In 1953 the band broke up and Dankworth formed his first big band. It had eight brass instruments, five saxophones, a rhythm section and vocalists. The group was redesigned in 1956 when he put in a group of soloists instead of the saxophones. They often played on the radio and brought in guest artists who were not necessarily jazz musicians, e.g. the clarinettist Jack Brymer and the violinist Kenneth Essex as well as the music comedian and cartoonist Gerard Hoffnung.