Featuring a starry line-up under the direction of award-winning tenorist Simon Spillett, the band’s mission statement is simple: to bring back the heady excitement of the Tubby Hayes Big Band in the 1960s, an outfit that raised the roof whenever and wherever it performed. This band follows in the same spirit, creating an intoxicating atmosphere in which its music communicates on every level, the entire package tied together with the leader’s signature insightful wit. Utilising a repertoire of Hayes’ own arrangements, many of which were never issued on record, as well as pieces by his contemporaries, trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar and pianist Harry South, the Simon Spillett Big Band has already proved hugely popular with those who have come to hear it. Its London debut in October 2021, at the landmark venue the 100 Club, drew an overflowing crowd, eager to catch what one writer has already dubbed “the most hard-swinging big band in existence right now.”