The evening's guest band, led by Kevin Eland, have now been together for several years and this was clearly demonstrated by their polished performance.
Starting the night with Squiby McGee - a nice medium swing
number by Jim Martin with trumpet intro from Kevin and fine sax and
keyboard solos from Donna and Dave gave a first class start to the evening.
The three front line brass instruments produced a very effective big band sound on 88 Basie Street.
Jan showed her skills
as the fine jazz vocalist that she is on the Peggy Lee classic He's A Tramp with excellent backing
from the band.
The theme tune from Beauty And The Beast had a full
band intro and included solos from Django on trombone, Kevin on flugel, Donna
on tenor, Dave on keys and, with Ron and Mark's driving bass and drums, showed how tight an ensemble they were.
With just bass drums and keyboard backing, Django sang a nice version
of Rhode Island.
Further numbers included All The Cats Join In, a Jan
vocal, the lovely Latin version of Nica’s Dream, In All My Wildest Dreams, an
up tempo Cheek To Cheek, and another Jan vocal, the ballad Caruso with just bass, muted trumpet and keys
backing. The first set finished with I Won't Dance - a
vocal duet by Jan and Django.
A swinging start to the second set was made with Sister Sadie before
the mood was changed by Jan singing that mournful blues Fine And Mellow played
with feeling by the whole band including a lovely tenor solo from Donna. Jan
then stayed up to give us an exciting version of Eso Beso.
Django sang Fly Me To The Moon and Jan sang Ray Charles’ Hallelujah
I Just Love Him So.
After Gordon Goodwin’s Terminally Hip, Jan sang a nice
balled That Ole Devil Called Love followed by Route 66, before bringing
the night to a close in fine style with I Put A Spell On You.
This stylish band went down well with an enthusiastic audience and, with
numbers picking up, made for a successful guest band night. Thanks as usual go to
the staff of Dorman's Club for their help and support with the night. Ron Hampton
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