Welcome to the website of East Anglia's Premier Big Band - Horn Factory!

We're based in Ipswich, and enjoy playing Big Band Jazz - tunes from the likes of Buddy Rich, Stan Kenton, Gordon Goodwin, Phil Collins, Jim Martin, Sammy Nestico, Michel Camillo and other modern big band sounds.

Several changes to report: Albert has decided to concentrate on his Masters Degree, and so Bob Airzee is now MD'ing the band. Our Bari player John is retiring from the band - we will miss you John!! Charlotte Beattie is our new Bari player, welcome Charlotte! We have new music to rehearse, and no gigs yet in the first half of the year, but watch this space, as several leads are being pursued. Our next gig is in June, at St Peter's on the Waterfront. This concert will close 2012's Ip-Art Festival.

We would like to welcome several new band members: Steve on trombone, Paul on lead trombone, Ivan on piano and Bob as Musical Director! It really has been worth the wait, and they all seemed to come along at once! We have also been in the process of auditioning some new trumpet players as we have said goodbye to Rob and Carl. Also leaving the band for pastures new (University!) is Adam. It's really good to be back at full strength and in a new season of gigs - the first of which will be at The Limes Hotel in Needham Market on the 13th November.

Today's the day! Please go to hornfactory.co.uk/ajw for all information about this event. If your device cannot load Flash content, then please call 01728 688615 or 07523 539400 and we will be happy to give you more information or reserve tickets for payment on the door.

Posters and tickets are ready to be made available, and a brand new website has been made specially for the event! Have a look at hornfactory.co.uk/ajw for more details! I will post ticket information as soon as it becomes available.

This event now has an official title - Aldeburgh Jazz Weekend! It will take place on the 16th and 17th July, mainly in the Jubiliee Hall in Aldeburgh. The acts so far include The Bobby Wellins Quartet, The Asaf Sirkis Trio, The Sole Bay Jazz Band, Trinity, PheflojoeJazz, Nick Smart's Jazz Matanzas and Horn Factory. We're still working on the exact details of the program, but tickets will be available soon! More details as soon as I have them!

There's a whole bunch of stuff going on.... the CD is still being mastered; the album artwork is nearly done; we've had two more gigs come in for June, have a look at the gigs page; once again we are in need of trombones! Such is life!; it's been a year since we invested in some mew music, and now we are looking into buying some more, it's great to run the new along with the old!

Lots of things have happened since we played at Halesworth in November - we've been working on some material for a recording, which is now complete, and we are waiting on our sound engineer to produce the final copy; we've had five gigs come in this year, one at a completely NEW jazz event in Suffolk; there's some more new music to rehearse; there have been a couple of changes of personnel, though we are still looking for a permanent MD and a pianist; and have a look at the recent photos from the Otley gig in November last year! Phew!

Lots more info to come on this exciting new venture, but I can tell you that Horn Factory will be playing on the Saturday night! More details to come including dates, and a dedicated website/section on this site!

Please post suggestions for the name of our album on our Facebook page (link in news feed above) !!

While we haven't really been out and about much since August, there has been a lot going on behind the scenes! We've been working towards putting together some material for a recording, which we hope to complete in early 2011. We do have a gig though this month - we're looking forward to an evening of jazz in Halesworth, and we have some new charts to play at this gig, which should be featuring on our recording project!

Have a look at our new Facebook page, please press the 'like' button and add us to your page, and don't forget to leave a message!

We're looking for a venue in the Ipswich area where we can play a monthly gig to promote jazz and also to try and raise the profile of the band in Ipswich. If you are interested, please let us know via email. Also please bear in mind that we are a 20 piece big band, so you need space to fit us in!

If you are a jazz composer and would like to write for HORN FACTORY, leave a contact via email and we can discuss what the line up (and versatility) of the band is! Maybe you have some charts to trade? If so, please get in touch!