Daniel Casimir Big Band [Jazz]

About this event

“With his supple basslines and effortlessly warm tone, bassist Daniel Casimir has been the driving force behind new festival stars such as Nubya Garcia and Joe Armon-Jones…” – Jazzwise

Daniel Casimir Big Band is a bold large-ensemble project led by one of the UK’s most distinctive composer-bassist voices. Rooted in deep groove, expansive orchestration and a clear artistic philosophy, the band exists as a vehicle for Casimir’s writing —music that translates lived experience, emotion and social commentary into richly detailed instrumental narratives.

Following widespread acclaim for his 2021 album Boxed In, Casimir’s latest project Balance confirms his status as an artist shaping the future of contemporary jazz. Described by Jazzwise as a “wall of Technicolour sound”, Balance is praised for its rare ability to balance accessibility, ambition and depth. The integration of brass, rhythm section and strings is seamless —not ornamental, but structural —allowing Casimir to stretch traditional big band language into something modern, fluid and socially aware.

Live, the Daniel Casimir Big Band has become a standout presence on the UK festival circuit. A near sell-out headline performance at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival was met with rapt attention, described as “a special, invite-only feeling event” in which compositions unfolded with clarity, warmth and intensity. Casimir’s writing invites listeners inside the meaning of the music – stories told not through lyrics, but through harmony, rhythm and texture. Tracks such as Music Not Numbers articulate a clear artistic stance, challenging streaming-era metrics while reaffirming music as an expressive, human act. His movement between electric bass and double bass anchors the ensemble, combining authority of tone with expressive freedom.

A former Royal Birmingham Conservatoire student and now educator, Casimir brings a rare humility and generosity to the stage, qualities that resonate deeply in performance. His work has been heard at iconic venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Ronnie Scott’s and The Jazz Café, and has earned major recognition including Jazz FM Instrumentalist of the Year, Parliamentary Jazz Award Album of the Year, and the 2024 Arts Foundation Award for Jazz Composition. With the Daniel Casimir Big Band, his vision is fully realised: ambitious yet grounded, intellectually rigorous yet emotionally open – music to get lost in, and music that lingers long after the final note..

“If ever proof were needed that London’s young Jazz scene is on fire right now, here it was: first up, the conservatoire trained, in demand double bassist and composer Daniel Casimir, leading a crack quartet of fellow rising stars through a set of tunes from his excellent EP, Escapee.” – Evening Standard

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