Spotlight on Black Jacket Symphony

The story behind Black Jacket Symphony

In 2009, J. 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. He knew 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.”  

J. was a musician who happened to enjoy 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?” J. was living in Nashville at the time, and he knew a lot of people in the music business. His enthusiasm about performing albums in their entirety struck a chord; and he was able to bring talented musicians together who began performing as Black Jacket Symphony (BJS).

Once the group had a little momentum going, people were interested in seeing what they were doing. J. 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. 

Their Albums

During their thirteen year career, BJS has performed more than 40 different classic rock albums to absolute perfection. 

J.’s earliest influences were Paul McCartney and Wings (Wings over America tour) and Elton John (Yellow Brick Road tour). Jason Rogoff – BJS’s producer, director, CEO, and ‘potentate’ – says that J. possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of classic rock, a knowledge that keeps the fire burning in the other musicians. As for who picks which albums to perform, “J. and Jason arm wrestle.”

If you listen to their music with your eyes closed, you would swear you’re listening to the original album.     

How can their music be so precise? “It’s difficult,” J. says. “It takes lot of what we call forensic research–and lots of homework” (practice and rehearsal). The musicians thrive on the challenge, and the fact that “they love to out geek each other.” This friendly competitive attitude contributes to making their final product what it is–absolutely flawless. 

J. adds that “All of the albums have challenges. The Rolling Stones should be easy (to perform), but it’s really hard to be ‘specifically sloppy.’ And the music of the Beatles is ‘deceptively challenging.’ Preparing for Sgt. 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.” 

Audiences appear to be particularly receptive to Queen’s A Night at the Opera and the Eagles’ Hotel California. The band members are continually learning and mastering songs on various albums to add to their repertoire. Meat Loaf’s Bat out of Hell, Rush’s Moving Pictures, and ELO’s Out of the Blue, to name a few. So many classic albums…and so little time. It’s cliché, maybe, but absolutely true.