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Ferg's Imaginary Big Band — The New Atomic
(Bandcamp Trash City TCR/2026/06, 2026, CD / LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2026-08-23

The New Atomic Cover art

The last few years have brought quite a wealth of innovative new music written for that time-honored combination of instruments known as the Big Band. There’s something powerful about having trumpets, trombones, and saxophones backed by a rhythm section that really packs a punch when done right — at least for someone who grew up in Western music, where there’s a bit over a century of tradition and repertoire behind it. Looking back over that history, there have always been groups oriented towards the popular music of the day, like those of Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Nelson Riddle, as well as more innovative or experimental groups led by Duke Ellington, Sun Ra, and Stan Kenton. And while the heyday of the big band was well past by 1960, they’ve remained a staple in school music programs and a select few standing (or frequently convened) ensembles. Fergus Quill spans the whole range of big band history with his Imaginary Big Band (which does seem to actually exist), now at their third album. The opening track is “Jay Surfin’ on Saturn,” which could almost pass for a Quincy Jones track from a 70s movie soundtrack, but then mutates into a kind of kletzmer oom-pah feel before plunging headlong into double-time chaos with screeching electronics and spontaneous vocalizations, as if Sun Ra’s Arkestra had been taken over by the spirits of a noise-punk band. It is a wild ride in nine minutes. Elsewhere you get the crooning vocals of “Love Sick,” but there’s a hint of “You Put a Spell on Me” and rock power ballad to it. “Same Sky” is a more traditional swing ballad with female vocals. “Theme from The New Atomic” builds a dramatic melodic theme out of loose unison lines backed by a free-flowing rhythm section, a bit like some of Satoko Fujii’s large ensemble works. And then there’s “¡Besszilla!” a monster of a track featuring narration about the titular Queen of the Monsters that’s also about the monster musician in the band. The New Atomic is ample proof that there’s potential in the big band format that has yet to be explored, and it’s also highly entertaining, not to mention musically impressive.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Fergus Quill / Ferg's Imaginary Big Band

More info
http://fergusquill.bandcamp.com/album/the-new-atomic

 

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