The Byres Road Big Band

Under the direction of conductor Paul Towndrow the Byres Road Big Band will be playing two new suites for jazz big band by composer and band member J Simon van der Walt ‘Between Two Oceans’ and the new ‘Byres Road Suite’.Alongside that, we’ll be playing some of our regular big band favourites, including music from the bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Stan Kenton, and Buddy Rich.Simon is 65 this May, and this concert is part of a series celebrating his creative work over the years.

Simon says, ‘Looking back on 30-odd years of writing music, I’ve explored a lot of different things: contemporary classical, jazz, experimental, electronic, Javanese gamelan, and everything in between.

Jazz what got me started as a musician in the first place though, and is still the closest to my heart.’