Bristol Reggae Orchestra is a collective of local musicians, who all love reggae!
We draw our musical influences from reggae, ska, jazz and classical music and play a mixture of our own original tunes and arrangements of well known classics, from the likes of Bob Marley and Lord Tanamo. We meet every other Monday evening in the Malcom X Centre, St Pauls.
Our members have various musical backgrounds and experiences and we believe our orchestra is one of the UK’s most unique, inspiring and uplifting community projects.
Set up in early 2010, our debut concert sold out St George’s in Bristol - a renowned classical music venue - and turned it into a seething dance hall. Since then, performances at local festivals, in the St Paul’s community and around the southwest have confirmed the Reggae Orchestra as one to watch. Read our origin story with founder Stella here.
We have performed to crowds of thousands at events such as Bristol Harbour Festival and St Paul's Carnival and at venues across Bristol and the South West. Whereever we play, people love our particular blend of toe-tapping, crowd-pleasing world music with commanding solos and an infectious beat!
We also perform with our sister group, Bristol Windrush Reggae Choir.
Hear us play
Read reviews of Bristol Reggae Orchestra
- “The band swoops in with the precision of a swing orchestra on holiday in Jamaica. It’s one of Bristol’s most exciting music projects.” Venue Magazine.
- “Bristol Reggae Orchestra … produce a gloriously bold sound, one of enjoyment and sheer exuberance.” –
review by Evan Dawson (formerly Head of Development at Making Music and led the ‘adopt a composer’ scheme) - “One of our top bananas of 2010…Bristol Reggae Orchestra… shifts the connotation of community music project from “worthy but dull” to “world-beatingly brilliant.” – Venue
- “One of the most inspiring and unique community projects of 2010”- Reggaetivity
- “St Georges has never seen the like!”- Mike Collins
- “A National Treasure in the making”- Venue
- St George’s debut with Dennis Rollins and DJ Derek – BBC Bristol
- “Bristol set for a reggae revival with community orchestra”- Bristol Evening Post
