Lunchtime Special: Patchwork Jazz Orchestra

Winners of the 2015 Peter Whittingham Jazz Award, the 17-piece Patchwork Jazz Orchestra is a collective London-based ensemble dedicated to championing big band music in a contemporary setting. Originally put together to perform at the 2014 London Jazz Festival, the PJO features many of the brightest and most talented young performers and composers of their generation, including the likes of bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado, trombonists Kieran McLeod, Tom Green and Yusuf Narçin and saxophonists Matthew Herd, Sam Miles and Sam Rapley. As the band likes to describe it: " The collaborative nature of the orchestra is one of its most valuable assets and the diversity of influences and personalities that exist within it is also a huge benefit. The way personal relations, composition and performance all feed into each other in Patchwork Jazz Orchestra is unique". A fascinating blend of classic Big Band writing and contemporary playing, this award-winning band is well worth catching.

"Patchwork Jazz Orchestra are plugged into the spirit of the current London jazz scene, littered with talented writers and players unafraid of thinking big." Julian Joseph