CONNEXION BIG BAND
ABOUT US
A stylistically unique Jazz Band from day one, Connexion Big Band is one of Canberra's oldest and most established big bands, known for getting audiences on their feet dancing the night away. Throughout the course of the band’s union they have won over the hearts of music lovers from all walks of life, performing at a variety of venues, making public appearances and celebrating jazz as part of our lives.
Directed by Justin Buckingham and featuring several of Canberra's top jazz vocalists, ConneXion Big Band recreates the powerful and famous 18-piece big horn sound, playing a diverse range of repertoire from a library of more than 500 charts. Our repertoire spans vintage swing from the early 1940s (think Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Ella Fitzgerald), hits of the 1960s-1980s (think James Bond, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles and the Blues Brothers) through to contemporary jazz works (like Bob Mintzer and Stan Kenton) and even works by Australian jazz composers and arrangers.
We specialise in tailoring our music selections to suit the occasion, whether it be weddings, vintage dance events, conferences, corporate functions, or festivals with music-loving audiences. We even offer a small jazz ensemble for those more intimate occasions to set the atmosphere before bringing out the big horn sound of the full big band. We also encourage our saxophone 'front line' members to 'double' on clarinet and/or flute at times in order to better capture the sound of some of the great early big bands.
Regularly teaming up with Canberra-based swing dancers, ConneXion Big Band is guaranteed to entertain audiences and get their feet tapping all night long. If you're organising a wedding, party, conference dinner, ball or any other celebration, we are the band for you.
CONTACT
BAND MEMBERS
Band Leader
JUSTIN BUCKINGHAM
Justin Buckingham trained in jazz saxophone and woodwinds at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under teachers such as David Theak, Dale Barlow, and Mike Nock and previously in classical saxophone under James Nightengale. Since completing formal education he has played in a variety of settings such as reggae with Revolution Incorporated, Afrobeat with Lyre Byrdland and Fat Possum, contemporary classical on Baritone Sax with the Australian Wind Symphony, and continental folk traditions with Akkordeonist Anton Wurzer as well as with the Conservatorium Jazz Orchestra, the Divergence Jazz Orchestra, and Kinetic Jazz Orchestra in Sydney.
In 2020 he accepted the musical directorship of Spectrum Big Band and Connexion Big Band . Justin’s new project is Rhythm Capital, a band whose repertoire is arranged and written in collaboration with swing dancers so that the compositional style and the band feel are maximally appropriate to different types of dance in the genre.
Sweet Georgia Brown
