The Australian Cotton Club Orchestra was formed in early 1986 by Tim Harding in association with Adrian Daff. Between them Tim and Adrian have a large collection of big band charts, most of which were originally published in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. They have also written their own charts in a similar style. Some of the arrangements in the CCO repertoire are the same or very similar to those played during this period by Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Don Redman, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Woody Herman.
To bring to life these musically demanding arrangements, Tim and Adrian selected a careful blend of strong sight-readers and jazz soloists. After a few months of painstaking rehearsals, the first public performance of the orchestra was to standing ovations at the Malvern Town Hall on 23 May 1986. After full-house appearances before enthusiastic audiences at the Victorian, Geelong and Peninsula Jazz Clubs, long-term residencies at the Emerald Hotel in South Melbourne and the Bridge Hotel in Richmond soon followed.
In the 1990s, the Orchestra has appeared mainly at private corporate and charity functions at the Victorian Arts Centre and Melbourne's top international hotels such as the Regent, the Hyatt, the Hilton and the Windsor. The Band has also shared billings with leading celebrities such as Rhonda Burchmore, Barry Humphries, Peter Allen, Geraldine Turner, Daryl Somers, Dame Kiri te Kanawa and various other stars of the Victorian State Opera.
From 1991 until 1995, the Orchestra often appeared and recorded with a female vocal trio, the former Rhapsody in Red.
" The Australian Cotton Club Orchestra beautifully recreates the feel of this wonderful music. It sounds crisp and alive."
Ian Dodds, "The Age" Green Guide
Repertoire
(M) = Male vocal (F) = Female vocal
- After You've Gone
- Ain't Misbehavin(F)
- Alabama Swing
- All the things you are(Comp. Hammerstein, Arr. Daff)
- All through the Night
- Anything Goes(M)
- Avalon
- Begin the Beguine(M)
- Bie Mir Bist Du Schoen (M/F)
- Black and Tan Fantasy
- Blue and Sentimental
- Blue Flame
- Blue Minor (Comp & Arr. Edgar Sampson)
- Boo Hoo (M)
- Boogie Woogie
- Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy(F)
- Brazil
- Broadway Melody(M)
- Bugle Call Rag
- Caravan
- Carioca (F)
- Change Partners(M)
- Chicago(M)
- Christopher Columbus
- Cottontail
- Crazy People(M)
- Doin the Uptown Lowdown
- Dream a Little Dream of Me (M)
- Drop Me Off in Harlem
- Every Tub
- Fascinating Rhythm
- Fiddlesticks
- Flat Foot Floogie (M)
- Forty Second Street(M)
- Frenesi (rhumba version)
- Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You(M)(R)(Comp. Redman, Arr. Harding)
- Grand Terrace Rhythm (Comp. & Arr. Fletcher Henderson)
- GS-byt.mct
- Hard Hearted Hannah (F)(Comp. Yellen/Ager/Bigelow/Bates, Arr. T. Harding)
- Harlem(R)
- Hotcha Razz Ma Tazz
- I Ain't Got Nobody (M)
- I Can't Dance...(M)
- I Can't Give You Anything But Love(M)
- I Cover the Waterfront (M)
- I Cried for You (F)
- I Get a Kick Out of You(M)
- I Would Do Anything for You
- If Dreams Come True (Comp. Edgar Sampson, Arr. Tim Harding)
- I'll Never Say Never Again (M/F)
- I'm Feeling Like a Million (M)
- In a Sentimental Mood (Comp. Duke Ellington, Arr. Tim Harding)
- In the Mood(R)(Comp. Redman/Garland, Arr. Shaw/Daff)
- Isn't this a Lovely Day(M)
- It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing
- It Had to be You (M)
- It's a Sin to Tell a Lie (M)
- It's D'Lovely (M/F)
- I've Found a New Baby
- I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
- I've Got You Under My Skin(M/F)
- Jazz Me Blues(R)(Comp. Delaney, Arr. Artie Shaw)
- Jeepers Creepers(M)
- Jig Walk(R) (Comp. Ellington, Arr. Hudson/Harding)
- Jive at Five
- Just One of
