A GRAND NIGHT OUT

A celebration of feel-good classics and jazz music, it is a real coup to have secured a performance by the BBC Big Band in East Devon. We envisage an exciting night of joyful music-making which will please young and old alike.

The band’s origins date from the earliest days of the BBC and the formation of the original BBC Dance Orchestra in 1928 under the leadership of Jack Payne, before Henry Hall took over in 1932. The 1930s saw many bands becoming celebrated thanks to the unrivalled reach of the new medium of radio. Dance bands and big bands evolved and remained at the heart of the BBC’s musical output throughout the Second World War and beyond.

The band is joined by legendary jazz singer Elaine Delmar. With a recording career stretching back to the 1960s and performances spanning Ronnie Scott’s to the Royal Albert Hall, she is considered to be one of our most adaptable jazz singers who continues to win awards.

The programme includes tributes to George and Ira Gershwin as well as music by Leonard Bernstein.