For the third year, we’re back for Christmas at the Cluny, bringing along some of the absolute best and brightest to perform two sets of the best festive tunes you’ll hear all year!
We celebrated Christmas with the Cluny once again this year, taking to Cluny 2’s intimate stage for a performance packed with big band charts from the likes of Chick Corea, Sammy Nestico, Count Basie and Stan Kenton – and of course, a handful of Christmas charts to get into the festive spirit.
Shortly into the first set was the first ‘Christmas-adjacent Song’ (according to Brian) – a Latin-inspired arrangement of My Favourite Things by Michele Fernández. It’s a great tune and a fantastic arrangement, which went down well. The talented trombones of Bertie, Alex, Fiona, and Ciaran were featured in Bag O’ Bones, and Spirit of St Frederick saw a feature from Billy on trumpet. The multi-talented Ifede switched from bass to vocals halfway through the set, to deliver renditions of Let’s Face the Music and Dance and Sammy Davis Jr’s Birth of the Blues.
After a short break, the second began with an energetic arrangement of the Miles Davis classic So What, giving the trumpet section a well-deserved chance to shine, before another feature for Alex on 1st trombone to bring down the pace, with Prisoner of Love. The delightful A Charlie Brown Christmas showcased the band as a whole, and another trio of vocal pieces from Ifede rounded off the evening, including Candy, No Moon At All and I Love Being Here with You, before a festive finish with Glen Miller’s take on Frosty the Snowman.
Keep an eye out and be sure to catch us in the new year; you won’t want to miss the next one.
Pieces
Granada Smoothie
Hayburner
My Favourite Things
Bag O’ Bones
Spirit of St. Frederick
Two Seconds to Midnight
Let’s Face the Music and Dance (v)
Birth of the Blues (v)
La Fiesta
So What
Windows
Prisoner of Love
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Decoupage
Ya Gotta Try
Candy (v)
No Moon At All (v)
I Love Being Here With You (v)
Frosty the Snowman
Lineup
Vocals: Ifede Osiyemi
Saxes: Pippa Morgan, Max Storey, Crissi Booth, Lucy McCartan, Brian Wicks
Trumpets: Billy Bradshaw, Sam Armstrong, Josh Skyrme, Andrew Marshall
Trombones: Alex Utting, Bertie Marks, Fiona Duxbury, Ciarán Skipper
Guitar: Jacob Egglestone
Keys: Marcus Dawe
Bass: Ifede Osiyemi, Joe Sharples
Drums: Jack Littlewood