The Simon Spillett Big Band

Hayes was the creator, leader, writer and arranger of what is regarded as the greatest ever British Big Band, ranking alongside the previously exclusive preserve of the great USA bands of Goodman, Dorsey, Basie, Ellington and Marsalis.

Bursting onto the UK jazz scene in 2020, the Simon Spillett Big Band is a genuine all-star jazz orchestra, in this instance uniting some of the most accomplished soloists and bandleaders of today. The all star line-up includes trumpeter Mark Armstrong (director of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra), trombonist Mark Nightingale, saxophonists Pete Long (leader of the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra), Alex Garnett (Ronnie Scott’s All-Stars) and Alan Barnes (winner of over thirty British jazz awards), a powerhouse rhythm section of pianist Rob Barron, bassist Alec Dankworth and drummer Pete Cater, and under the direction of award-winning tenorist Simon Spillett.

The Simon Spillett Big Band brings back the heady excitement of the Tubby Hayes Big Band of the 1960s, an outfit which raised the roof whenever and wherever it performed. With a repertoire of Hayes’ own arrangements – many of which were never issued on record – as well as pieces by his contemporaries trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar and pianist Harry South – the Simon Spillett Big Band has already proved hugely popular with those who’ve come to hear it.

This Sunday lunchtime concert at Dean Street by the Simon Spillett Big Band, playing the music of Tubby Hayes, is that rare opportunity to hear the music of a jazz genius, performed by a band full of contemporary geniuses.