Hugo Jennings Big Band

About this event

The Hugo Jennings Big Band is fast gaining a reputation as one of the most swinging and unique voices on the London jazz scene. This performance will see some of the very finest musicians in Britain perform a broad variety of repertoire, including scenes from Jennings's new show "Romeo and Juliet in Swing", featuring original arrangements of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. They will also perform arrangements from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Oliver!, and the Sound of Music, as well as big band classics from the Duke Ellington and Count Basie Orchestras, the Dizzy Gillespie big band and Terry Gibbs Dream Band, and much more. The Hugo Jennings Big Band features an all-star lineup of some of the most established names in British jazz today, alongside many of the shining young talents of the London scene. They will be presenting a broad programme of original arrangements as well as classics and hidden gems from the 20th Century big band repertoire. For the first time since its premiere at the Clapham Grand to open the 2026 Battersea Jazz Festival, the band will perform material from "Romeo and Juliet in Swing"; Jennings's brand new show featuring original jazz arrangements of music from Prokofiev's ballet "Romeo and Juliet", described as "a unique and fascinating project which most certainly deserves a far wider audience" by UKJazzNews.