1996-1999
The Cardinal Vaughan Big Band was formed in September 1996 and gave its first public performance (Ellington’s Take the A Train and Satin Doll) in February 1997 at the School’s Spring Concert.
Reaction to this first performance was huge and the Band, fueled with enthusiasm, began to learn music very quickly. Soon the Band had quite a substantial repertoire and was able to play again at the Summer Concert and also at Parents’ Events. At this time the Band’s horns were mostly very young (many of the soloists of later years were playing in this ‘First Testament’ Band) but the rhythm section were mostly older, including the original drummer, Bernard Andrews, original pianist, Roy Kelly, original guitarist, James Edwards and original bassist, Mark Ferguson.
It was this Band that toured in Paris in February 1999 and also reached the final of the National Festival of Music for Youth in the same year. Another highlight was performing at the Barbican as part of a Rotary Club Concert. In March 1997 the Band gave its first ‘Evening with the Big Band’, the first of three highly successful Big Band Evenings held at the School.
Tragedy struck the Band when in 1999 founding member Fabian Maingot died suddenly from a heart condition. The Band gave a concert in Fabian’s memory in March 2009 to mark the tenth anniversary of his death.
1999-2003
The departure from the School of the original rhythm section in 1999 brought in new blood to the Band, boys of the same age as the horns. The Band developed greatly over the following year or so and the core repertoire that the Band would play in so many places in the coming years was put in place at this time. There were now some clearly very talented boys playing: Alex Le and David Thomas on saxophone, Alexander Taroghion on trumpet, Peter Davoren on piano and David O’Neill on drums were set to become real stars and feature heavily on the recordings that Band made in these years. The stars were ably assisted by strong players in nearly all seats, especially on bass (Tim Jenkinson). (Pictured, Alex Le and David Thomas - The Bull’s Head, 2002).
In 2000 the Band made its first of many appearances at the Bull’s Head, Barnes and began to build quite a following independent of the School. Appearances followed at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival and the 606 Club, again the Band were finalists in the National Festival of Music for Youth and tours were held to Barcelona and Holland.
These years also saw the Band make its two recordings, The Heat’s On and Moment’s Notice. Recorded at Gateway studios in Kingston by Miles Ashon, head of sound at Ronnie Scotts, the CDs set new standards for the Band. There can be no denying that the standard of the Band was at its best yet during these years and the repertoire the Band tackled was very advanced.
The Band commissioned two charts during this time, one from American saxophonist Frank Griffith (Holland Park - 2002) and one from jazz legend and Yellow Jacket Bob Mintzer (Go Go - 2003). Both musicians visited the School to work on their music with the Band. In addition, the Band gave a famous performance with jazz vocalist Salena Jones (Picure - Salena Jones with the Band at St John’s, Smith Square, October 2002)
2003-2006
The departure from School of almost the whole Band in July 2003 allowed the younger boys to come to the fore during a period of rebuilding. There were some good performances during this time and key players soon emerged, Hannibal Morris and Michael Bateson-Hill amongst them. A new rhythm section formed around Dominic Brennan on the drums. The Band was playing very well again by 2005 and with Richard Jones leading the trumpet section and Robert Fernandes on lead alto the Band returned to the Bull’s Head and also toured in the USA with the School Choir. John Gulian on Baritone and Konrad Swiecki on Tenor were other notable contributors during this time.
2006 - 2011
As the third generation of the Band left the School rebuilding began again this time with the rhythm section, filling all the four seats with accomplished players for the first time in several years. The Band’s sax section developed rapidly and some excellent trumpet players plus a very promising trombone section. A performance at St John’s, Smith Square in April 2008 saw the band back to its finest form - they were joined on this occasion by former members Alex Taroghion and Peter Davoren. In July 2008 the Band were once again finalists at The National Festival of Music For Youth, appearing at Birmingham Town Hall. The Band has held annual Big Band Evenings and in March 2009 the band gave a remarkable performance at St John’s, Smith Square in a concert in memory of former member Fabian Maingot (see above). On this occasion the boys were joined by world renowned saxophonist and composer Jason Yarde. The programme included Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, with Christopher Kalcov on the solo clarinet, the world premiere of a newly commissioned chart, Addison Blues (2009), by pianist and composer Richard Harris and also the freely improvised work with Jason Yarde.
The band has been working alongside jazz legend Mornington Lockett in tutoring some saxophonists, and has been joined by him at the Bull’s Head in recent months. The band also commissioned a fourth chart by American composer and arranger Jeff Jarvis, Smackdown (2010), which was premiered at the NMFY Big Band Finals, Birmingham in July 2010, where the band was awarded a TES Jazz Award, and invited to the School Proms to perform at the Royal Albert Hall. The fourth generation gave it’s last appearance in 2011’s Birmingham finals, with ‘I Remember You’ and ‘How About You’ sung by Peter Morrell giving emotional last performances.
