Corporate Event: East Midlands Food & Drink Forum, Gala Dinner & Awards Evenings, Nottingham, Derby & Leicester

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www.eminnovation.org.uk
 
In November 2011 The Swinging Bass Trio played at the East Midlands iNet Food and Drink Innovation Awards and Gala Dinner at the Old Library, the Conference Centre,
Nottingham.
 
This was the third year that we had been asked to play at the annual event and we were delighted to be asked to play again. The trio of keyboard, sax and double bass arrived to find a magnificent grand piano there and that we could use!

Again we were looked after very well with people to greet us and help carry the equipment and instruments in. While the awards were being made we had dinner – and prepared to an amazing standard!

This year the host was Jay Rayner, author, restaurant critic for The Observer and BBC’s The One Show frequent guest. Over 100 attended the evening and the awards were presented by Jay. As the guests were leaving we noticed that he was tempted by the grand piano – and he is a good pianist too!

We played at the 2010 evening at The Roundhouse, Derby. It is an amazing building that had been converted from a railway maintenance building into a unique conference centre. John Sergeant was the guest speaker. He spoke about his career as a journalist and as a contestant in the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.

In 2009 the evening was held at the Athena Centre, Leicester where we played for the evening for the first time. Hardeep Singh Kohli, passionate food fan, and guest on The One Show, Question Time and Newsnight Review presented the awards and was the guest speaker.

Birmingham Wedding Band Booked

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Following our booking to play at a vintage wedding in Waltham-on-the-Wolds village hall, we were delighted to be asked to play at the Vintage Themed Wedding at Dorridge Village Hall, Solihull, near Birmingham, on 9th June 2012. All the musicians have the date in their diaries and we know it will be another amazing event!

Dorridge Village Hall, Solihull, Birmingham

Dorridge Village Hall, Solihull, Birmingham

Leicestershire Wedding Band play Waltham-on-the-Wolds

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The Swinging Bass Band were invited to play at a wedding at Waltham-on-the-Wolds Village Hall, Leicestershire recently. It was a fantastic event and all 120 guests were in 1920’s costumes. The Bride and Groom arrived in a vintage car as did some of the guests.

It was an amazing wedding. The 6-piece band was asked to play three sets in the evening – a 1920’s set; a swing set; and a pop set. The guests flooded the floor from the very first note we played.

Table settings for the wedding at Waltham-on-the-Wolds Village Hall, Leicestershire

Table settings for the wedding at Waltham-on-the-Wolds Village Hall, Leicestershire.

Guests enjoying themselves at Waltham-on-the-Wolds Village Hall

Guests enjoying themselves at Waltham-on-the-Wolds Village Hall

http://www.walthamvillagehall.co.uk

A rare picture of Jon playing his flugelhorn. He is usually seen with a trumpet!

A rare picture of Jon playing his flugelhorn. He is usually seen with a trumpet!

Andy Kirkland’s Swinging Bass Band invited back to Embrace Arts, Leicester

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In October 2010 Andy Kirkland’s Swinging Bass band played a concert at Embrace Arts, Leicester, to a near capacity audience. We were asked to play a mix of Michael Bublé material and swinging jazz tunes. At the end a couple from the audience came to chat and they have booked us for their wedding!

wedding band play Embrace Arts, Leicestershirehttp://www.embracearts.co.uk/

We are delighted to be invited back to Embrace Arts for another concert at 8.00pm on June 15th 2012!

We play very few public events so it was a chance for the Leicester Mercury to review the evening.

Here are a few quotes to whet your appetite for our return in June 2012: -
 “.. a smooth, accessible, yet captivating night.”

“Andy Kirkland remained the rock around which others orbited … often opening tunes with can-you-tell-what-it-is-yet bass solos”

“Neil Hunter on keyboard and grand piano … the impresario darting about the ivories”.

“Dave Nock .. truly shone on frets especially on The Look of Love and Have You Met Miss Jones”.

“Trumpeter Jon Peacock … clear breezy brass work”

Wedding at Burrows Gardens, Derbyshire

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The Swinging Bass Trio and Band were invited to play at a wedding at Burrows Gardens, Derbyshire, in October 2011. The trio played quiet background music while the guests chatted and had dinner. Later the band came on and we played a mix of music.
Derbyshire wedding band play Burrows Gardens Brailsford live band Derbyshire
http://www.burrowsgardens.com

The band needed to be really well prepared because we were not sure how much swing and how much pop the guests would really want. We started off with a medley of You Make Me Feel So Young, Fly Me to the Moon, and Come Fly with Me as Michael Bublé would do them. As the evening developed we tried Lets Groove and Ladies Night. We had an excellent response to these and so moved in that direction.

A thank you card:-
 “The drinks reception was fantastic with the trio pitching it just right … so the guests could talk”

“Then the band got us all going and we were thrilled to see so many of our guests on the dance floor (many of whom we have never seen dancing before!)”

Wedding at Brownsover Hall, Rugby, Warwickshire

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We were booked to play at the wedding of Louise and Rob at Brownsover Hall, Rugby. It became one of the highlights of the year.  We were asked to play quietly for the first 45 minutes while the evening guests arrived and after a short break to open up and play for dancing. We wanted the music to appeal to all the guests and so played a mix of swing and pop.

Brownsover Hall, warwickshirehttp://www.brownsoverhall.co.uk/

Louise and Rob asked for Cheek to Cheek as their first dance and them after a few swing tunes we moved into Kool and the Gang’s Get Down on It, then Good Times and Mustang Sally. We played Stevie Wonders Isn’t She Lovely and a few more others before a short break.

It was then a hint of Jools Holland with Tuxedo Junction followed by Dance the Night Away, Let’s Groove, some Rock and Roll and a taste of Status Quo’s Rocking All Over the World. We finished with New York, New York and Wonderful World. Then the guests insisted that we did an encore.

It was a fantastic night, then the emails and cards came from the guests:-

“.. so many guests said it was the best wedding music ever heard – and we totally agreed!”

“… a fun and exciting end to our day”

“Neither Rob nor I are fans of disco, and we thought that a swing band could be a good alternative, but we had no idea how brilliant and inclusive-for-all it would be!  We absolutely LOVED it! “