Newcastle University's first permanently standing education-based performance ensemble

Directed by professional musician, band leader, and entertainer, Jason Holcomb, The Newcastle University Big Band is an opportunity for Newcastle University students to gain real world experience in a professionally-led large jazz ensemble. The primary purpose of the group is to educate the members in the jazz, swing, and big band idiom as well as the many performance techniques necessary to become professional-quality pop/commercial musicians.

Real-world experience in contemporary music

The big band is to popular music what the symphony orchestra is to classical music, and at Newcastle University students now have the opportunity to work with a professional in the context of an authentic big band. This band is focused on authenticity of style. You'll learn what "swing" is in all its forms and how to apply it. You'll learn the difference between swinging like Benny Goodman and Count Basie. How swing evolved into bebop and cool jazz, how it was adapted for R&B, soul, and funk.

Directed by Las Vegas musical veteran Jason Holcomb (best known for his work with Matt Goss of Bros fame, Frankie Vali, and Motown recording group The O’Jays, and educated at the Lionel Hampton School of Music and Jazz Festival) The Newcastle Univeristy Big Band is part of a strong tradition of musical greatness at Newcastle University. The Newcastle University Big Band focuses on providing students with the best opportunities to learn their craft allowing them to compete in the professional world after graduating.

"playing styles authentically is the difference between getting the gig and going home..."

In this band students will learn the fundamentals of the big band/jazz band ensemble including section playing/articulation, the nuances of all the styles of swing and latin, as well as basics of improvisation.

Rag Time: Learning where early swing music came from and the context that made it so powerful is essential to understanding how we perform modern music today.

Blues: The Blues is one of the fundamental building blocks of all popular music. To understand the structure of The Blues in a big band setting will open the door to understanding musical expression.

Swing: From Louis Armstrong to Glenn Miller to Count Basie there are a great many versions of swing. This is where we learn how to play each of them and when its appropriate.

Latin: The very many different styles of Latin music have massive influences on western popular music to this day and are a vital part of the musical world of performance.