Callum Au Big Band, a young, up-and-coming big band of 18 members, is led by Callum Au and features many rising stars from the UK jazz scene. The band was formed in 2009 and has had the opportunity to perform alongside some of the best jazz musicians around, such as trombonist Mark Nightingale, flautist Gareth Lockrane and saxophonist Nigel Hitchcock. It has performed at many top London jazz clubs and entertained at private events and corporate events across the UK. The band’s members have performed together with many artists, including the BBC Big Band and the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra. They have also performed at various locations, such as the Royal Albert Hall and the North Sea Jazz Festival. Callum, Tommy Laurence and Simon Marsh are often the band’s composers or arrangers. The band is influenced by Bill Holman and Bob Florence, Laurence Cottle and Nelson Riddle. They create their own unique sound while maintaining the traditional building blocks of the tradition. The band has an ever-growing library of original music. They also perform music from the classic big band repertoire including Nelson Riddle and Billy May, Thad Jones and Thad Jones. Additionally, they have some contemporary soul and funk material that was specially adapted to the band by artists like Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, and Tower of Power. Callum Au’s West Side Story Suite is the band’s latest large-scale project. It’s a six-movement extended piece that’s based on some of Leonard Bernstein’s most iconic melodies. It is a continuous music suite that features many soloists of the band, as well as extended solo piano cadenzas by Chris Eldred, a Yamaha Prize winner. This suite has been performed in many London jazz venues, including Ronnie Scott’s or Boisdale Canary Wharf. It also featured a concert at Cadogan Hall during the Out to Lunch Festival. Callum also wrote a new arrangement for George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue,’ which will be performed as part of a concert program. It features Piano, Clarinet and Big Band. The band recorded their debut album, Something’s Coming, at Angel Studios. It features the band’s West Side Story Suite, as well as original commissions by Gareth Lockrane and Freddie Gavita; and guests artists Emma Smith (voice), Iain Mackenzie, Nigel Hitchcock and Gareth Lockrane on saxophones and flutes. It was released to critical acclaim in January 2013. from http://www.callumaumusic.com
