University of Portsmouth Big Band
The Beginnings 89-90.......
It all started with an eight-piece Jazz Band set up by Damon Howles in the autumn of '89. Its main function was to play during intervals of the Poly Drama plays. They played for the first time in the Milton S.U. Bar for Poly Drama's December Play and a following night on their own in the Ents Hall at the Main S.U. The Band went on to play at various events for the Poly Drama, The Dramatic and Musical Society, the Nuffield Jazz Club and a Geography Ball on Spit Bank Fort. The Music consisted of Mainstream Jazz Standards by the likes of Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis.
Getting Bigger 90-91
Mark Davey and Philip Greaves from this band were dreaming of bigger things, such as starting up a dance band. So at the beginning of the next academic year, with the help of the new Director of Music, William McVicker (who bought them some music) they started the Portsmouth Polytechnic Dance Band. Mark Davey put down his sax, and picked up the baton to direct the new band. The standard was far from good for the first couple of months, but rose to being acceptable by Christmas. The first true appearance was at the Students Union Christmas Ball at an upstairs bar at the Guildhall. The band continued to improve and add to their number with a pianist and a drummer. They went on to play some more polished performances at the Nuffield Jazz Balls and S.U. Balls.
Going Places 91-92
The beginning of the next academic year saw an injection of talented new players who helped the band keep up a fast rate of improvement. The first formal public appearance of the band was on a Sunday in November '91 at the New Theatre Royal under its new name of The Portsmouth Polytechnic Big Band. Bye-laws 
dictated that there was to be no dancing on a Sunday so we were asked to take 'dance' out of our name! The following March an exchange visit was arranged with a similar band from Ripon College in North Yorkshire. Despite travelling 300 miles and the snow, the trip was a great success and pulled the band together socially and boosted confidence. The band continued to play for the S.U. and Nuffield Jazz events. They finished the academic year by playing at the University Inauguration Ball, and another name change - The University of Portsmouth Big Band.
Big Venues 92-93
The beginning of the next academic year again saw an influx of new players, and news of an offer of their own evening at the Guildhall. The band was immediately thrown into the hard work of preparing to fill the place with music and filling the place with people. The Drummer and Bari Sax Player pulled out all the stops on the advertising front with stories in newspapers, a 400 letter mail shot, 2000 printed balloons (courtesy of the University) and any way you could think of to advertise such an event. The night was a success and sold out. It certainly got the band noticed and an invite from the Guildhall to come back and play again for a Valentines Day ball. Mark Davey stepped down as Director and handed over to Tom Woodall.
Further and Further 93-94
Another opportunity came to visit another band this time from Newcastle. Concerts were held at the Newcastle Arts Centre (The White Swan) and Durham SU Hall. Down in Pompey we put on a joint concert at the Queen's Hotel to a packed audience. We were booked to play at Tom Woodall's sister's wedding in Tring. We had to replace the drummer for this gig and were lucky to have Jeff Holroyd (now a successful session drummer) to step in. Most of the band ended up sleeping in the Woodall's attic.
Big Audiences 94-95
Andrew Penfold was made director. We were booked to play on the Guildhall steps as part of the D-Day Anniversary. We had played there several times before but to a passing audience of two blokes and a dog. This time to my surprise it was different. The Square was packed with 5000 people and we were supporting Jo Loss and his Orchestra. Despite our drummer knocking himself out on the scaffolding and some of us being on an all day drinking session, it was a good gig.
On the Buses 95-96
The anniversary of VE Day was celebrated in Portsmouth with loads of street parties. The Lord Mayor (Alan Burnett) was due to visit all the street parties and then light the beacon on Portsdown Hill. Being a fan of the Big Band he had us follow him around, playing on top of a 1940's open top bus! We were all supplied WW2 uniforms from a military antique shop. Thus the Big Band toured Portsmouth with Andy Penfold at the front doing an impression of General Pattern.
Corporate Connections 96-97
Tim Symes was appointed new Director. We started off the year with playing on the top of Alders in Commercial Road. This year we managed to get Sponsorship from Chemring Group PLC. We did some charity work for the Macmillan Nurses. We started to invest in more equipment for the band and bought a new digital piano and new music stands.
Soul Man 97-98
James George took over as Director and introduced more soul numbers into the repertoire. We started making a name for ourselves playing at the Fleet and Firkin Pub. We managed to pull so many people into the pub that they sold out of beer! We were entered into the societies awards and managed to win the first Societies Trophy.
The Geography Society booked us to play at their end of year ball on Spit Bank Fort. This was a major challenge to get to as it is in the middle of the Solent! We managed to pack all the equipment onto a ferry then off onto the fort ready to play and then dismantle everything in time to catch the earlier ferry. Two large parcel trolleys were borrowed from the Harbour station to build in to a mini train to transport all our stuff. As the band had been drinking this seemed such fun that we attempted to use this to go all the way to the Nuffield Centre. This idea was abandoned when we found ourselves up a dead end street. During this year we invested further by buying a full PA system.
98-99
Ben Abbot became Director and continued to steer the bad in the same direction as James with a strong group of singers. We continued to have successful gig at the Fleet and Firkin and the Student Union Balls.
99-00
Richard Appleford succeeded as Director. One of our ex-players (Stuart Brierly) booked us to play for his wedding on HMS Warrior.
00-01
Ian Withycombe was elected Director. We worked with staff from the Entertainment Technology course to produce some studio recordings.
01-02
James Bourne moved from double bass to conducting as he took over as Director. The start of this year was blessed with an influx of good players. Although the band was new we managed to put on a polished performance in November with the Orchestra at the New Theatre Royal. A return to the New Theatre Royal as just the Big Band saw box office records broken not by only selling out but turning away a record number of people. Many new pieces of music were bought and a new electronic piano (as the old one was falling apart).
03-04
This year saw Will Keel-Stocker and John Bevan take over the directorial duties. The band didn't play any New Theatre Royal gigs due to extensive renovation work at the theatre. However this year did see the band's first performance on foreign soil, with the first of the Music Society's Tours. The band played at the University's Graduation Ball, followed by a short night's sleep for the lucky few, and a coach drive across Europe to Poland, where they played two performances. The first was outside a bar at the top of Mount Gunalowka in Zakopane, a beautiful spot to admire the town and surrounding countryside from (though not such a good spot for audience turnout). The second was more successful in this respect, with the band playing to an audience of hundreds in Krakow Town Square (the largest market square in Europe), and ending with the audience shouting for more (though the local authorities weren't too keen on this). The band also played a number of additional University and private balls, had a rehearsal with professional tutors from the Marine's school of music, and played a couple of concerts in local venues. The band also bought a new drum kit since up until then it had been relying on drummers who had brought their own kits down to uni; not an ideal situation.
02-03
Stuart Balkam and Ben Shaw collaborated to share Musical Director duties. The band continued to play gigs at the New Theatre Royal. With demand to join the band increasing, this year saw the start of auditions, helping the band to continue to improve, and to cope with the new and more challenging pieces that were being added to the repertoire. This year also saw the arrival of a spin off group; the Jazz Septet. The Septet (rarely consisting of exactly seven players) was created to perform at smaller functions for which the full band would be either impractical or inappropriate and consisted of various band members available for each gig.
04-05
Continuing the directorial duo approach, Ben Marion and Matt Cawkwell took the reigns. The band took back its spot at the New Theatre Royal and continued to play a number of gigs both for university balls and outside performances.
05-06
Alan Chung took over as both director of the Big Band and also as president of the Music Society. An impressive collection of new music was bought and the level of the band's performance quality continued to rise. The year ended with the band once again touring abroad alongside the other Music Society groups, this time with a trip to the Czech Republic. The band put on two performances, one at a concert hall, and one in Prague itself. This year also saw the band take on an impressive collection of plastic chairs.
06-07
The band had long had a tradition of poor jokes being mixed into the concert format, and with Dave Ramsey taking up the baton, this year was to be no exception. Performing two New Theatre Royal gigs, the infamous 'Orange Joke' tied the two, with the joke being set-up at the first gig in November, and the punch line appearing at the next, 3 months later! Aside from jokes, the band also had an influx of great new players and music, and continued to perform at venues throughout Portsmouth.
07-08
This year saw the band travel down through France and over the border into the northern regions of Spain where this years Music Society Tour started in Salamanca and then moved onto Madrid. Led by Rob (aka Bob) Petri the band performed two gigs, one in an art centre and the other at a small festival outside of Madrid. Back on British soil the band played a good run of gigs at the Fat Fox on Albert Road and as always played two gigs at the New Theatre Royal.
08-09
Taking the reigns for this academic year was the dynamic duo of Lee Hayden and Neil Brown. They sucessfully directed and managed the band at a number of gigs including the New Theatre Royal in December where the newly acquired medley of tunes from the hit motion picture 'Dreamgirls' went down a storm. The band also played at the opening of the University's new building, Dennis Sciama Building, which is now home to the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation.
09-10
Leading the band into 2009 was the slightly older, but much wiser partnership of John Mason and John Farren. With years of experience (at the pub) under their belts it was a good year. There were many gigs and it finished with a fantastic night at the University of Portsmouth Graduation Ball where the Big Band really got the party started!