The Badgers Big Band is not just another Big Band!
Musical Director, Richard Nield (Mr Badger to his friends), is responsible for herding together this motley crew of musicians and providing them with an outlet for their talent and eccentricities.
Of course, he is obliged to say that they are a selection of the very best musicians in the land, chosen only after they have each completed a set of quests to prove that they are worthy, but this is what every big band website says about their people.
Just a quick perusal of the Badger ID Parade page will reveal just who we are dealing with here – an embarrassing richness of musicality and reputation!
To attract these people to this ambitious project, Mr Badger started off by creating a honey pot library of music chosen for being interesting, exciting accessible, and sometime challenging to everyone on both sides of the music stands. There was also strong focus on avoiding including too much music that was regularly being played by lots of other bands. The connecting theme is that there is nearly always one aspect of each chart that everyone will recognise – be it the melody, the style of arrangement, or that magical quality of being new music that is somehow instantly familiar.
Richard is very smug over regular feedback he gets from guest musicians who have sat in with the band – comments like “That’s the most enjoyment I’ve got from playing with a band for a couple of years”, “I never enjoyed playing that chart before I played it with your band”. Even better are the times Richard overhears people raving about the band in “private” conversations – Mrs Badger often has to give him a slap when he returns home to deflate his big head when he arrives back home.
Let’s fling a few names of our featured composers, arrangers and bandleaders at the wall and see how many you recognise.
Tom Kubis ~Doc Severinsen (Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show Band) ~ Bob Florence ~Matt Catingub ~ Maynard Ferguson ~ Buddy Rich ~ Les Hooper ~ Stan Kenton (the later years) ~ Bob Mintzer ~ Sammy Nestico ~ SWR Big Band ~ Gordon Goodwin (Big Phat Band)
Plenty of Swing, Latin, Rock, and Funk to wrap your ears around there!
Typically, the gigs are relaxed affairs ~ no bow ties and fancy jackets or waistcoats.
Where possible, we go for cabaret or pub seating for the audience, and the band uniform is “whatever you’re wearing”.
Oh, and if you only love “Glenn Miller and dancing”, we are not the band for you. We respect the heritage and all branches of the Big Band genre, but these Badgers don’t do that sort of cavorting.
