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The new album · preorders open now

LOUIS DOWDESWELL

OUT OF PRINT

Released 2 November 2026

Arrangements by Callum Au

Ten of the best-known pieces of classical music ever written, reimagined for high-intensity big band and symphonic brass, played by 30 of the finest musicians in Britain.

Preorder the album Album launch tickets
Step inside the theatre ↓

The entranceTap the case to peek inside

Album launch: Cadogan Hall, London · 2 November · one night only Get tickets →
The illustrated after-party: a packed mid-century bar full of the band and their audience

A note from Louis

There is nothing else like this record.

Hello, Louis here. In 2020, after my first album, Callum Au and I asked one question: what would the greatest music ever written sound like, arranged with everything we have? Not a crossover record. Not light versions of the classics. The real pieces, taken seriously and rebuilt for high-intensity big band and, where the music demands it, a full symphonic brass orchestra.

That became the mission. Take ten pieces everyone knows and give them arrangements that have never existed before, played by the finest musicians in Britain. Swing where nobody has dared to swing. Pure brass where the original deserves it. Comedy where the music is asking for it. And at the centre, Pictures at an Exhibition with all forty musicians on one track.

Six years of work later, this is it. Recorded at Masterchord Studios and St Peter's Church, Chiswick. Mixed by Nick Pugh. Mastered by Gavin Lurssen in Los Angeles. It is the best-sounding thing I have ever made, and I genuinely believe there is nothing else out there like it.

The programme

Ten of the greatest pieces of music ever written

OUT OF PRINT

Louis Dowdeswell · Arrangements by Callum Au

  1. 01Marsfeat. Martin Williams, tenor sax A tribute to Gordon Goodwin, with a "Fireshaker"-era Maynard Ferguson / Steps Ahead feel.
  2. 02Danse Macabrefeat. Tommy Emmerton, guitar Distorted electric guitar in a big band, at full tilt.
  3. 03Clair de Lunefeat. Graeme Blevins, tenor sax A chance to chill things out.
  4. 04Slide of the Valkyriesfeat. Andy Wood & Callum Au, trombone solos · Tom Dunnett & Simon Minshall, trombone section How this was really meant to be played by the trombones.
  5. 05Nessun Dormafeat. Simon Marsh, soprano sax A ballad for one of Louis' closest friends.
  6. 06Carmenfeat. Joel Barford, drums · Joey De Leon, Latin percussion Latin Carmen gone mad.
  7. 07Nimrodsymphonic brass orchestra Louis and the symphonic brass alone. Pure brass.
  8. 08Pictures at an Exhibition Suitefeat. Callum Au, trombone · Nigel Hitchcock, alto sax All forty musicians on one track: big band, symphonic brass and woodwinds.
  9. 09Jerusalemsymphonic brass orchestra Jerusalem mixed with Queen and high notes. A tribute to England.
  10. 10William Tell Overturefeat. Ryan Quigley, Tom Walsh, Andy Greenwood & James Copus, trumpets The trumpet section ;) A bit of light comedy to end.
The Big Band: Ryan Quigley, Tom Walsh, Andy Greenwood, James Copus (trumpets) · Andy Wood, Callum Au, Tom Dunnett, Maddie Higginson, Simon Minshall (trombones) · Sammy Mayne, Simon Marsh, Martin Williams, Graeme Blevins, George Millard (saxophones) · Joel Barford (drums) · Joey De Leon (percussion) · Tommy Emmerton, Jake Willson (guitar) · Laurence Ungless, Laurence Cottle (bass)
The Orchestra: Philip Cobb, James Fountain, Jason Evans, Mark David (trumpets) · Andy Wood, Matt Lewis, Simon Minshall (trombones) · Owen Slade (tuba) · Eliza Marshall, Tom Hancox (flutes) · Christopher Cowie (oboe) · Martin Robertson, Simon Marsh (clarinets) · David Fuest (bass clarinet) · Paul Boyes (bassoon) · James Turner (percussion)
Production: Recorded by Ronan Phelan (Masterchord Studios) & Chris Traves (St Peter's Church, Chiswick) · Mixed by Nick Pugh & Louis Dowdeswell · Mastered by Gavin Lurssen
The full inside spread: the whole band performing on stage beneath the composers' portraits

The after-party · preorders ship release week

Take the show home

CD

$20 · signed $28

The album on CD in the illustrated six-panel case, with the letter printed inside.

Theatre poster

$18

The marquee artwork as a print, shipped rolled in a tube. Made for the wall next to the record shelf.

Preorder the poster · $18

UK shipping from $3.99 (free over $50) · US from $6.99 · tracked options at checkout · going to the launch show? Choose "Collect at Cadogan Hall" at checkout and pick up your signed copy on the night.

Want it on vinyl? ↓

The collector's format

On vinyl

12″ vinyl, pressed for this album.

Vinyl ships after release day. Estimated delivery: early 2027, with the exact date shown at checkout.

ONE NIGHT ONLY

Come and hear it live on release night

Cadogan Hall, London · Monday 2 November 2026 · 7:30pm

The big band and the symphonic brass orchestra together on one stage, playing the album in full on the night it comes out. It's my last UK solo concert for the foreseeable future. This is the show I've been dreaming about for six years.

If you're coming: choose "Collect at Cadogan Hall" at checkout and I'll hand you your signed copy myself.