Fergus Quill’s Imaginary Big Band

Leeds’s  biggest and best cult 26-piece music ensemble Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band, bring their cosmic jazz, punk & noise vibes back to the Chapel Allerton Festival after their memorable performance at CAAF in 2023

IBB play rowdy and always huge sounding arrangements of an incredibly diverse selection of music, originally mainly other people’s compositions by legends such as Duke Ellington, Sun Ra and Count Basie. However, since the release of their self-titled debut album in 2022, they now mainly perform original music composed by Fergus Quill and other members of the group.

They’ve played EFG London Jazz Festival, Manchester Jazz Festival, The Vortex Jazz Club London, plus gigs Birmingham, Nottingham and Lancaster (recording their second album “Live At Lancaster Jazz Festival”, at the latter). FIBB’s music has been played on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 and Jazz FM.

If you’re lucky to catch them at one of their rare live appearances, it’s less like a standard gig and more like a huge sound and vision experience. A place where fantastic musicianship and soloing meet theatrical drama and punk attitude, with a huge dose of humour binding it all together. Not to be missed.