The hit list of new tunes is currently being drawn up. So far it looks like we will be looking at ‘I’ve Found a New Baby’, ‘Americano’, ‘Donna Lee’, ‘Place de Brouckere’ and Monk’s ‘round Midnight’. At some point we are going to have to make difficult decisions of what songs to drop from the set-list!
Dates for the diary…..
February is a month of entirely private engagements (weddings and private parties) for us, but you can catch us in March on the following dates:
2nd March: The Golden Cross Inn, Cirencester
10th March: The Exmouth Arms, Cheltenham
14th March: Theoc House, Tewkesbury
23rd March: The Royal Oak, Woodchester
Thanks to all of those that made it out to see us at any gigs in January. If you’ve not heard us before then to keep in touch you can join our mailing list. We tend to send out an email once a month to let people know when and where we’re playing.
The year has got off to a good start for us and saw us play at The Chequers Inn (Cassington, Oxfordshire), The Star Anise Café (Stroud) and The Bayhsill (Cheltenham). We also managed to fit in a private engagement at Hotel du Vin for Cotswold Style magazine – pictures to follow.
At the Star Anise Café we were grateful to be performing in a concert setting, fitting for the work we’ve put into new material over the last couple of months. It was certainly refreshing for us to play in a room with great acoustics and this meant that amplification was barely needed. The gig saw the first proper outings for ‘Spain’, ‘In a Sentimental Mood’ and ‘Festival 48’. There was also a return of ‘Softly as in a Morning Sunrise’ and rejigged versions of ‘Swing 48’ and ‘What is this thing called love?’ (with added bebop).
Although the first outing for some of the full on stuff is rather nerve-wracking, it is great to finally be playing these tunes to an audience. Thanks for coming out to this gig, we really relish these types of gigs and it was a pleasure playing to an appreciative crowd. We had a great evening and even sampled Stroud’s nightlife afterwards! It helped that the café stocks beer from Stroud Brewery, although my senses were a little confused to be drinking their Xmas ale ‘Ding Dong’ in January.
If you were wondering what we played that night here is the set-list:
Set 1
Honeysuckle Rose
Swing 48
Brazil
In a Sentimental Mood
Swing 39
What is this thing called love?/Hot House
When I was a boy
Jealousy
Nuages
Indifference
Cavalerie/Limehouse Blues
Concierto de Aranjuez/ Spain
Set 2
Softly as in a morning sunrise
Lulu Swing
Under Paris Skies
Festival 48
A night in Tunisia
Ménilmontant
BBD
Groovin’ High
T.Bolero
Tears
Minor Swing
Tiger Rag
La Foule
Encore : Belleville
The Bayshill
Live music has made a strong return to The Bayshill following its change of ownership. Although we’ve played there quite a few times, it felt like ages since we’d played there. A lively post-races crowd made for quite an atmosphere!
In the second set we were joined by local vocalist, Jo Silver. Singing ‘Bei mir bist Du schön’ and ‘Undecided’, the tunes were well received and not too shabby considering we hadn’t rehearsed them. Jo is playing at The Bayshill in April with her outfit Café Bohemia. Hopefully there will be more collaborations in the future.
Ahead of our first full quartet gigs of the year next week, we had a little practice on Tuesday night. We trialed some new exciting tunes, like Chick Corea’s Spain and Django Reinhardt’s Festival 48, and a good time was had by all. For our upcoming gigs check out the gig list.
While we there we recorded a little jam over ‘Limehouse Blues’ mixed with a bit of Django’s ‘Cavalerie’. Have a listen!
This will be our first performance at The Chequers Inn in Whitney, near Oxford. A sister pub to the Seven Tuns in Chedworth, this too promises to have a cosy and friendly atmosphere.
If you fancy watching us in a concert setting, then you can catch us at the Star Anise Café in Stroud on Friday 27th. The new year brings new material and this gig will be our first chance to debut tunes that we’ve been working on since Andy Wood joined the band. Tickets are £5 in advance or £6 on the door, to purchase please contact the Star Anise Café’s box office on 01453 840 021. Doors open at 7.30 and the show starts at 8pm.
Saturday 28th sees us return to The Bayshill Inn, Cheltenham. This is the Cheltenham debut of the new line-up and we’re looking forward to returning to a venue we’ve always enjoyed performing at. The pub changed hands last year, and you can expect a warm welcome from the new management of Dale and Lisa. By all accounts they have a excellent selection of real ale! Music starts at 8.30pm.
Happy New Year: CD offer
You can still get our CD with a massive 40% discount by downloading it from here. To get the discount enter the following code: 2012.
Last night saw our final rehearsal of 2011, with us all together. Some brilliant tunes underway! Spain, Festival 48, and In a Sentimental Mood – all sounding great. 2 more gigs to go for us until 2012 – catch you soon…
Progress since the line-up change has been very exciting and after one practice we are ready for live action! Andy Wood has picked up our arrangements so quickly, it won’t be long before we get bored and arrange a whole load of new tunes. We don’t often announce every tune at our gigs so we’ve decided to share our current set-list with you. This is the tunes that we will be playing at the Royal Oak on Friday 28th and also at the Golden Cross Inn on 11/11/11 !
Set 1
Ménilmontant
Night and Day
For Sephora
Under Paris Skies
What is this thing called love?
Lulu Swing
Tears
Cherokee
T.Bolero
Belleville
Blues Clair
Limehouse Blues
Minor Swing
Jealousy
Set 2
Brazil
Swing 39
Indifference
Honeysuckle Rose
Swing 48
Bossa Dorado
JAT
A night in Tunisia
Nuages
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Tiger Rag
La Foule
Where to see us in the coming weeks….
Friday 28th October -The Royal Oak ,Woodchester
This is an 8.30pm start, food is recommended.
Friday 4th November – The Snooty Fox, Tetbury
7.30 start, to book a table phone: 01666 502436
*Friday 11th November – The Golden Cross Inn (Cirencester)
9pm start, please call 01285 652 137 to book a table.
*Friday 11th will be the full debut of the new quartet with Andy Wood on guitar.
