Let’s kick the new year off with some joyous, inventive, scorchio sounds that will lift our spirits! And who better to provide this than some really big bands?

Yes I mean XXL! Bouncy, brassy, beaty, classy!

Ever since, as a callow sixth-former, I saw Keef Hartley’s Big Band at Watford Town Hall and Van Morrison and his stupendous large band at the Rainbow Theatre, I’ve been hooked on the sound of a large combo.

In recent years I’ve been delighted by Bellowhead getting the Danish hipsters at Roskilde up and dancing round the tent. Burning Spear with his magnificently irie brass section. Finland’s wacky Leningrad Cowboys feat The Red Army Choir on backing vocals. And many live shows by David Byrne, not least when he toured with St Vincent and a full brass marching band. Magic!

This week an article in the Guardian commented on the comeback of the jazz big band. It mentions Ex Machina an album by (composer and saxophonist) Steve Lehman and France’s 17-strong Orchestre National de Jazz and Kemet (The Black Land) an orchestral album by US American trombonist-composer Javier Nero. London’s Jazz Jamaica, the magnificent Sun Ra Arkestra and Sweden’s Fire Orchestra also get » Continue Reading.