Jazz Articles about Beats and Pieces Big Band

Beats and Pieces Big Band: Ten

by Ian Patterson
April 28, 2019

You'd be hard pressed to find a similarly sized big-band with the energy and spark exhibited by Manchester outfit Beats and Pieces Big Band. The fourteen-piece ensemble began life in the Royal Northern College of Music in 2008, when Ben Cottrell gathered thirteen of his fellow musicians to give life to his compositions. Ten years on, and in the same rehearsal room where it all started, Cottrell leads the band through ten tunes—played entirely from memory—that are a celebration of ...