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Sugar Ray Ford Jazz Orchestra
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The Sugar Ray Ford Orchestra are one of the most prestigious and highly acclaimed swing jazz bands in the UK. They are ideal for a 1940's/50's themed night. Their blend of high energy, jump-jive, swing, and R&B ensures that the dance floor is where all your guests want to be. Their truly unique high energy original music arrangements will keep the crowd wanting more. Clients include Vogue, British Airways and many other blue chip companies.
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Bim Bam Baby (Mysels) |
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That Old Black (Magic Arlen/Mercer) |
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Sittin On it (Mann/Bernard) |
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Walkin in the Sunshine of your Love (Merrill) |
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I Done Done It (Milburn/Toombs) |
To begin with there was Sugar Ray's Flying Fortress, a highly entertaining and successful band which toured the UK and Europe from 1988 until 1998. Their CD, Bim Bam Baby is available from Ace Records. In 1999 a new, larger and more dynamic band was set up called the Sugar Ray Ford Orchestra. The line up was extended to include trumpet, trombone, three saxophones, piano, guitar, bass and drums, not to mention the very versatile Sugar Ray himself on vocals, tenor sax, percussion and occasionally guitar.
The band aims to recreate a variety of styles from the fifties and sixties, including Jump-Jive, Latin, R&B, and the occasional foray into mellow lounge sounds. Artists covered by the band include Wynonie Harris, Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Bullmoose Jackson and Andy Williams to mention but a few, however the Sugar Ray Ford Orchestra plays many original arrangements of well known songs, Flying Home, That Old Black Magic, Manteca and so on.
Sugar Ray himself was recently featured in a BBC dramatisation of the Kingsley Amis novel Lucky Jim.
Professionalism is very important to the band, and although a sense of fun is apparent at all times every one of the musicians is a highly trained and experienced professional. Amongst their freelance activities, the band members can list Chris Barber, Wynton Marsalis, London Jazz Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Jive Cats, Jools Holland etc.
