Down for the Count at the Enigma Ball

On the 26th November we were delighted to be asked once again to play for the Enigma Ball, at the very prestigious and rather beautiful Bletchley Park, home of the Enigma code-breakers! A slight deviation from our usual diet of weddings and functions, this was a perfect blend of sophisticated, stylish 1940's dancehall and good old-fashioned partying with Milton Keynes' LBGT (Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender) community - and what a night it was!

We all arrived punctually as usual, although Nicky's sat-nav caused some grief - luckily, Mike was to the rescue!

No harm done though, as we were set up, sound-checked and swinging in no time!

In between sets quite a bit of jewellery was going missing, so Mike had a lovely time chatting with the guests and making special announcements, and taking the odd request:

By the end of our second set we were really getting into the atmosphere, and enjoyed a much-needed break from energetic playing and boogying while our gorgeous host Kathy drew the raffle:

Some of the outfits were truly spectacular:

Finally we launched heart and 'soul' into our final soul and Motown set - the crowd response was unreal and I'm sure that even Chaka Khan herself didn't get such a response the first time she played 'I'm Every Woman'! A mainstay in our set from now on, to be sure. A truly memorable night and one of the best, most responsive and enthusiastic audiences ever! Here were some of my favourite moments (playing with my posh new camera, from the back of the trumpet section!):

Thanks to the Enigma Ball for a great gig - see you next time!

Article and photos by Simon Joyner

Down for the Count and Vintage Style

down for the count and vintage style

There has never been a better time to add vintage style to a wedding or party, and a classic jazz band is one way to guarantee your event is special.

With artists like Michael Buble bringing swing music back into the charts, and TV shows such as Mad Men and PanAm celebrating the music and fashions of the 1950s and 60s, the vintage trend grows and grows.

Although fashions come and go, the interest in mid-century design and music doesn’t seem to be fading. 1950s and 60s style was classic, smart and sophisticated, so introducing some of this subtle glamour to your party through live music is a simple way of making an event memorable.

Pan Am - We'll Always Have Paris - Season 1 Episode 2

Down for the Count have always tried to combine classic vintage style with a young, enthusiastic performance that keeps things up to date. The name ‘Down for the Count’ is the title of a Count Basie chart from 1953, and the logo design was inspired by the unmistakeable graphics of Saul Bass (graphic designer for many Hitchcock film posters of the 1950s and 60s), and most notably the opening credits to North by Northwest (1959).

Watch North By Northwest credits here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fNabF8bq_o

When developing the repertoire list for the band, Down for the Count carefully chose songs that would be a hit with all ages – swing numbers that get people ballroom dancing even if they didn’t know they could, a jump-jive set perfect for retro lindy hop moves, not to mention lounge jazz which is always effortlessly cool as the backdrop to a drinks reception.

The retro music currently being used in hit TV shows Mad Men and PanAm, features classics songs of the period which speak of nights out in the city, jetting off to exotic destinations, and above all, love and romance. Down for the Count showcases the talents of its band by combining jazz, swing and soul music in each performance – keeping things modern by playing contemporary favourites such as Valerie (Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson) and Aint Nobody (Rufus feat. Chaka Khan) alongside early Motown hits from the likes of Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder.

Mad Men - "5g" - Season 1 Episode 5 

We have been lucky enough to play at several events that were the ultimate in retro cool this year; a wedding featuring a dance lesson from Swing Dance UK tutors who demonstrated how swing music and dancing can bring an event to life; and another wedding where the bride, a dance teacher, had choreographed the first dance to our own arrangement of ‘Fly Me to the Moon’, and performed it wearing a vintage bridal gown purchased at The London Vintage Wedding Fair.

The music of the 1940s-60s definitely conjures up feelings of glamour and sophistication, especially when performed in slick dinner jackets, and chic cocktail dresses. Down for the Count will always champion the impact that a live band has at an event, and are sure that this music will never be out of style.

Essential listening

“Blue Skies” - Ella Fitzgerald

“Caravan” - Gordon Jenkins

“Too Close For Comfort” – Sammy Davis Junior

“Mack The Knife” – Bobby Darin

“There’s a Small Hotel” – Ella Fitzgerald

“Botch-A-Me” – Rosemary Clooney

“Volare” – The McGuire Sisters

“Fly Me To The Moon” – Julie London

“Blue in Green” – Miles Davis

“On The Street Where You Live” – Vic Damone

“Manhattan” – Ella Fitzgerald

“There Will Never Be Another You” – Bud Powell

“Break It To Me Gently” – Brenda Lee

Further reading

http://designmuseum.org/design/saul-bass

http://www.davidairey.com/saul-bass-life-film-design/

http://www.amctv.com/shows/mad-men

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/pan-am

A Very Down for the Count Christmas - 10 days to go!

There are just 10 days to go until A Very Down for the Count Christmas!  It's going to be a fantastic evening of live music, drinks and dancing to the sounds of your favourite 9-piece swing and soul band.  Head over to our website, www.downforthecount.co.uk to get your tickets today!

32 days left until Christmas....

So with only 32 days left until Christmas, people across the country are gradually falling into two camps. Are you in the mindset of "it’s Christmas! I must start my shopping and listening to Christmassy music!" - or are you more of the opinion that people should calm down, forget about Christmas shopping and wait at least another four weeks until they get excited about the festive season?

Well in the world of Down For The Count, we have been thinking about Christmas since about September, and probably even earlier for Mike! The very exciting reason for that is we are getting ready for ‘A Very Down For The Count Christmas’ which is an evening of live music, dancing and general festive merriment! Everyone in the band is getting ready for this gig, and all of our friends and family are looking forward to coming to see us play, as it’s one of our rare public gigs!

Mike has just finished doing all the Christmas arrangements, so he’s been well and truly thrown into the Christmas spirit. But how can you avoid the spirit when you’re immersed in wonderful songs such as All I Want for Christmas Is You, Santa Baby and…well, if you want to hear more you’ll have to buy a ticket and come along and watch!

- Claire

A Very Down for the Count Christmas
Winslow Public Hall, Winslow, Buckinghamshire
Saturday 10th December 2011
Doors 7.30pm, Live Music 8.15pm - 11.15pm
Drinks available from the bar
Tickets £8 (adults) and £6 (concessions) - available online at www.downforthecount.co.uk/christmas.html,
or by phoning Mike on 07855 488462

Down for the Count hits the road

Richard takes a look back at a busy summer for Down for the Count

This summer has been a busy time for the band and we’ve been very lucky to have had a calendar packed full of so many functions and events to play for. August and September has been an especially busy period, with almost every weekend taken up with some form of booking. This has meant that as well as being able to meet and perform to many different groups of people, we’ve also had the opportunity to travel around and visit lots of different locations over the months.

We had the chance to visit both the East and West coasts, playing for functions in both Somerset and Suffolk (in the same weekend!), and enjoyed a rare opportunity to relax watching the sea.

We also explored areas closer to home, playing in the South East and South West of London, and closer still was a “South of The River” performance for the Herne Hill Festival. This was a week-long festival at various venues with classical and lighter music in the daytime and jazz music later at night. We were delighted to be asked to close the festival on the Saturday night at The Half Moon Pub. We played a fairly mixed set featuring some up-tempo swing and jump jive numbers, a few small group jazz standards for any prospective “jazz heads” in the audience, and finishing up with some Motown soul. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and we hope to see it grow even bigger in coming years…stay tuned to http://at.orpheusweb.co.uk/Festival/?page=nextyear to see what’s in store!

Now that summer has come to a close and “wedding season” has finished, we are looking forward to some more events closer to home, in particular, our next big public performance! On December 10^th we will be putting on a Christmas themed event - A Very Down for the Count Christmas - playing big band arrangements of some classic Christmas favourites. We look forward to kick-starting the holidays with some early Yule-tide fun!

Behind the scenes at Down for the Count present On The Town – Part Two

Continuing our build up to A Very Down for the Christmas, Mike shares a look behind the scenes at our last Winslow Public Hall gig – On the Town, in May 2011.

The tickets had been sold, the drinks bought, songs rehearsed (if not quite yet perfected!) but the serious work was only just beginning.

The big day actually started on Friday lunchtime, in the same way as every single Down for the Count gig – loading the van at our storage unit.  With extra lighting, decorations and drinks to fit in the van was even more packed than usual!

Next was a quick stop off at Granger Hertzog, an amazing prop house in West London where Amelia worked until October 2011.  We were borrowing some fantastic lights to add a touch of ‘glam’ to our New York-inspired evening, and couldn’t stop from helping ourselves to a few other bits and pieces too…!

Then we had a short hop up the A41 to Winslow, to start setting up for the next day.  This involved setting up the tables and chairs, rigging the lights and hanging our chandelier decorations from the stage – work so physical that we had to reward ourselves with fish and chips.

There was just enough time for a quick sleep before heading back to the hall on Saturday morning, to finish decorating the hall and setting up the sound system and stage.

After a quick lunch, it was time for our rehearsal.  Playing on a hollow stage in a large, boomy room creates a few technical difficulties so we spent a long time on the soundcheck, getting things sounding just right. Anna, our ever-present sound engineer, once again worked her magic, and soon the band was sounding fantastic!

In the afternoon we ran all the new material we had prepared for the concert, and brushed up a few other other songs that we hadn’t performed for a while.  There was also time to practice the feature songs we had prepared for the evening, and to rehearse the opening and closing numbers of each set so that the show on the night is seemless!

Then it was time for a quick dinner – probably fish and chips again, knowing us – before coming back to the hall to tidy up, add the final touches to the decorations, check that everything is good to go and finally get changed, ready to welcome our guests for the evening before launching into our three sets!

Our next Winslow Public Hall performance will be on Saturday 10^th December 2011.  A Very Down for the Count Christmas will be a fantastic evening of live jazz, swing, soul and Motown music, with a few of your Christmas favourites thrown in for good measure!  Buy your tickets here.

Behind the scenes at Down for the Count present On The Town – Part One

With A Very Down for the Count Christmas just a few weeks away, this week Mike takes a look “behind the scenes” at one of our Winslow Public Hall events


Once or twice a year, we host a themed event at Winslow Public Hall to give us an opportunity to perform for friends, family and future clients. It’s also a great chance for us to learn some new songs to add to our ever-expanding repertoire!

In May 2011, inspired by a holiday to New York City, we chose the theme On The Town, with decorations and music inspired by the Big Apple.

Planning these events always starts months beforehand – and the most difficult thing is often finding a date that we are all free!

Having juggled our nine diaries to secure a date, we started planning the decorations. This has always been the domain of Amelia, who always works wonders at transforming the hall on a very limited budget. This time the decorations included making ten hanging chandeliers – giving Mike the perfect excuse to mess around with scissors and spray paint – and wall displays featuring some New York jazz greats.

The next task was selecting and then arranging the new songs. We had chosen songs inspired by New York City, including There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon for New York, Manhattan, Lullaby of Birdland and On The Street Where You Live. Our arrangements are usually done by Mike, and involve hours sat behind a computer and keyboard, writing individual parts for each band member. On the surface Mike complains about having to do this, but secretly he is scarcely happier than when arranging music for the band!

A few weeks before the big day, we met up to practice the new music. Our favourite rehearsal studio is Audio Underground in Stoke Newington, and it was here that we headed once again - spending a whole weekend consuming snacks, drinking our own body weight in tea and coffee, engaging in a not insignificant amount of ‘bandter’, and also doing some playing as well.

This was the time to work on another big aspect of the evening – the feature songs, where each member of the band gets to choose their own piece of music to perform on the night, getting their three minutes of fame.

After a busy and productive weekend, it was time for a quick publicity performance at Winslow Farmer’s Market, and then the final push to sell tickets. On The Town was an extraordinary success, with over 120 tickets sold – smashing our previous record!

Check back soon to find out more about the big day itself…

Our next public performance at Winslow Public Hall is A Very Down for the Count Christmas on Saturday 10th December. Click here to buy your tickets before they sell out!

Down for the Count - Christmas Party Band

I know, I know, it's a beautiful sunny afternoon at the end of September (how many times have you been able to say that in this country?!) and Christmas is probably the last thing on our minds, but it's creeping up on us and now is the perfect time to think about your Christmas party.

We've played for many Christmas parties in the past, but this year we've gone for it in a big way - arranging and learning some fantastic Christmas hits that will really give you a party with "class"!

If you're anything like me, you probably can't stand 95% of the Christmas songs that get played on the radio - which is why we've selected our Christmas repertoire very carefully.

For one thing, no-one wants a function band that plays JUST Christmas music - I couldn't think of anything worse - so we will be working our new Christmas repertoire around our great mix of Swing, Rat Pack, Soul and Motown classics.

We've also selected songs that sound 'right' next to the songs we perform - they have to be songs that suit a swing and soul band.  You probably won't be surprised to hear that we've started with two classic Frank Sinatra arrangements -  "Let It Snow" and "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town".  I'm not sure who the original arrangements were written by, but they're both fantastic - especially Let It Snow, complete with muted trumpets, swung saxophones and cheeky transposition into the vocal chorus where you would normally expect the horn soli.




We've also arranged "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year", by Andy Williams.  It's a fast jazz waltz, and probably the ultimate opening to any set of Christmas music!

Also on the set lists will be everyone's favourite Christmas Song - Maria Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You".  We've made a habit out of re-creating scenes from Love Actually this year and can't wait to play this for you - Amelia is particularly excited about the tubular bells part!

Of course we're also planning lots of other Christmas songs - but we don't want to spoil all the surprises just yet...

Head over to our website today to enquire about having the band perform for your Christmas party - and don't forget that we are hosting our very own Christmas party at Winslow Public Hall on Saturday 10th December - more information about this great concert will be released soon!

Mike

Anthony and Becky's wedding with Down for the Count

Anthony and Becky Kolodynski booked Down for the Count to perform at their wedding at Heatherden Hall at Pinewood Studios on Saturday 6th August 2011.  Here is their account of their special day.  

Many thanks to Richard and Sarah at CaptureIt for the fantastic photos.

“As most people would attest to, finding a band to play at your wedding that you feel you can trust is difficult. We certainly struck gold in finding Down for the Count.

Firstly, in the run-up to the wedding, Mike, the band leader, was incredibly professional, courteous and enthusiastic, which instantly put our minds at ease, and we felt that we could put our faith in this band. He was also proactive in his suggestions of these things that might work during the wedding, and was helpful in assisting with the timings.

We had the piano-sax duo playing during the wedding breakfast, which was much better than simply having a CD or iPod playing, and it was played perfectly in harmony with the mood during the meal.

Our first dance was to a song not in the band’s repertoire, but they showed great flexibility to learn it in time for the wedding day – and it was played and sung beautifully. Shame about my dancing…!

In the evening, we had the 9-piece band play and the sound was simply fantastic! The best sign that you have a good band in front of you is that everyone is on the dance floor having a great time. People are still talking about the music at our wedding now…

All in all, we highly recommend Down for the Count – a great band.”

Photos courtesy of CaptureIt

Down for the Count 6 years on

This week Claire looks back at the last 6 years with Down for the Count!

For my blog entry, I found myself thinking about how far the band has come since we formed way back in 2005, and how many different and exciting things all the band members have been up to in the past 6 years!

Some quick facts showing how far we’ve come since 2005:

•  Our first album was recorded in Mike’s living room. Our most recent album Say No More was recorded in the Limehouse Recording Studios in London.
• Our first gig was for a 50^th birthday party in a marquee - now we’re headlining the Herne Hill music festival and playing at prestigious venues such as Pinewood Studios.
• We started off playing for events in small villages in Buckinghamshire, now we’ve played in Somerset, Nottingham, Gloucester and everywhere in between.

Steve and Rich at our very first gig - as a 6-piece band, performing for Hugh Martin's 50th Birthday Party on April 2nd 2005. We've done hundreds of gigs since - but this one still takes some beating!

Down For The Count first started when Mike asked Steve, Claire, Stan, Rich and some other musicians to play for a village production of Aladdin, and of course we all jumped at the chance to be part of such a cheesy, entertaining production…

Well, it was a pantomime...

Although panto music clearly had its appeal, Mike was keen to create a jazz band, and “Poinciana” (our first working name) was born. Little did we know that 6 years later, we would have evolved into the band you see and hear today! (And if you haven’t seen or heard us, come and see us at the Herne Hill Music Festival!)

Our first recording session - for one day only, Mike's living room and garage were converted into a temporary recording studio.

Poinciana quickly grew in size, firstly with additions to the horn section. Kate and Simon added alto sax and trumpet, and then Milly joined the band on keyboard so we could have lots of different extra sounds without all the extra players. During this time we were all in various stages of secondary school, doing GCSE’s and A levels. Mike, Milly, Katie and Steve were getting ready to go to university to study a variety of topics - medicine, media arts, more medicine and psychology. Even though many of us didn’t study music at university, it was our shared passion in music that kept the band together and going strong. It’s also interesting just how spread out the band members were once we all left school. We had DFTC members in Bangor, London, Oxford, Leeds, Bristol and Manchester!

Our most recent recording session, in the absolutely amazing Limehouse Studio, East London.

Over the years the band has gone from strength to strength and also through a few changes. Our lead trumpeter Stan went to study in Singapore in October 2010, and Max joined the band as his dep. In June this year Katie joined the touring production of Dreamboats and Petticoats, so we have Nicky filling in for her.

The band at a wedding in 2006

So what are we all up to now whilst we continue to play with the band? Well, just like when we all started playing together - we’re all doing very varied things! Steve, Milly and myself are living and working in London. Steve’s working as a waiter while he ponders his next move, and Milly and I are attempting to turn our hobbies into full time jobs. I’m working as a freelance musician and Milly has set up her own vintage homewares business. A third of the band are still being educated at UCL - Mike’s in his final year of medicine, Max is starting his Masters and Nicky is going into her second year of studying history and French. Kate is starting a career in recruitment and also plays with the ska punk band The Amendments. Rich is working as a drum teacher and is also playing with the pop punk band FlipSideUp. Finally, Simon is starting his Masters in composition back up at Manchester.

The band at one of our first performances as a 9-piece - Magdalen College Auditorium, Oxford

So that’s Down For The Count in 2011 - who knows what we’ll be up to in another 6 years??

Down for the Count in August 2011

Down for the Count at Nick and Erin's Wedding

On Friday 19th August, we performed at Nick and Erin's wedding reception at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.  Nick is a friend of Mike's from university - whose trademark greeting was to pick Mike up and turn him upside down (see the photo below for the general idea) - whilst three of us in the band know Erin's sister Rachel from UCL.

It's always lovely playing for people we know - for one thing, it means we are almost guaranteed a friendly audience, which was certainly the case this time round.  We were also extremely well looked after and well fed - which always seems to make us play better!

Nick and Erin are fantastic ballroom dancers, and performed a brilliant routine to Natalie Cole's "This Will Be An Everlasting Love" for their first dance.  There is a video of them and the band in action here - thanks to Declan at Etch for the glowing review and absolutely wonderful photos and videos.

Bank Holiday Photoshoot

Nicky Dega, our newest band member, tells us about yesterday's day of photos, videos and bandter!

On the 29th of August, Down for the Count headed to The Joint Rehearsal Studios in Kings Cross. For nearly all of us, it was the first time we had been to these amazing studios and we got to use the largest room, the Sound Stage for the whole day. This time we were not recording any songs but using it as a background to take some lovely new pictures and two new videos. As a new member in the band, this was especially exciting for me as it will be nice to be on the website with the other band members.

In the morning (after getting a little bit excited at the possibility that Eliza Doolittle was in the same studio as us!), Steve's girlfriend Linda very kindly took lots of pictures of the band performing, some head shots and everyone's favourite 'hanging out' shots!

In the afternoon the real work started when we recorded videos for Lady is a Tramp and Superstition. Mike and Amelia took charge of the camera, shooting people individually from lots of angles, which meant that we could sit and enjoy watching different members play.

Although it was a really fun day, it was long! DFTC got there at 10am and stayed till 8pm, meaning that some of us did try and catch some sneaky naps in between takes!

The new photos will be appearing on the website in the next week or so, and the videos some time after that.