The tunes Population & Snakes and Ladders are a sampler from our album Wednesday night party club. The Long Lost Brothers are  launching these tunes at the Bird May 4 with Frozen Ocean & Cam Avery. seeya there

Dad, dancer, digger, disc-jockey, and event organiser, Ben Taaffe has been passionately collecting, playing and promoting all manner of underground music in Boorloo (Perth) for over twenty-something years. During this time you might have seen him blasting bass-bins, throwing disco-frisbees, blending slow-burners, or turning techno tables with a bag or three of well worn records in a backyard, nightclub, or warehouse around town 

…or you might have caught him co-hosting the long-running and legendary dance music radio show, Underground Solution, now running strong on RTRFM (every week!) for over 30 years (***only 16yrs or so since Ben joined the collective)! 

Ben’s large-scale dancefloor invocations are conducted regularly alongside Boorloo's best and some of the world’s leading DJ's, drawing patrons from far and wide. He’s the man with a plan behind the {MOVE} events and Freedom Time NYE Festival; a founding member of the Interzone, Planet X and System collectives; and on occasion he "daylights" as an independent creative programmer and events producer working with big wigs such as Perth Festival, WA Museum Boola Bardip, Fringe World and Red Bull Music Academy.

Umlaut Big Band is an orchestra of fourteen musicians that, under the direction of Pierre-Antoine Badaroux, explores both the historical "swing" repertory of big bands based on sound archives and manuscripts (1920-1940), through the music of Don Redman, Mary Lou Williams, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Benny Carter and others, but also European musicians. They developed a repertory of over 200 tracks and released 5 records in 10 years.

In the manner of the orchestras of early music, the historical research carried out from rare scores and recordings, is based on the intimate conviction that the arrangers, rarely featured in the history of jazz, are creators who never stop inventing new forms.

Too rarely tackled by composers in our days, the form of the big band is ideal for rich sound explorations, and starting a dialogue between a long tradition linked to jazz and the forms of contemporary inventions.

In its performances, the band favors the acoustic as well as a warm and festive atmosphere, whether they are playing in a concert hall or on a village square.

In residency at the Théâtre de l’Aquarium (La Cartoucherie, Paris) from end of 2019 to 2022, upon the invitation of the company La Vie Brève.

Line-up: 
Pierre-Antoine Badaroux : artistic direction, alto saxophone
Antonin-Tri Hoang : alto saxophone, clarinet
Pierre Borel :  tenor saxophone, clarinet
Geoffroy Gesser : tenor saxophone, clarinet
Benjamin Dousteyssier : alto, , baryton, bass saxophons
Brice Pichard : trumpet
Louis Laurain : trumpet
Gabriel Levasseur : trumpet
Fidel Fourneyron : trombone
Michaël Ballue : trombone
Romain Vuillemin : guitar, banjo
Matthieu Naulleau : piano
Sébastien Beliah : double bass
Antonin Gerbal : drums

Contact: umlautbb@gmail.com
Website : umlaut-bigband.com

FIBZDFREY ON SPOTIFY,APPLE MUSIC AND EVERY OTHER PLATFORM 🙏🏼

We are not music snobs. We prefer music connoisseurs.

New music from Ben Protasiewicz. Double E.P in the works and live band in progress. Thanks for checking this out. 
LOFI 4 track cassette recordings from Girrawheen, Perth WA 6064
all instruments and vocals by Ben.


Fall Electric is following