The Big Band Dachau, a large band from Dachau in Upper Bavaria was founded in 2010. The band mixes big band jazz and techno rhythms, and is distinguished from other similar ensembles by its group improvisations that are led by the band leader. It is also known for its elaborate stage costumes and decorations using gold and glitter elements. Jorg Hartl founded the Big Band Dachau in 2010 as a jazz and swing ensemble to provide musical training at Dachau Boys’ Choir. She initially played big band jazz and swing, but the Big Band Dachau was enriched with contemporary club and dance music starting in 2013. The Big Band of the Dachau Boys’ Chapel was the original name for the big band. In 2013, the first Bigband Dachau CD was released. The big band Dachau participated in the state competition Jugend jazzt Bayern in 2015 and won a performance at Bavarian Jazzweekend 2014. It was awarded the highest grade in 2015 with “exceptional success”. The band went on an u.a. tour through Austria, Italy and Italy in 2015 supported by the Goethe-Institut. There she was in the German Pavilion at World Exhibition Expo 2015. Jorg Hartl resigned as the band’s leader in April 2016. Since then, the band has been led by Thomas Jahn (alias Tom Tornado), an Augsburg jazz pianist who previously supported Hartl. Artmode Records released the second CD, The Damned Beat in 2016. The CD was featured on Monday’s Zundfunk presentation to BR 2 in August 2016 and became the monthly winners in August 2016. The band was also nominated for the Tassilo Culture Prize by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung that year. The Montreux Jazz Festival was attended by Dachau’s big band in 2017. She was one of four groups that mix jazz and techno in a two-part Jazztime episode on BR-Klassik. The band was again nominated for the Suddeutsche Zeitung’s Tassilo Culture Award in 2018. They were awarded one of three main prizes. She traveled to Oswiecim (Poland), with a Dachau District Office delegation, and performed at the Tauron Life Festival there with the Rebel Babel project of LUC. http://de.zxc.wiki
