melton mowbray is renowned for its music-making. the melton band (a traditional british-style brass band) can trace its directors back to 1856, and was until recently called melton borough band. the colourful melton mowbray toy soldiers marching band was formed in 1936; and happy jazz – a dixieland jazz band – had its headquarters in the town from 1996 until 2014. there is also the melton mowbray tally ho band, formed in 1936, and tornado brass, a mixed brass and woodwind group founded in the 1980s.