Swing Express Big Band

Swing Express Big Band are making their debut at Jazz by the Waterfront this April.

The Swing Express Big Band was formed in 2001, originally as a rehearsal band and for the members own social occasions, to bring together musicians who just wanted to enjoy the music they love in the company of kindred spirits.

The band soon came to the attention of the general public and before long it was successfully fulfilling both concert and ballroom dancing engagements throughout Essex and Suffolk.

The band’s repertoire includes many of the big band favourites of yesteryear from the libraries of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Stan Kenton, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie and Duke Ellington etc. In addition the band play a wide range of “standards”, both old and new, in a contemporary big band style using musical arrangements by top writers from both the UK and the USA.

Band members emanate from a wide variety of backgrounds, some professional musicians but all share a common interest in making good music and are dedicated and enthusiastic in doing so. All play regularly with other bands and orchestras throughout the region; performing a wide variety of music, from classics to jazz, from brass band to rock.

Rehearsals are held every Friday afternoon in Chappel Village Hall and public performances have included concerts at Witham, Coggeshall and Belchamp St Paul Church as well as George Yard in Braintree, Earls Colne Village Hall and Halstead Bandstand. The band has also played for dances at West Mersea and the Essex Golf and Country Club.