Bright Stars of Jazz

About Bright Stars of Jazz

The Bright Stars of Jazz were formed in 1999 by two friends Allen Beechey and George Fagg. Frustrated at playing with older bands and keen to play something other than British Trad, they decided to form a band full of the finest young jazz talent in London. Setting out their stall to play hard swinging Chicago style jazz of the 1940's & 50's a la Eddie Condon, the band began carving out a polished reputation performing at jazz festivals and clubs in the UK.

The Bright Stars have recorded three successful albums and are currently working on a fourth. Their 1st album 'Parish Business' sold 1000 copies and their second, 'Bridging the Gap', recorded with Lake Records, was rated by Jazz Review magazine in the top 25 jazz albums recorded in 2002. With their third album, the band fulfilled a long-held ambition to record for the US record label Jazzology, the largest traditional jazz record label in the world.

With new players coming into the band bringing fresh ideas, the band's repertoire has widened to encompass mainstream, New Orleans, Blues and Swing. The band has performed at many jazz concert and festival venues including: Brecon Jazz Festival, 100 Club, Oxford Street, the Purcell Room, Rocca Festival (Italy), Keswick Jazz Festival, Swanage Jazz Festival, Holywood Jazz Festival (N.Ireland), Isle of Bute Jazz Festival and many more.