Beats & Pieces Big Band

Imagine a tight-knit band that makes you dance to odd time signatures and enrobes you in textures of sound, while acknowledging that they all liked jazz at college. Now imagine that this band has 14 musicians. This is Beats & Pieces Big Band. The Manchester-based ensemble was founded in 2008 and is the recipient of multiple awards, including the European Young Artists’ Jazz Award.

I started working with the band as tour manager in 2015 and quickly became involved more, co-producing UK concerts, three European tours and, together with Famgroup, the band’s 2018 Canada/US debut. From 2018-21, I managed the band, working on international bookings, fundraising, a live record/DVD, strategies and project management with their artistic director and main composer Ben Cottrell. I also tour-managed the band throughout this time and am an expert at counting to 14 very quickly.