members and Cottrell’s inspired writing. Known for their explosive energy and heavyweight sound, they have reinvented big band music for a new generation, drawing on sources as diverse as the Beatles, Radiohead, Loose Tubes and Björk. As Ben Cottrell says: “Beats & Pieces is not your average big band, rather a band that’s big”.
Anthony Brown, Emily Burkhardt, Oliver Dover: saxophones. Owen Bryce, Graham South, Nick Walters: trumpet. Simon Lodge, Rich McVeigh: trombone. Anton Hunter: guitar, Richard Jones: piano/Rhodes, Stewart Wilson: bass, Finlay Panter: drums.
Hosted by Sheffield Jazz.
“[Beats & Pieces’] extraordinary achievement is to combine discipline with anarchy, and rock’n’roll energy with textures from the entire canon of big band jazz history” – Tom Robinson, BBC 6 Music
