Big Chief is a British

jazz band A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ...

that also incorporates

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

influences. The band is described by ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' as "an institution as much as a band, bundling jazz, blues and soul in one bag and shaking them vigorously". Its members included

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

Dick Heckstall-Smith Richard Malden Heckstall-Smith (26 September 1934 – 17 December 2004) was an English jazz and blues saxophonist. He played with some of the most influential English blues rock and jazz fusion bands of the 1960s and 1970s. He is known for pri ...

, and

Tony Reeves Anthony Reeves (born 18 April 1943, New Eltham, South East London) is an English bass guitarist/contrabassist, noted for his "distinctive and complex bass sound" and use of electronic effects. Career As a teenager Reeves learned orchestral doub ...

Band members

Big Chief's current band members are as follows: *Edward Benstead - Trumpet *John Fry - Saxophone/Vocals *Tony Reeves - Bass *Tony Edwards - Percussion/Vocals *Barry Langton - Guitar *Steve Taylor - Drums *Chris Fry - Trombone *Adrian Paton - Keyboards/Vocals

Discography

*''It don't make sense'' (1997) *''Steppin' Out'' (1999) *''Big Chief Live at the Bull'' (2003) *''Big Chief Live at the Dignity'' (2009) *''Big Chief On Broadway'' (2010)

References

* * * * {{Authority control British jazz ensembles