Ferg's Imaginary Big Band
Ferg's Imaginary Big Band
Sat 11 November 2023
Stage time / 9:00pm
Doors / 7:00pm
Celebrating the Jazz Clubs
Homegrown
Leeds' biggest and best cult 25 piece music ensemble Ferg's Imaginary Big Band bring their jazz x punk, noise vibes to the Jazz Fest for their first ever London show
Ferg's Imaginary Big Band are a 24 piece jazz x noise machine who are part of the burgeoning left-field independent Leeds music scene spearheaded by the Tight Lines record label. Initially inspired by the cosmic jazz legend and musician/band leader Sun Ra, Ferg's Imaginary Big Band is a semi-fictional large ensemble whose primary aim is to bring big band music kicking and screaming into the 22nd century. The IBB play rowdy and always huge sounding arrangements of an incredibly diverse selection of tunes from composers including Duke Ellington, Sun Ra, The Rajasthan Express, Count Basie, the Art Ensemble Of Chicago alongside a growing number of original compositions written and arranged by Fergus and other members of the group.
Consisting of members from Têtes de Pois, Skwid Ink, TC & The Groove Family, Ancient Infinity Orchestra, The Mabgate Organ Trio, The Fergus Quill Trio, State Of Satta, the Belgrave House Band, Project Hilts, Awen Ensemble, Golden Age of TV, Long Legged Creatures and Amon Ra Collective, it's literally a who's who of the vibrant Leeds DIY jazz/experimental/electronic music scenes. Obviously with such a huge line-up of incredible musicians, getting the ensemble together for live shows is a major challenge on it's own and thus to date, they've still only played less than 15 shows in 4 years. If you're lucky to catch them at one of these rare cultish happenings, it's less like a standard gig and more like a huge sound and vision experience. A place where fantastic musicianship and soloing meet theatrical drama and punk attitude with a huge dollop of humour binding it all together. There's literally no other ensemble like this in the UK today.
Ferg's Imaginary Big Band are a 24 piece jazz x noise machine who are part of the burgeoning left-field independent Leeds music scene spearheaded by the Tight Lines record label. Initially inspired by the cosmic jazz legend and musician/band leader Sun Ra, Ferg's Imaginary Big Band is a semi-fictional large ensemble whose primary aim is to bring big band music kicking and screaming into the 22nd century. The IBB play rowdy and always huge sounding arrangements of an incredibly diverse selection of tunes from composers including Duke Ellington, Sun Ra, The Rajasthan Express, Count Basie, the Art Ensemble Of Chicago alongside a growing number of original compositions written and arranged by Fergus and other members of the group.
Consisting of members from Têtes de Pois, Skwid Ink, TC & The Groove Family, Ancient Infinity Orchestra, The Mabgate Organ Trio, The Fergus Quill Trio, State Of Satta, the Belgrave House Band, Project Hilts, Awen Ensemble, Golden Age of TV, Long Legged Creatures and Amon Ra Collective, it's literally a who's who of the vibrant Leeds DIY jazz/experimental/electronic music scenes. Obviously with such a huge line-up of incredible musicians, getting the ensemble together for live shows is a major challenge on it's own and thus to date, they've still only played less than 15 shows in 4 years. If you're lucky to catch them at one of these rare cultish happenings, it's less like a standard gig and more like a huge sound and vision experience. A place where fantastic musicianship and soloing meet theatrical drama and punk attitude with a huge dollop of humour binding it all together. There's literally no other ensemble like this in the UK today.
