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Paul and Debbie of ‘Get In The Swing’ organised a fabulous evening of music and dance in Risby Village Hall last night.  Paul’s brilliant choice of swing and rock n roll music initially helped the 200+ people find their dancing feet and  there were some amazing shows of Lindy Hop, Jive, Balboa etc.

Then Si Cranstoun’s band took to the stage and gave two brilliant sets of music which encouraged even more styles of dance and some great ‘strolling’.  Seven members of the band in all came over as an exceptionally well-balanced ‘orchestra’ and  the sound was brilliantly managed. The musicianship is superb,  Si’s vocals are amazing (as is his own song-writing) and his fun-filled personality makes him an ideal front-man for this ‘top of the range’  and hugely popular band.

I’ve performed many times in the village hall in Risby which is absolutely huge and sometimes the acoustics were very difficult to manage. This has been addressed with some clever renovation, and is now a perfect venue for that big event with big sounding bands and people who just love to dance.

 

 

 

 

We had a great evening at Scotsdales on 18 July and now we begin rehearsing for the St Ives Jazz/Blues Festival on Sunday 22 September 2-4pm in the beautiful quayside setting of the Dolphin Hotel.

It was so good to be back in Budleigh Salterton and perform the jazz festival with Pat Brandon and our Sizzling Jazz and Blues Band.  Many thanks to Lydgate Hotel, beautifully positioned  in Postbridge on Dartmoor, for looking after me so well and then Syon House In East Budleigh.

So, the annual Cambridge concert at Scotsdales has come around again and will be played on Thursday 18 July.  I’ve got the usual fabulous ‘Turquoise’ musicians – the rhythm section with Gerry Pruseiwicz, Phil Prechner, Chris Smith, Ed O’Connell and JohnTrowsdale  is joined by Geoff Duckworth on saxophone and Chris Smith on blues harmonica. The delightful vocalist Cathy Matthews will be guesting with us.

Really looking forward to going back to Budleigh at the end of June to perform with Pat Brandon, Peter Canter, Jim Newton and Marcus Rudnick in Knowle.  It will be great to see everyone again.

I’m delighted to be back in Budleigh Salterton to play a jazz concert in the Public Hall for the Gala Week.  Staying in the lovely Long Range Hotel, a beautifully peaceful place with glorious views.

I always visit Hair Vision when I’m here to get some fabulous colour and the sun always seems to shine.

So, ready to deliver the goods tomorrow with the brilliant line-up of  Pat Brandon, Marius Rudnick, Pete Canter and Jim Newton.

Roger Thomas in Hampshire has done a fabulous restoration on my grandfather’s Wheatstone McCann duet concertina.  My grandfather, Tomas White (Rushden, Northamptonshire), was a fine player but I haven’t heard it played since I was 6 years old so more news coming soon as to when it will be played in public and bought back to life again. 

It was a great festival and such fun being with We Are Sound to sing alongside the great band ‘Darlingside’ on their track Go Back.  I managed to grab a pic with Darlingside’s gorgeous David Senft. Alex Elbro did even better after interviewing the band!!  The two lovely policemen decided not to arrest me, but stuck a hat on me and asked me to cover their tea-break 😳 😆  

It was yet another fabulous concert at Scotsdales. The sun shone down on us, and the 200+ in the audience were really appreciative and obviously up for having a great evening. Thank you again Scotsdales for the amazing hospitality.  

This annual concert comes around so quickly and  tomorrow Thursday (5th July) will be the twelfth year that we’ve played this outdoor event. It’s always packed with an enthusiastic audience, and we’ve only ever had to play indoors  once due to inclement weather.  So, tomorrow promises to be a glorious evening and Scotsdales complementary hospitality will be as wonderful as ever, no ticket needed, just turn up.

It was a privilege to perform a jazz concert with Hungarian pianist  Zoltan Kovacs on MS Oscar Wilde in Switzerland. The 160 guests were a fabulous group of people and the crew were absolutely amazing.