Name: Tracey Maxfield

Instrument: Alto sax, clarinet, tenor sax (when required)

Role: Leader/ Musical Director

 

At the age of 7, my hands were finally big enough to span an octave of the piano keyboard and my parents took me to my first piano lesson. So began a musical adventure that has lasted a lifetime and been a constant source of enjoyment, whichever instrument I’m playing. Aged 9 the clarinet made its appearance and I was fortunate to be a part of a generation who had access to free lessons at school, an opportunity I grasped with both hands and which got me neatly out of double maths too!  The end of my school musical career dovetailed neatly with joining the Bradford Metropolitan Concert Band at 18 on the repiano stand.  After a short tenure as solo clarinet, I took up the alto saxophone and began to seriously indulge my passion for big band music. In 2006 I joined a Dance Band and began to play the standards that I’d only ever heard on CD. After playing many different types of big band, dance and swing music at gigs both private and public, it became apparent that there was a place in the local music scene for big band favourites and numbers currently enjoying the swing revival not only to sit and listen to, but also to get up and jive to.

 

It was time to take the plunge and realise a lifelong dream of setting up a big band playing the kind of music I have lived and breathed since childhood. Having been a part of the local musical community for many years, we put out the invitation to friends and friends of friends we’ve known and played alongside for many years. The response was both astonishing and humbling! Word began to spread and as the fledgling band’s repertoire began to grow, so did the band membership. Our plan was always to have at least 2 players per pad, as far as is practical, so that we would be in the privileged position of always being able to play any gig we took a booking for, despite diary clashes with other local bands that some of our membership also played in.

 As a result, we are a big band with a full and smooth sound that does justice to the great Miller, Basie, Armstrong, Ellington, Kenton (to name but a few!) numbers from the past that are still wowing audiences today.

 We have always had an open, positive and inclusive ethos running through the band and as the music we play is lively and dynamic, so the rehearsals and gigs we do are always great fun and full of energy! We hope this comes across in our performance as it is our greatest wish that our audiences will enjoy our playing as much as we do.

 

It is an absolute honour and a great pleasure to be part of the Sultans of Swing, to constantly research and find new music charts, to feed the enthusiasm of the players, to try new ideas and to keep polishing up the repertoire so that it shines brightly for each and every performance.