September gigs

SEH September Experience

The SEH experience in September started with a gig at Huddersfield jazz club, with Dave O’Higgins joining my Northern quartet for the night.  I love doing gigs with Dave – he’s played on both my albums and we’ve developed a great way of playing together over the years.  Book us for a gig here! 

Blurry pic, but believe me it's Dave O'Higgins!

My big band had a gig at Ruislip Sports and social club the following day, and considering that my Saturday night was spent sitting on a megabus from Huddersfield, I couldn’t do the classic night-before-big-band-gig of staying up til 4am printing and sticking.  Instead, it was a last-minute panic to finish the charts and email them home to my sister who helpfully printed them out ready for me to sellotape at 8:15 that morning when I arrived home!  The gig was fantastic, and the first time that I’ve felt proud of my big band pad, like it’s a set of music ready to be performed in public.  So book my big band here!

Another amazing experience in September was playing for the “Diner en blanc,” event in Covent Garden.  Apparently, this was a kind of ‘secret cinema’ event, where diners knew the theme (wearing white) and what to bring (portable chairs and tables) but they didn’t know until the last minute where it was going to be held.  We had to set up at about 6pm, and even the band had to fit in with the ‘wearing white’ theme, but we felt a bit daft in the middle of the piazza at Covent Garden in our white outfits in the middle of the rush hour.  But about an hour later, the whole place filled up with swarms of white, and suddenly we felt part of a very exclusive club.  It was great fun, and definitely an event that I’d dine at in future!  Here’s their promotional video to get you interested…

I finished off the month with a lovely gig at Jazzy’s jazz café in Sandbanks, Poole, where we had to face absolutely torrential weather to get there – and marvel aghast at the kite surfers going for it on the breaking waves.

L to R: Me, Nina Ferro, David McAlmont, Juliet Roberts.

 Then back to London for a night at the Hideaway where I was thrilled to be invited along with three other amazing singers to be part of the “Diva” series, a celebration of voice curated by pianist Janette Mason.  It’s on the last Saturday of alternating months, and I highly recommend it as a great night out.