Conductors featured regularly on Big Band Special included American jazz trombonist Jiggs Whigham, leading British arrangers Mark Nightingale and Steve Sidwell, the BBC Big Band's baritone saxophonist Jay Craig and Jöerg Achim Keller.
In recent years, Whigham has been musical director of the RIAS (Radio In The American Sector) Big Band in Germany.
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Frustrated with commercial playing, Whigham migrated to Germany, where he still lives, He taught at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin.
Jiggs Whigham | Jiggs, Nevada | Jiggs | Cover of ''A False Start'' showing the author with Peter Whigham |
During the past few decades he has also played with international stars like Jean-Luc Ponty, John Lewis, Jiggs Whigham, Martin Drew, Dusko Gojkovich, Tony Lakatos, Gábor Szabó, Tommy Vig and many others.
Geller performed regularly in Germany and abroad as a soloist at festivals and clubs in various formations including some big bands as well as with such diverse artists as Knut Kiesewetter, Lennie Niehaus, Jiggs Whigham, Rolf Kühn, Slide Hampton, Buddy DeFranco, Lew Soloff, Charlie Mariano and Jan Lundgren.
After studying clarinet and piano in Essen, he set up his multicultural big band, which over the years would include many jazz musicians who were well known in Europe, including Francy Boland (who would later set up his own), Ron Simmonds Charly Antolini, Jiggs Whigham, Claus Ogerman, Jimmy Deuchar, Duško Gojković, Rick Kiefer, Ronnie Stephenson, Gerd Dudek, Wilton Gaynair, Derek Humble, Shake Keane and Tubby Hayes.
Among those with whom Nightingale has played with are John Dankworth, Cleo Laine, Urbie Green, Carl Fontana, Jiggs Whigham, Clark Terry, Slide Hampton, Thilo Berg, Alan Barnes, Bill Holman, Claire Martin, John Wilson (conductor), Clark Tracey, and Stan Tracey.