London Jazz Diary

A great mix of jazz gigs this week…

Firstly we performed at an event to celebrate the end of a big admin project at UCL University, in the heart of Central London. A Jazz Trio featuring guitar, sax and bass was the order of the day, and much champagne was quaffed by the large university team.  A quote from the client

“Many thanks for the fantastic music!  A number of people commented how much they enjoyed it. I also really appreciated that you arrived early and made suggestions about the best times to play and take breaks based on what was going on at the reception.  That was a huge help to me.”

We were then asked at short notice to perform at an event at the BT Tower, again in central London. This turned into 3 events in the end as we got asked back by popular demand, and we were playing for a corporate do with family members invited too (hence children running around!) The ensemble was the City Jazz Trio featuring sax, piano and double bass, performing 3 sets spread across the night. Needless to say the views from the top of the tower were unbelievable, especially considering we had one whole floor of the tower as our changing room! The highlight was play jazz at the top of London, being there for the bonfire night celebrations, and we could see all of the major displays across London, whilst still managing to play the right notes just about…

Finally we were asked to play at a grand Indian birthday celebration, a 50th birthday no less, at the Cumberland Hotel near Marble Arch in London. Again the jazz trio featuring piano was used, and we performed a couple of requests, including “summer time” which was the birthday boy’s favourite: turns out he was a sax player himself. Birthday jazz always goes down well, and we play at many events at the big hotels in West London. Also present were some fantastic Indian dancers, though I’m not sure we’ll be donning the bikinis and feathers for our next gig!

For more general information about City Jazz, please visit www.cityjazz.co.uk

As the first post on this new blog I thought it would be apt to describe our busiest summer yet at City Jazz.

Here are some highlights of our summer…

- We recently played at the wedding of David Suchet’s daughter at the incredible Wilton Music Hall in the east end of London. David, also known as TV’s Hercule Poirot, gave an incredibly moving speech and the jazz went down well, with a packed dance floor!

– Some lovely jazz weddings at Middle Temple in central London, the Clarendon Hotel in Blackheath, the Sofotel Hotel in Heathrow plus many more, including St Mary’s University College in Strawberry Hill. Congrats and good luck everyone!

- A nice range of summer corporate parties, at venues such as GSK central office, Temple Bar, Gray’s Inn, The Royal Horseguards, adding some sophistication and ice breaking background jazz vibes at these grand events.

- Our usual residency at the Rickshaw restaurant in Battersea, the weather has generally been on our side over this lovely restaurant overlooking a cobbled square in South London

- A lovely family party in Dover, and a family / company celebration out in Knockholt

Don’t forget if you’re interested in booking a band, please contact us via our website at www.cityjazz.co.uk