Following our recent "X-Factor" style audtions, we are pleased to announce that Lorraine Dobby has been chosen as our new female vocalist to complement our existing female vocalist, Cathy Tornbohm The concert at St Michaels will be the debut event for Lorraine so get your tickets now and come along to this celebration concert.
Celebrating Simon Ward's 10 year anniversary as muscal director of IJO, order your tickets online from the Anvil box office or by calling 01256 844 244.
Make sure you don't miss this "Event of the decade"
The show also features a special guest appearance by the famous jazz trumpeter Paul Eshelby, BBC big band and musical director of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra 2
500th anniversary celebration. Concert starts at 7.30pm Tickets cost £7.00 each - available from the church office on 01256 329528 St Michael's Church
The 3rd of our free informal concerts this year at the AWE Recreation Society. Concert starts at 8.15pm. Admission is FREE - All welcome
IJO return to Aldworth Science College in Basingstoke for another evening of ballroom, latin, swing and jive dancing. Further details to follow but if you are interested in reserving your tickets now then please do get in touch using our Contacts page
The 4th of our free, informal concerts at the AWE Recreation Society. Concert starts at 8.15pm. Admission is FREE - All welcome
IJO were featured in a BBC Radio 3 broadcast in October celebrating music making across the country. Play To The Nation, presented by Petroc Trelawny featured bands, choirs and orchestras from across Great Britain. Our performance of 'When You're Smiling' recorded by bassist John Feaver at the Save the Children concert earlier this year was played and our band leader Simon Ward interviewed. The track features a tenor sax solo by Tim 'Toots' Leonard who got a mention but the whole band were delighted to have been chosen and the track sounded especially good on the 'wireless'!
Innovations Jazz Orchestra was formed in 2000 and currently consists of 25 regular musicians who enjoy playing big band, swing and jazz music. The sound of the band in full swing is something to behold - we hope you will be able to come to one of our events to listen for yourself.
Band leader Simon Ward's musical upbringing was steeped in the jazz greats - Sinatra, Basie, Ellington, Fitzgerald and the love of this golden era of music is shared amongst all the band members. Innovations Jazz Orchestra was formed to capture the very best of this genre of music whilst taking a broad minded approach to the repertoire to include not only some of the greats, but also tunes that perhaps don't get heard too often in big band music. The addition of a flute section offers a great versatility to the band's sound - at full pelt, the full sound of the woodwind is a perfect contrast to the strength of the brass whilst in the softer numbers, the flutes add a wonderful lyrical dimension to the sound.
Since it's formation, over 100 different musicians have played with IJO either as guests, stand-ins or at rehearsals. IJO welcomes musicians who would like to come and 'have a blow' with the band for an evening - keep an eye on the site for any current vacancies in IJO.
We currently have no regular vacancies in the band but if you are a good standard and want to find out more about the band then please contact our Musical Director, Simon Ward, on 07932 673579
IJO is available for hire, either as a full orchestra, or in smaller combinations, ranging from a jazz-trio to a jazz-sextet.
Click here for details about hiring the orchestra.
We put on a number of regular concert performances each year. Click here for further details of our future concerts and to see our "Performance Archive"
If you can't wait for our next performance, Click Here to hear some clips from the band recorded "live" at one of our events.
The orchestra is a full member of Making Music and enjoys many benefits from this worthy organisation, such as £5 million of public liability insurance through their block insurance scheme.
Following our recent "X-Factor" style audtions, we are pleased to announce that Lorraine Dobby has been chosen as our new female vocalist to complement our existing female vocalist, Cathy Tornbohm The concert at St Michaels will be the debut event for Lorraine so get your tickets now and come along to this celebration concert. 
Celebrating Simon Ward's 10 year anniversary as muscal director of IJO, order your tickets online from the 
500th anniversary celebration.
IJO were featured in a BBC Radio 3 broadcast in October celebrating music making across the country. Play To The Nation, presented by Petroc Trelawny featured bands, choirs and orchestras from across Great Britain. Our performance of 'When You're Smiling' recorded by bassist John Feaver at the Save the Children concert earlier this year was played and our band leader Simon Ward interviewed. The track features a tenor sax solo by Tim 'Toots' Leonard who got a mention but the whole band were delighted to have been chosen and the track sounded especially good on the 'wireless'! 
