ABOUT THE BAND
The Bristol Community Big Band is an energetic local ensemble that plays a wide repertoire of swing, jazz, blues and Latin big band classics in festivals and gigs around the Bristol and Somerset area.
Made up of non-professional musicians from all over 20 postcodes, we are a fun-loving and inclusive group who nevertheless work hard to be the best standard we can, and bring our joy of swing music to communities around Bristol.
Our conductor, Jonny Bruce, is known throughout the country as an outstanding trumpet player, as well as being extremely passionate about bringing big band music to the forefront of the Bristol jazz and blues scene.
We also love to collaborate with local musicians – be they guest conductors, soloists, arrangers, singers or groups – drawing from Bristol’s rich jazz scene to offer our members the best opportunities to play and learn, and create exciting music projects around Bristol.
We rehearse once a week in Windmill Hill and gig two or three times a term in and around Bristol.
If you’re interested in joining us, collaborating with the band or booking us for a gig, please get in touch here!
We look forward to hearing from you!
BEHIND THE BAND
Who’s Who
JONNY BRUCE
Conductor
Bristol based Jonny Bruce is one of the most in demand trumpet players on the scene today. Working as both a soloist and a lead player in a variety of musical contexts, Jonny has received much critical acclaim for his fiery trumpet work.
From Bobby Shew, Fred Wesley and Pee Wee Ellis to Kelis and Illa J, his trumpet has seen him perform at venues and festivals across the world with many greats from a variety of genres.
Many will have seen him as a featured soloist with gypsy outfit Moscow Drug Club. He is also the co-bandleader, along with Denny Ilett, of the Bruce/Ilett Big Band, and the Musical Director of the Bristol Community Big Band.
A graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Jonny is an active educator, both with private students and as a tutor on various music courses.
SOPHIE JONES
Administrator
Sophie Jones currently works as Head of Digital Marketing at Bristol Old Vic.
She has many years of experience - and a huge passion for - performing with and managing amateur arts groups and societies. From assisting European tours with her youth choir in Swansea over four years, to reviving a defunct Cambridge drama society, she knows all about cajoling hard-working people into giving their free time to the arts.
A lifetime lover of jazz and blues, Sophie got a real taste for swing music while playing alto sax in a local big band in Berlin.
She joined Bristol Community Big Band in 2014 and took over as administrator two years later.
Since then she's brought BCBB blaring into the Bristol jazz scene, with headline slots at Bristol Harbour Festival, Bristol International Jazz & Blues Festival and the Dig For Victory Festival, along with many community and charity events (and the occasional loud wedding!)
HISTORY
Founded in 2013, BCBB was pioneered by three local musicians and arts management professionals (Trish Brown, Jon Herbert and Natalie Hingston) who believed in providing an opportunity for all musicians to join a big band ensemble.
The ethos of the band was always to be inclusive rather than exclusive, following in the footsteps of its sister project, Bath Community Big Band, which has been running in Bath since 2009.
With nationally renowned trumpeter Jonny Bruce at the helm, BCBB has gone from strength to strength, with 30 regular members and a repertoire bursting at the seams.