About

All about the band

Celebrating 40 years of big band music making in 2026 

Formed in Brighton by Dave Masters and Graham Scott in 1986, the band has continued after Dave's departure to Australia now under the baton of John Woodward and administered and managed by John Lake.

The band changed its name to the Brighton Big Band in 2014 and with a new repertoire and an injection of new talented musicians has a blossoming gig calendar for 2025.

Current band members are;

Musical Director: John Woodward
Saxes; Tom Joris, Bernie Keohane, Lisa Baker, Andy Pickett, Helen Catt, Phil Paton and Ali Acason
Trombones; Graham Mussard, Colin Head, James Marsh and James Benka Coxer
Trumpets; Arthur Catt, Chris Muir, Angela Rabone, Martin Bradley
Rhythm Section; Nik Carter (Drums), Macer Hall (Guitar), Ken Austen (Bass) and John Lake (piano)
Vocalists: Ruth Fahie and Dave Williams.

What people say about the band.

Sally Conniff from Rottingdean Parc Charity raising funds for children's facilities in the area;

"Thank you so much for Saturday night.  We had a fabulous evening and have received lots of very positive feedback from the attendees. The band were fantastic as always.  I hope they enjoyed the evening as much as we did.   

Hopefully we have raised a good amount of money for our charity.

Thanks again to all of you for making the evening so successful."