Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra
The Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra or CUJO is Cambridge University's premier jazz ensemble, bringing together the best jazz musicians in the university.[1] The group is 20-strong and focuses on performing modern jazz arrangements by the leading big bands of today, as well as a full repertory of standards, swing, and funk and a number of classic vocal charts.
CUJO has performed in numerous professional venues in the UK on national tours including the Bull's Head in Barnes, won gold awards in UK-wide big band competitions and has collaborated with world-famous musicians, composers and arrangers such as Laurence Cottle (2013), Stan Sulzmann (2012), Steve Waterman (2010), Issie Barratt and Mike Gibbs (2009), and Mark Nightingale (2007). It regularly performs gigs in Cambridge including numerous May Balls and participates in an annual varsity big band match against the Oxford University Jazz Orchestra.[2]
The band regularly tours abroad: in the 09-10 academic year CUJO played at the Villa Wolkonsky and Casa del Jazz[3] in Rome in April, and in July appeared at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. In the 12-13 academic year CUJO toured to Istanbul, performing at various jazz venues.
