The New Atomic, the latest album by the Leeds-based Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band is, indeed, a celebration of the neglected possibilities of the big band. Following World War II, big bands, with their large ensembles were considered commercially unviable for most, hence the transition to the smaller groups of the bebop era. They are still more scarce in our own times for the same, economic reasons. As such, an undertaking like this, led by primary composer Fergus Quill, is a true labour of love, of spiritual adventure and big fun, a joyful blast of collective noise. The New Atomic celebrates the full gamut of big band music from the big screen showbiz razzmatazz of yore to Charles Mingus, to John Zorn, to the Afrofuturism of Sun Ra.

Shifting in personnel but generally comprising around 30 members, Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band is a multi-limbed, multi-headed jazz behemoth, sprawling in every direction. The New Atomic doesn’t just swing – it gallops, leaps, slows down pensively, plunges, ascends.

The album draws on bandleader Fergus Quill’s wide-ranging musical influences – from Duke Ellington and Sun Ra to Sunn O))) and Boredoms – while embracing a radical approach to big band music, as he explains:

“A lot of big band music released today to me feels vapid and soulless. A bad approximation of what at one time was radical art. I wanted to show a love for this music without feeling the need to keep it in a museum – a fun thing you could do with friends, not in an arms fair-funded venue in suits.

This album is a snapshot of music recorded over a mammoth three days at Nave Studios in September 2024, where 30+ members – past, present, and future – assembled to record as much of our book as possible. People brought their kids, and some made a big vegan dhal. We left with five hours of music. This is the first 40 minutes.

We were very happy to receive the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award which allowed us to record in a space big enough to accommodate us. As the band is constantly in flux, we felt it important to make a record at that point in time.

Everybody who plays on this record brings their own energy and together we are greater than we are apart. Giving people more freedom and control leads to things you'd never imagine alone.”

And so, ‘J Surfing On Saturn’ bursts forth with a big 60s action caper soundtrack vibe, shapeshifting restlessly, its repetitive brass hammer reminding of This Heat’s Health & Efficiency, before a baboom-tish flourish and then, quite suddenly, solitary pianistic runs which transport you somewhere stranger, more remote before everyone crashes back in again.

‘Theme from ‘The New Atomic’’ is a cluster of pinnaces, brass, wind, rising to the holy state of grace of the Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, New Orleans funeral march just the right side of chaotic.

Then, a masterstroke – a cover of Bob Dylan’s late 90s masterpiece ‘Love Sick’, complete with desolate vocal, laying bare the awfulness of love as a condition (“I’m sick of love but I’m in the thick of it”). A simple guitar pulse, flanked by the slow saw of a viola, before the rest of the band join in with a thunderous chorus of assent.

On ‘Do The Right Thing’, synths threaten to ascend into dog whistle territory, like uncontrollable brainwaves, with the brass section providing flesh and blood with their riffing and blowing, steaming like the heat rising from Harlem manholes.

'Playin’ The Names’ commences with abstract chanting before a brassy, full throttle free for all, driven by whoever’s percussive velocity, before undergoing a swift mood change, as shadows descend on ‘¡Besszilla!’ with its mock-cinematic, aggrandising narrative celebrating the “avant garde fingers” of “500 feet tall” Fergus Quill.

And then, another dramatic, inspired shift in tone – a voluptuous torch song, ‘Same Sky’, ballroom gown lush, richly arranged, delivered by Amy Clark in a manner reminiscent of Julie London or Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot, an homage to an all but lost genre.

Finally, an arrangement of the traditional song ‘I Shall Not Be Moved’, a plain, defiant solo vocal, before the rest of the ensemble for one last blast. It’s a brilliant affirmation that a music like this has to come from a sense of love, joy, communion, solidarity – the power of the people.

A portion of the album’s profits will go to War Child, supporting children affected by conflict worldwide.

Spectacular, wild and so on point. This is Big Band Jazz brought right up to date with added shronk and funk! On the right side of chaotic this carves out it's own sound. If you get chance to watch them you won't be disappointed and on record, WOAH! THIS IS GREAT!

The fact that soooooo many talented musicians are part of the band gives them such confidence to even attempt Dylan covers that'll blow you away! A total triumph and highly recommended!

By Matt