OURBIGBAND With Ben Allison
8:00 PM
Hailing from the small stretch of coastline where New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts meet, OURBIGBAND seeks to keep alive the tradition of the big band jazz orchestra. Through collaboration with today’s finest jazz performers and composers, OURBIGBAND strives to bring new, creative, relevant music to the New England community and beyond. Having partnered with jazz luminaries and legends like Dave Douglas, Curtis Hasselbring, Matt Ulery, and Frank Carlberg, OURBIGBAND has developed a reputation as a young, fresh, and highly skilled ensemble, capable of realizing dynamic new music as the highest degree. Teeming with improvisers, composers, diverse talents and tastes, the 17-piece outfit delivers a modern and incisive sound. OURBIGBAND is not your granddaddy’s big band…
Bassist/composer/bandleader Ben Allison has developed an international reputation as a performer, composer and producer and is a leading voice in contemporary jazz. Ben has organized and performed on over 150 tours, winning fans and building new audiences throughout the world with an adventurous yet accessible sound and a flair for the unexpected. Ben has released 12 albums of original music, the last 7 of which topped the national jazz radio charts, garnering him 9 SESAC Performance Awards.
At the age of 25, Ben formed the Jazz Composers Collective, a non-profit organization that fostered and presented new music. He acted as the Collective’s Artistic Director from 1992 until 2005. In 2012, he represented The Recording Academy (sponsor of The Grammys) when he testified before Congress on issues relating to performance royalties. He has also served as Vice President, Chair of the Advocacy Committee and organized the first ever Grammy Town Hall in 2015.
Ben has written articles for Downbeat, JazzTimes, the IAJE Journal, Premier Guitar, Bass Player as well as his own blog. He wrote the theme for the popular NPR radio program On The Media, which is heard by over 1,500,000 listeners weekly. Ben was a featured composer and performer with the Jazz Sinfonica, 80-piece symphony orchestra, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2005, 2008 and 2013. He has conducted residencies and workshops in over 100 universities and conservatories throughout Europe, North and South America.
