The Simon Spillett Big Band plays the music of Tubby Hayes

The Simon Spillett Big Band plays the music of Tubby Hayes

Bursting onto the UK jazz scene in 2020, the Simon Spillett Big Band is that rarest of rare beasts – a genuine all-star jazz orchestra, in this instance uniting some of the most accomplished soloists and bandleaders of today, who’ve come together to celebrate to a colossal musical genius of yesteryear, the late, great saxophonist Tubby Hayes, arguably the nation’s best-loved jazz legend.

Featuring a starry line-up including trumpeter Mark Armstrong (director of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra), trombonist Mark Nightingale, perenial British Jazz poll-topping saxophonist Alan Barnes, a powerhouse rhythm section of pianist Rob Barron, bassist Alec Dankworth and drummer Pete Cater, and under the direction of award-winning tenorist Simon Spillett, the band’s mission statement is simple; to bring back the heady excitement of the Tubby Hayes Big Band of the 1960s, an outfit which raised the roof whenever and wherever it performed. This band follows in the same spirit, creating an intoxicating atmosphere in which its music communicates on every level, the entire package tied together with the leader’s signature insightful wit.

Utilising a repertoire of Hayes’ own arrangements – many of which were never issued on record – as well as pieces by his contemporaries trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar and pianist Harry South – the Simon Spillett Big Band has already proved hugely popular with those who’ve come to hear it, its London debut in October 2021, at the landmark venue the 100 Club, drew an overflowing crowd, eager to catch what one writer has already dubbed the most hard-swinging big band in existence right now.

Simon Spillett (tenor saxophone, leader)

Nathan Bray, Mark Armstrong, George Hogg, Freddie Gavita (trumpets)

Mark Nightingale, Ian Bateman, Andy Flaxman, Richard Henry (trombones)

Alan Barnes, Simon Allen, Alex Clarke, Robert Fowler, Karen Sharp (saxes)

Rob Barron (piano) Alec Dankworth (bass) Pete Cater (drums)