Wedding Band

Archive for the ‘Tea Dances’ Category

Choosing music for an evening wedding reception used to be quite a simple matter 10 or 15 years ago – live band or disco.  That decision made, even if you did choose a live wedding band the chances are it would be a function band that played music from Motown through to the current charts, trying its best to be a live version of the disco earlier dismissed.  Weddings then had a sort of familiarity – when the music started the older generation would leave the room for a quiet chat outside (and that’s if they were lucky enough to be at a venue with another room to escape to.)

With stately homes fast becoming the new village hall, the wedding venues are getting grander and more elegant and so too, is the music.  No more the ABBA medley or Tina Turner oldies deafening us – bring on the SWING BAND.  An elegant mixture of music from the Great American Songbook which has once again, become hip, cool and current.   The parents of the bride & groom may have been rockin’ to the likes of Rod Stewart for their wedding reception entertainment but even Rod has exchanged his ‘Maggie Mae’ for ‘As Time Goes By’.

With the huge popularity of shows like The Rat Pack and new artists such as Michael Buble, the resurgence of jazz, swing and popular song has never been stronger.   Buble’s music, let’s face it, is of our grandparents generation.  It’s Frank Sinatra all over again – classy, brassy and ring-a-ding-ding!   The real pleasure of digging up the musical past is that only the best and the biggest hits are re-discovered.  Songs such as Let’s Face The Music and Dance, Come Fly With Me, La Mer, Have You Met Miss Jones or Music to Watch Girls Go By are the survivors.   Who’d have thought that young brides would once again be asking for ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ or ‘Mr Bojangles’ for their first dance?

Turning to the all-important wedding first dance, one suspects that the rush of soon-to-be-married couples to take quickstep or foxtrot lessons must be due to the huge success of Strictly Come Dancing, a show which has it all – live music, beautiful gowns and most of all, glamour.   And what could be more glamorous than gliding across the dance-floor for the first time as newly-weds while a live swing band plays ‘Cheek To Cheek’?  Think Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers.  Sunday afternoon Tea-Dances are now back in style.

Perhaps for the contemporary Bride and Groom a Swing Band exemplifies the heady, studio-spun glamour of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s.  Fronted by its male and female vocalists (we mustn’t forget Ella Fitzgerald’s contribution to this wonderful music) it will play music from composers such as George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and even some Stevie Wonder thrown in for good measure.  A good quality Swing Band will have all generations enjoying the party and at a sensible volume too allowing guests to chat or to dance or to simply listen.

The disco has had its day, and a very long day at that, but if you really must have a disco then why not book a professional top-class live band who also offer a disco service?

Top Tips for choosing a Swing Band.

1.     Make sure they are professional musicians – this music is quite complex to play and requires a high level of musicianship.

2.     See if the band has any public performances where you can hear them play.

3.     Ask for a demo CD or listen to on-line sound samples (any reputable band will have these).

4.     See if the band of your choice has any video footage on YouTube.  This is fast replacing audio samples and it really is WYSIWYG

5.     Make sure they have an extensive repertoire and can play requests.

6.     If you use a music booking agency, be sure to check that the agent has personally seen the band.  You’d be surprised how often agents ‘Google’ a band just to hold-on to the client.

Great gig yesterday at the beautiful Le Talbooth, Colchester, Essex where Simply Swing performed at the wedding of Peter Suchet (sibling of David Suchet and John Suchet) and Jo Clinton-Davis.  The band was booked for a Tea-Dance but the event turned into a musical little bit of everything where we performed a wide variety of musical styles and kept all the guests dancing the afternoon away!

Continuing our strict tempo ballroom dancing theme, Simply Swing’s drummer Jeff was playing at Karen Hardy’s dance studio in Chelsea.  He is in demand as a trusted drummer to get the tempos right when it comes to ballroom dancing!  Many of our brides and grooms have lessons in ballroom dancing to add that bit of glamour to their first dance and Karen Hardy’s studios is the perfect place to learn.

What an exciting week this week was.  Three members of the Simply Swing band (Steve, Sandra & Jeff) were booked as free-lance musicians with the Ross Mitchell Band & Orchestra to perform at The Royal Albert Hall for the 57th edition of the International Ballroom Dancing Championships.  It was great to play all that strict tempo music again at such a prestigious venue.  If you are thinking of hosting a Tea Dance or need to book a band for ballroom dancing, Simply Swing has the repertoire and experience to cater for this perfectly.