The Blue Mountains Jazz Ensemble, established in 2008, is a not-for-profit volunteer musical group. It operates as an entity of Blue Mountains Concert Band Incorporated.
Aims
• Support local community events such as festivals & markets
• Represent the Blue Mountains region in eisteddfods, band championships & other musical competitions
• Encourage people of all ages in the Blue Mountains region to take a personal interest in playing a musical instrument
• Provide an opportunity for ensemble members to develop personal musical skills
• Increase the public profile of Mountains Youth Band and Blue Mountains Concert Band
• Provide more challenging musical scores for advanced concert band members to play
Leadership
Blue Mountains Jazz Ensemble is administered by Keith Arblaster and Brett Duncan.
The current Musical Director of BMJE is Tim Coggins.
Tim is currently studying for a Music Performance in Jazz at the University of Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He is an accomplished jazz musician and a member of a number of concert bands and jazz ensembles. While his specialty is jazz trombone, Tim also plays a variety of instruments, including euphonium, piano and bass guitar. He is a regular instrumental tutor at concert band masterclasses and music enrichment events, and also currently teaches trombone and jazz studies. Tim's musical interests range from swing to latin and funk. His aim is to ensure that the repertoire of BMJE captures the character and energy of the band and provides audiences with an exciting and revitalizing jazz experience
Instrumentation
Blue Mountains Jazz Ensemble is a normal sized bigband (5 saxes, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, guitar, piano, bass, drums) which means there are a limited number of places for each instrument. Due to this limitation, BMJE is an auditioning band, however there are still places for some instruments. Please contact us via our contact page if you are a Trumpet or Bass Trombone player and are interesting in playing!
Rehearsals
We currently rehearse in Warrimoo from 3pm-5pm each Sunday afternoon during the school term.
Fees
The membership fee is $25 per school term for each jazz ensemble member. The membership fee is needed to offset the cost of rehearsal venue rental, sheet music and other administration expenses.
Please contact us via our contact page if you have any more questions.
