Words of praise from Lionel Hampton and Chet Baker, enthusiasm from Al Jarreau. Paquito D'Rivera wanted to take the orchestra with him to the USA. The list of soloists who have accompanied the Norddeutsche Rundfunk's (NDR) big band over the decades reads like a "Who's Who" of jazz. The NDR is an eighteen-soloist formation with an extremely versatile repertoire: from Ellington to Mingus, Hendrix to Zappa and Kurt Weill to writer/poet Ernst Jandl. Recently, the NDR Big Band has added Eric Watson to its line-up. Watson's compositions take this big band into the unknown.