Blast from the past: Churchill Jazz Band

I've just been going back over some old recordings and was reminded of one I made all the way back in 2011, with the big band I was directing at the time, Churchill Jazz Band. Set up in around 2009 (or maybe 2010?) by my pal Peter Nickalls (now a successful media composer - check him out), listening back to this recording it's hard to believe that we were actually all just students, and mostly not music students at that. The band really played their heart outs that day, in particular vocalist Lucy Cronin. We recorded 4 tracks, of which this arrangement of Harold Arlen's Come Rain or Come Shine is still my favourite for the lush orchestration and heavy mood. I can't find any record of who the arranger was, sadly!

I hear the band is still going strong to this day, with their 10th anniversary now behind them. Always very pleasing to know something you worked hard on has had a life after you. I did have a little reunion with them a few years back, which I might post about another time. Maybe there'll be another some time in the future.

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