Loose Tubes originated from a jazz workshop put together by the celebrated British jazz composer and educator Graham Collier in 1983. During the first few weeks of the workshop, keyboard player Django Bates and bass player Steve Berry began to introduce original music to the ensemble. Under the supervision of workshop administrator-turned-manager Colin Lazzerini, the ensemble chose the name Loose Tubes and played its first London gig in 1984.
The band was notable for its size (averaging 21 players) and was run as a co-operative without a single clear leader. While Bates, Berry and trumpeter Chris Batchelor were responsible for a great deal of the music, there were also composing contributions from flute player Eddie Parker, trumpeters Dave DeFries and John Eacott, as well as trombonist John Harborne. During live concerts, trombonist Ashley Slater (later to become frontman of the pop group Freak Power) acted as the band's compère and became renowned for his sarcastic wit.
Loose Tubes' music was drawn from elements of the whole history of jazz as well as many other musical styles such as samba and hi-life. During its existence, the band was garlanded with critical praise. Time Out referred to them as \"the most important band to appear on the British jazz scene\" and hailed them as \"the best instrumentalists of their generation.\" The Guardian called them \"the most impressive young orchestra to have emerged in London\", while The Times claimed \"it's hard to imagine anyone else anywhere producing anything as exciting as this in 1985.\" Loose Tubes were voted the Best UK Band in 1989 by the readers of The Wire magazine.
