Once a month over the course of a season, a local formation is given the opportunity to present the most diverse facets of its repertoire, experiment, implement concepts and try out a wide variety of ideas. Previous stage bands at Porgy & Bess have been the Upper Austrian Jazz Orchestra, TON.ART, the Nouvelle Cuisine Big Band, the Vienna Art Orchestra and the Concert Jazz Orchestra Vienna. This was followed by Gansch'n'Roses Stageband in 2001/02, the Takon Orchestra in 2002/03 and the Jazz Big Band Graz from mid-2003. Max Nagl was given this platform in 2004. From the second half of the year, the stage band went to the Ed Partyka/Flip Philipp Dectet. In 2006, the Night Club Band around Karl Ratzer was the stage band for the whole year. Until June 2007 it was the turn of the excellent big band around Robert Bachner, from September it was the septet around Oliver Kent and Uli Langthaler. Until the end of 2008, the formation "Studio Dan" around the composer and trombonist Daniel Riegler made guest appearances, followed by the formation "Velvet Elevator" around the composer and trombonist Martin Ptak. In 2010, the trio "Kollegium Kalksburg" expanded into a Klangkombinat, and from January 2011, the collective around the young composer and saxophonist Gerd Hermann Ortler became a stage band, replaced by the exceptional talent Vincent Pongracz, who was given this forum from October 2012.

The Markus Geiselhart Orchestra took over in the fall of 2013. A project by the "Strottern" and JazzWerkstatt Wien followed in the fall of 2014. In fall 2015, Barbara Bruckmüller took over the podium with her big band. From December 2016 to June 2017, bassist Lukas Kranzlbinder presented his project "Shake Stew" as a stage band and realized a total of six evenings with great success. From fall 2017, bassist Gina Schwarz invited various female musicians from the European jazz scene to perform with her collective "Pannonica Project". From September 2018, Vienna-based pianist and composer Georg Graewe presented his formation "Science Fiction". From fall 2019, trombonist, composer and conductor Christian Muthspiel created his "Orjazzstra Vienna" to combine his different musical orientations in one project. Due to the coronavirus, this project had to be canceled in March 2020 and will be concluded in March 2021 with a two-day performance. For the 2020/21 season, a collective led by saxophonist and composer Leonhard Skorupa will act as the stage band, followed by the ensemble Little Rosies Kindergarten 2021/22. Christoph Cech is currently presenting his Jazz Orchestra Project, followed by Ralph Mothwurf Orchestra in the 2023/24 season. In the 2024/25 season, pianist Simon Raab will take over this format with his collective "Purple is the Color", followed by the Jazzorchester Vorarlberg 2025/26.