The Compaq Big Band is a high-enerygy, authentic 20-piece jazz ensemble showcasing the power of 14 horns, a cookin’ rhythm section, terrific instrumental soloists, and a great lead vocalist. Formed in 1975, the ensemble is one of the longest continuously operating full-size big bands in New England. They perform over three dozen times a year, for a diverse range of clients and events across the Greater Boston, Greater Worcester, Rhode Island, and Southern New Hampshire regions. Among their many accomplishments, the band toured Great Britain for ten days in the summer of 2006 and has been featured three times at New Hampshire Magazine’s "Best of New Hampshire" celebration. In 2007 and 2008 they produced and opened and sold-out concerts of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band from Los Angeles, California, the ‘gold standard’ for cutting edge big bands in the world today.

The band performs at swing dances, gala fundraisers, summer concert series, jazz festivals, nightclubs, and weddings, as well as at corporate and private functions. They have amassed a library of over 3,000 big band music titles, ranging from ‘Golden Age’ big band classics from the 1930’s and 1940’s to an impressive array of arrangements from the most exciting, progressive big band of the ‘50s through today.   Many of their vocal charts popularized by Ella Fitzgerald, Diane Schuur, Natalie Cole, Queen Latifah, Frank Sinata, Bobby Darin, Michael Buble, and more.  Their instrumental chart catalog emphasizes arrangements from Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band and the bands of Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson, Stan Kenton, Tom Kubis, John Clayton, Count Basie and others.

The Compaq Big Band’s two CDs, “Bandwidth” and “Hard Drive”, have met with rave reviews, and are played on New England jazz radio stations, on BBC2 in the United Kingdom, and on jazz radio shows in Sweden.

For more information please visit them at www.compaqbigband.com. For bookings or to find out more about the band please contact their Director, Al Saloky at (603)673-7683 or alsaloky@aol.com