World Stage Big Band

The World Stage Big Band gathers as a large-ensemble jazz workshop coordinated by Billy McCoy. The session traces the decades of jazz development across the past century, using the rehearsal-band format to explore the music as it is performed by a big band. Rather than a one-off showcase built around a billed soloist, this is a working ensemble session focused on the breadth of jazz repertoire and the details of playing it together.

The group is associated with The World Stage in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, and the available information identifies it as the venue’s jazz rehearsal band and workshop rather than as a separately profiled touring act. The World Stage itself was founded by drummer Billy Higgins and poet Kamau Daáood as a space for jazz and African American cultural expression, with concerts, workshops, and jam sessions central to its programming. No individual members, exact instrumentation, outside collaborations, or critical notices are specified for this edition of the Big Band, so the emphasis here is on the ensemble’s continuing study of jazz history in a large-group setting.