Take a builder, a baker and a furniture maker and what have you got? No, not the modern reworking of a familiar nursery rhyme, but three ingredients in the gamut of musicians carefully mixed to cook up a traditional big band.

And for one Worcestershire man, with a life-long ambition to recreate the sounds of Glenn Miller, Count Basie and Benny Goodman, this dream has come to fruition thanks to an advert placed in the Evening News just six months ago.

From a handful of retired or rusty musicians who replied and turned up to the top room of the Crown pub in Shrawley, to a fully-blown, 20-piece band with a fat pack of scores, the Crown Phoenix Big Band has not only risen from the ashes but is fully fledged and ready to make its maiden flight on Tuesday, May 4, at its latest rehearsal space - the Lenchford pub in Shrawley, near Stourport-on-Severn.

But it hasn't been easy.

Little did drummer and retired builder Pete Burkes realise just how much work would be involved.

Musicians came and went, expensive music had to be traced and bought, and commitment definitely had to be made by each and every one of the members.

Pete explained: "My dream soon became a challenge for Reg, our musical director, who has worked so hard to try to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.

"However, the reality for the band has been relentless rehearsals week after week, month after month, absorbing a few bars at a time as we try to get to grips with the complexities and dynamics of these great arrangements.

"The commitment is total. We all play to and sometimes exceed our musical capabilities.

"Mistakes are still made, and the mixed Worcester/Black Country accents on the shout in Pennsylvania 6500 may raise a smile.

"The band is bonded with great enthusiasm and humour, but like granny attempting to climb Everest, we may not fully reach our goal, but we will have fun trying."

And with six saxes, six trumpets, four trombones and a full rhythm section at regular rehearsals it's no easy to task to co-ordinate and keep everyone happy.

But much of the headway made by the band, some of whom have taken up instruments since retirement, and others who have had up to 20-year breathers from playing, has been down to the sheer energy and expertise of the gem in this equation, Reg Reid, who quickly became the band's musical director.

His impressive CV includes playing professionally with the BBC and former head of brass at Birmingham's school of music, the Conservatoire, Reg took the band by the scruff of the neck and serious hard work has become the order of the Tuesday night rehearsals.

Describing himself as the "toothless trombonist", Reg's verdict on his work with the band goes something like this: "I thought it would be a challenge to try and turn a motley assortment of good-humoured enthusiasts into a listenable Big Band. I hope the audience's verdict goes our way."

With an average age of about 55, and with a staggering 1,094 years of experience behind them, Crown Phoenix is no spring chicken, but their energetic version of Louis Prima's Sing Sing Sing, made famous by the Benny Goodman Orchestra, is guaranteed to get even the most arthritic of limbs jigging in the aisles.

Intermingled between Big Band classics such as In The Mood, String of Pearls, Tuxedo Junction and Little Brown Jug will be some smooth jazz standards from a reduced jazz outfit formed from the Big Band - aptly called Out of the Ashes.

Catch the Crown Phoenix's debut performance at the Lenchford pub, Shrawley, near Stourport-on-Severn from 8pm. Tickets are £4 on the door.