The Disciples of Ursula Big Band finds its origins back in 1998, when a bunch of high school friends, not so eager to graduate, thought they might miss their jazz music classes. One night around a table full of empty beer bottles, they came up with the idea of putting a band together. Their common love for swing music made the project a little over-the-top: it had to be a big band. An amateur big band that would play original material. Quite a challenge.

Now, eight years later, DUBB, a 13-piece band, is still alive and kickin’! Through the years the band has managed to make a name for itself in the Montreal area and elsewhere. While back in their sophomore years they played weddings and shopping malls, they can now boast to sell out every time they perform, be it at a bar like Café Campus or at a concert hall like Théâtre Plaza. And honestly, how often can you name a big band that has had almost no change in personnel over seven years? That’s solid, my friends.

Fronted by beautiful and charismatic singer Gizèlia Pacheco – one of the most promising new feminine voices in Montreal - and led by talented composer-arranger-trombonist Clément Brunet, the band has truly evolved with time, its music being inspired by a large variety of musical tastes: swing, jazz, funk, soul, gospel, blues, latin and rock… always played with the raw energy that makes their onstage performances so famous and memorable.

2001 saw the release of DUBB’s first album of original material, Blow Them Horns. Produced on an independent basis, the album, while not distributed in record stores, has sold more than 1,000 copies, be it at DUBB venues or on the Internet, and is also available in digital format on iTunes and other online stores. It has definitely earned a great reputation, some copies being bought in Texas, Mexico, New York or Europe. It is not unusual to hear the crowd sing along to some of the album’s favourites, like Where’s Mexico, Catch 22 or Dancing Fool.

In 2006, DUBB released it's second album, Big Bad Bertha, full of flavor and energy. The album offers 12 new original songs, in 4 languages and 7 musical styles. Like Blow Them Horns, Big Bad Bertha was produced independantly from A to Z. With this release, DUBB gave birth to new crowd favorites: Bad Bad Bertha the title song; Des Inconnus the latin rock french song; Casa do Tango, a hot merengue in portuguese; and Undoubted Hope, a gospel composition featuring the DUBB street choir.

For some, DUBB is a cult band. To others it is simply the sexiest, coolest act in town. One thing is for sure: more and more people are joining the party, and won't soon be over!