New Regency Orchestra

New Regency Orchestra

New Regency Orchestra is an orchestra from London that performs as an 18-piece Afro-Cuban jazz big band. Its repertoire focuses on big band, jazz, latin, latin jazz, mambo and salsa, and it reworks music associated with the musical mix of New York in the 1950s. The project presents new versions of material from that era, including music linked to René Hernandez, Tito Puente, Rafael Labasta and Orlando Marin, with the aim of bringing a more contemporary energy to those compositions.

Formation and direction

The orchestra is led by Lex Blondin, its artistic director, who is also behind Total Refreshment Centre and co-founder of Church of Sound. The idea grows from his long interest in jazz and his discovery of Afro-Cuban rhythms from mid-1940s New York, especially through Mario Bauzá. That history connects the ensemble to the period when jazz musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker worked with Cuban figures including Machito and Chano Pozo.

Band and presentation

New Regency Orchestra forms a fluid 18-piece line-up of some of London’s Latin and jazz players. Andy Wood of Como No is co-captain, and Eliane Correa serves as musical director and bandleader. The group is associated with the dance-focused sound of the New York Palladium era, but presents that music in a form intended for modern performance settings.