[3] Then in October 1976, Henry Cow, the Mike Westbrook Brass Band and folk singer Frankie Armstrong performed different sets on the same bill at Goldsmith College in New Cross, London.

[4][5] When they appeared on the same bill again on 13 March 1977, this time at the Moving Left Revue at The Roundhouse in London, Henry Cow, the Brass Band and Armstrong decided to merge and gave their debut performance.

In March 1978 the Orckestra returned to Europe where they played in Stockholm, Norrköping and Gothenburg in Sweden, Oslo in Norway, and Paris, Nancy, Longlaville, Loos-en-Gohelle, Poitiers, Orléans and Bordeaux in France.

Westbrook said, "In jazz, because of its origins in dance, we always have a pulse to relate to", but Henry Cow's approach "is totally alien to our way of writing and thinking about music.

"[9] As a result, the ensemble's concerts tended to be dominated by Brass Band material, with a few selected Henry Cow pieces the group could perform.

A live album of extracts from their 20 November 1977 Paris concert at the Fête du Nouveau Populaire in the Hippodrome was planned, but was abandoned when it was discovered that the recording was sub-standard and that it had been premixed.