Wonderbrass: A South Wales jazz collective
Issue: Vol 5 No. 1 (2011) Vol. 5.1/5.2 (2011)
Journal: Jazz Research Journal
Subject Areas: Popular Music
Abstract:
Wonderbrass is a community jazz big band based in South Wales, UK. This case study traces the origins of the band in various projects dating from the late 1980s, and its development into a self-sustaining musical collective. Despite a huge turnover of personnel the band has survived as a distinctive entity on the Welsh musical scene for over twenty years by pooling its resources, developing its members’ musical skills, remaining inclusive and promoting the idea that musical excellence is not the sole domain of musical professionals. This case study also looks at some of the crises that inclusivity and collectivity can precipitate.
Author: Rob Smith
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