Kate Dimbleby Album launch

Lovely evening at the Dean Street Jazz@Pizza Express to launch Kate Dimbleby's CD, Love Comes Again...

Fellow guests were the singer-songwriters, Rebecca Hollweg, and Jay Fisher... who both duetted with Kate...
Great to hear them and their music...
We were all backed by Naadia Sheriff (piano), Sophie Alloway (drums) & Andy Hamill (bass):- the bassist would usually be Jonty Fisher, but owing to bad planning, he was booked on the wrong plane home from Italy by someone else... splendidly Andy, who is also Rebecca's husband stepped into the breach & was excellent.

We sang our track from the album with Kate - Cab Calloway's Everybody eats... as well as Hit the Road, Jack - lovely to sing with Kate, and of course we were splendidly accompanied by Naadia, Sophie & Andy.
We also gave our a cappella 'cats duet' of Man Tran/Ink Spots tracks... Well, well, well  &  That Cat is High, as well as The Lambeth Walk - which the people gamely tried to join in with... of course we still berated them!
Backwards was better...

Golden Triangle tour

Marshchapel, Lincolnshire, Ilkley, Yorkshire and Bucharest, Romania... yes we have trod the same well-travelled path as others before us:- such a natural triumvirate.

Three very different evenings...
Firstly in the Cathedral of the Marshes in Marshchapel... a beautiful church in which to sing and a delightful crowd of jolly, happy people to be entertained... joys... Thank you, to Paul and his charming wife, Ros for looking after us so well... (marvellous cottage pie)...
An excellent Festival run by keen and conscientious people.
Thank you to Voces8 for suggesting us and giving our concert a plug!

Then back to the Ilkley Playhouse, Yorkshire... where we were last June; wonderful to be back, but of course, sad to be reminded of the sad early death of my old friend, Walter Swan, who invited us for these two shows...
...but after that sting of a reminder, the show did indeed go on, and we had a very fine time with a keen Yorkshire crowd, only a few of whom were old friends from London!
They even were happy with our rendition of a song by local hero, Jake Thackray:- Sister Josephine.
Thank you to Joy for looking after us too...with her lovely family.

Then, naturally, on to the capital of Romania to help celebrate 20 years of BMW in the country:- Automobile Bavaria.  A splendid celebration with many car people and local celebrities...
They tried to join in with the Lambeth Walk and understood our Romanian - hooray...

Then there was the unveiling (for Romania) of the new BMW i8 (an electronic car - sorry, Jeremy!)...

Excellent to see Romania for the third time this year... in glorious late summer sunshine.

Hooray.

Preparations for Kate Dimbleby CD launch on Sunday evening and then Canada... terrific!

Bridewell #3 & #4 and a lovely party

Two more performances at the bijou Bridewell Theatre on Friday and Saturday afternoon were splendid fun!
...forgot to mention on the last blog the tremendous contribution of the squeaky floorboard (sited between Mike & I on stage) which filled many pieces - both serious and comedy! - with a frisson of excitement.
Enthusiastic responses from the people to squeaks and music alike.
Long may our relationship with the St. Bride Foundation continue...

Then a quick jaunt up to Warwick Avenue for a private party at Clifton Nurseries - a fine venue & now available for Weddings!
Joined by wonderful pianist Chris Hatt, we celebrated Penny Levinson's birthday with her friends and family in fine style... singing many of her favourite songs... Let's Do It, Night & Day, The Way You Look Tonight, Mad Dogs & Englishmen, Tea for Two, As Time Goes By, A Fine Romance, & Honeysuckle Rose... as well as renditions of Cricket Tea Towel, Strangers in the Night and (altogether now) The Lambeth Walk...
Delightful to be invited to her celebrations...

A busy and enjoyable day...

Bridewell Theatre #1 & #2

First two Bridewell Theatre shows for this September... marvellous.
Still tonight and Saturday afternoon to come....

We enjoyed going Over the Top! for our first two nights in the splendid Bridewell Theatre off Fleet Street... As we are Artists in Residence at the Bridewell Institute, we have performed here many times...

Still a joy - lovely audiences have enjoyed all our nonsense with great aplomb...

Thanks to Mikey and all at the Bridewell for their tremendous support throughout the year.

This week at the Bridewell & beautiful Belgium under the stars

Do come to the Bridewell theatre this week! It'll be great fun...
Weds. 3rd - Fri. 5th at 7.30
Sat. 6th at 2.30
Box Office: 0207 427 4742
All other details here - Over the Top!

We had two wonderful evenings (apart from one 30 minute downpour which was less so) at the excellent Nuits des Choeurs 2014 - an evening of multi-entertainment on six separate stages in the ruins of an old Monastry at Abbaye de Villers, about an hour from Brussels.
As well as us, there was the choir of the French Foreign Legion, The choir of St Petersburg, the lovely franco-israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naim, the energetic and vibrant French cast of Sister Act & the backing group for James Brown.

All the acts perform on six separate stages... three at a time, a set of 20 minutes four times during the evening, so the vast crowds (many thousands) can wander about and watch everything...(including two of them twice if they like) as well as drink and eat... It is sponsored by many, but the eye-catching one for me was Leffe... lovely beer!

It ends on the biggest stage (where the Foreign Legion were at home) with us all doing one more song and ending with fireworks...

Fantastic, and the hardy Belgians laughed at the rain and the muddy fields... brilliant!

One of the amazing six stages:

Mike Smith's funeral

A very moving and sad occasion yesterday.
Mike Smith's funeral.
In glorious Summer sunshine we joined friends and family of the broadcaster & helicopter pilot to celebrate the far-too-early demise of Smithy.

It was a huge honour to be invited...
We helped lead the singing of the excellent music choices; Bring Me Sunshine & Lean on Me & also sang the piece that Cantabile - The London Quartet premiered at Mike and Sarah's wedding 25 years ago... written by Julie Cooper & our old friend Hugh Wooldridge - Pageant!

Many speeches from friends and family were appropriately warm and loving, but Sarah made an especially wonderful speech bringing tears to eyes and lumps to throats... goodness knows how she managed to say it all, but filled with Mike's celebrated joie de vivre, she insisted that life would & could go on.

A beautiful event - as ever with funerals both miserable and life-enhancing.

We can't help but notice that after Mel's last year, this is the second summer during the Edinburgh Festival in which we have sung at the funeral of an M Smith... hoping this does not become a habit...

We break our Aylesbury Duck! ...(and a Wedding)

Ho ho ho... (duck, Aylesbury... geddit?)

Lovely afternoon in the beautiful town of Aylesbury... as part of the Avondale Summer Music Festival... Our first time in the place, I reckon (excellent to look around the place before the concert - perhaps my colleagues might correct me if I am lying & we have been before!)  The weather stayed fair and we entertained the assembled masses under sunny skies & our Madrigal to McCartney show was appreciated greatly...

Also lovely to see our friend Irene married to Steve a few days ago - we wish them all the very best in their future together....

Other jolly news.. it remains warm and (mainly) sunny & England have remembered how to play cricket.
Great Commonwealth Games too...

Have a splendid Summer!