Brussels Jazz Orchestra: Piccadilly

The Brussels Jazz Orchestra is the Flemish jazz pride. The big band was founded in 1993 by Frank Vaganée, Serge Plume and Marc Godefroid and played its first notes in the Brussels jazz club “The Sounds”.

The Brussels Jazz Orchestra brought jazz to the Flemish people. But the ensemble's ambitions went further. Under the artistic direction of Frank Vaganée, the orchestra spread its wings and conquered foreign countries. In 2004, the American jazz magazine 'Down Beat' compiled a world ranking of the world's best big bands. The Brussels Jazz Orchestra was awarded eighth place. In February, the BJO was rewarded with the Flemish Culture Prize 2006 in the 'music' category.

In the series 'BJO vs The Big White Screen', the Brussels Jazz Orchestra continues the dialogue with silent films. This time it is the English film 'Piccadilly', which is set in the vibrant London nightlife during the jazz age. Frank Vaganée composed a dazzling soundtrack for 'Piccadilly'. He uses the BJO as a complete entity, but also includes smaller ensembles in the orchestra to obtain even more variation in the timbre. This beautiful jazz really does justice to the - already excellent - silent film...