Losing one of their band members to Aerosmith.There are many testimonials to the talent and success of BJS, including: A little cliché, maybe, but absolutely true.
So many classic albums, and so little time. Meat Loaf’s Bat out of Hell, Rush’s Moving Pictures, and ELO’s Out of the Blue, to name a few. Learning and mastering other albums are always on the horizon. Says they ‘love the nice, older venues ’ Macon’s Grand Opera House certainly falls into that category. However, Jason says that regardless of which music they perform, he always leaves a concert with a ‘great appreciation for the album.’Ī couple of their favorite venues are the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville (‘beautiful’) and the Tivoli Theatre in Chattanooga. Audiences appear to be particularly receptive to A Night at the Opera and the Eagles’ Hotel California. They hope to add Macon to that list very soon. says he always gets the best reception at his house.
They receive the most support in Huntsville, Knoxville, and Birmingham – although, tongue-in-cheek, J. and Jason arm wrestle.’ All kidding aside, their goal appears to be to eventually perform all of their albums in the cities they regularly tour. Jason says ‘everyone is so energetic, enthusiastic, and into what they’re doing.’Īs for who picks which albums to perform, ‘J. While riding in the touring bus, they play Beatles trivia and answer questions about rock and roll. possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of classic rock, a knowledge that keeps the fire burning in the other musicians. Jason Rogoff – BJS’s producer, director, CEO, and ‘potentate’ – says that J. J.’s earliest influences were Paul McCartney and Wings (Wings over America tour) and Elton John (Yellow Brick Road tour). Pepper’s took the longest, because for that we had to coordinate with an entire orchestra.’ The rehearsals are long and the travel is hard, but ‘the two or three hours on stage more than make up for it.’ The Rolling Stones should be easy (to perform), but it’s really hard to be ‘specifically sloppy.’ The music of the Beatles is ‘deceptively challenging.’ Preparing for Sgt. adds that ‘All of the albums have challenges. The musicians thrive on the challenge, and the fact that ‘they love to out geek each other’ contributes to making their final product what it is: absolutely flawless.
‘It takes lot of what we call forensic research – and lots of homework’ (practice and rehearsal). How can their music be so precise? ‘It’s difficult,’ J. I’ve attended several BJS concerts and will be the first to admit: if you listen to their music with your eyes closed, you would swear you’re listening to the original album. Thirteen years later, BJS has performed more than 40 different classic rock albums to absolute perfection, including the Beatles’ Abbey Road, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, and Queen’s A Night at the Opera. says from that point on, it was a matter of ‘I know a guy who can play’ the music of one band or another, and BJS grew from there. Home base for the Black Jacket Symphony (BJS) is Birmingham, Alabama, although the band members come from different parts of the country. Today, with a roster that varies from 55 to 75 musicians – depending on what concerts are on their immediate horizon – the band has been on the road for more than a decade. ‘knew a lot of people in the music business.’ Then, once BJS had a little momentum going, people were interested in seeing what they were doing. Having spent 10 years living in Nashville, J. enjoyed playing his guitar wearing a black jacket, he thought ‘why not put together an entire ensemble of musicians wearing black jackets performing classic rock albums exactly as they sound on the album?’ That left the door wide open for what happened next. He knew that there were plenty of tribute bands around playing the music of the Beatles and some of his other favorite bands, but none of them were playing ‘like they were supposed to.’ Willoughby, a huge Beatles fan – the ‘J’ is for John but nobody calls him that – recognized that the Fab Four’s Abbey Road album was turning 40.
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