If you are a talented musician and passionate about jazz, we would love to have you! We hold band-member auditions each October at the University, while MDs are auditioned towards the end of each academic year.

How do I sign up?

We are currently opening auditions for the 2022/2023 academic year. To hear more about our audition process and about the band, come find us at our stall in the Clubs and Societies Fair (Bunfight) on the 28th of September!

This year, our auditions will be held in person on the 1st and 2nd of October, 2022. To sign up, please fill in this form: https://forms.gle/1ut7dGerJhvjUPwt7

Alternatively you can email sujo@soton.ac.uk and we will aim to get back to you as soon as possible.

How experienced should I be? 

Generally, we expect a standard of Grade 6 or above and some prior experience playing jazz (although neither of these are requirements)!

How will the auditions work? 

The auditions will all follow roughly the same structure and last around 5-10 mins but each part of the band has its own variation:

  • Horns will need to play the head of a jazz standard through once and then play a short improvisation over the chords. There will then be some sight-reading from one of the pieces the band will play over the year. If you would like to lead your section, there may be an additional piece of sight-reading and possibly a range test.
  • Vocalists will also sing the a standard (from the vocals list) and do a little improvisation. This might then be followed by another chart but this is time dependent. In order to gauge what pieces are suitable for you, there may also be a range test.
  • Keys and guitar players will be asked to play the head of chart before soloing and finally comping behind another band member. As before, there will be some sight-reading also.
  • Bassists and drummers will need to walk / keep time through the head before soloing and then once again playing behind another band member before sight-reading too.

Worried about improvisation? Don’t stress! Although we encourage everyone to have a go in a friendly environment in order to improve through the year, no one is obliged to. You will, however, need to give it a shot in your audition.

In the auditions themselves, we will ask you to pick a piece from a small list of charts (see the bottom of the page) which are all in the realbook.

If you have any questions about the band or the auditions, just send us an email at sujo@soton.ac.uk and we will aim to respond to you as soon as possible.

Chart List:

The song choices for this year’s auditions are as follows – please prepare one for your audition:

  • Mr PC
  • Autumn Leaves
  • My Favourite Things
  • Four
  • Song For My Father
  • There Will Never Be Another You (vocal)
  • All of Me (vocal)
Sheet music will be provided on the day and RealBook copies can be found here…