Beats & Pieces is not your average big band. These 14 millennials have been playing together for ten years and have become a tight knit bunch, open to a huge diversity of music. Björk, Radiohead, The Beatles, Beach Boys, Gil Evans en Kenny Wheeler: all kinds of influences pop up in their performances, in new arrangements or as snippets in the compositions of band leader and conductor Ben Cottrell. A fine example and an absolute highlight is ‘Let’s Dance’, which quotes various David Bowie songs.
Beats & Pieces was included in the Downbeat Critics Poll 2018 in the category Rising Star Big Band.
‘Highly recommended, a return to the idea that contemporary jazz for big band can still generate the kind of direct impact more associated with rock and pop music, but without undermining its essential craft and sophistication’ (Jazzwise).
Ben Cottrell composer/conductor, Anthony Brown, Oliver Dover, Emily Burkhardt saxophones, Owen Bryce, Graham South, Nick Walters trumpets, Richard Foote, Simon Lodge, Rich McVeigh trombone. Anton Hunter guitar, Richard Jones piano/Fender Rhodes, Stewart Wilson bass, Finlay Panter drums