Review Centre: Bands & Ensembles

"Ella Fitzgerald was born on 25 April 1917. She didn't have the easiest of starts to life - losing both parents and making a living on the streets as a teenager. She had hopes of becoming a dancer but had no training. What she did have was the gift of the smoothest, silkiest voice Jazz has known with the most delicate of touches - to hear Ella was to be kissed on the cheek by the lightest of breezes. Over her career she recorded 2,000 songs many of which are now Jazz standards - a fact in part due to the Fitzgerald imprimatur. Annette Gregory has a voice that is naturally lower in pitch than Ella’s and wisely she does not attempt a tribute act that imitates - rather her performance is a celebration of Ella’s legacy and the songs that will be sung and heard for as long as humans live on this planet. For this gig she was to have been accompanied by a quartet but unfortunately the bassist and sax player were caught up in a traffic standstill on the M6, but the piano (John) and drums (Matt) backing meant the stripped down support ensured that we focused on the songs. Just as Annette does not try to sound like Ella, neither does she slavishly follow her interpretations. This was strikingly apparent in songs such as “Miss Otis Regrets” and “The Man I Love” (which was more of a rocking blues than the familiar ballad). Annette's delivery is characterised by controlled, fluent and delicate phrasing and a pair of ballads - “When a Woman Loves a Man” and “Embraceable You” - were particularly pleasing. Let's hope that Annette and the full quartet make it back to Buxton soon! (10 / 10)"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"I have no idea where to begin with just how amazing The King Brasstards. We booked them for our wedding and they were just brilliant. They got people dancing from song one, they were super lovely with our guests and everyone raved about them. I was emailing with Gareth from the beginning who was so helpful. If you are looking for a band who will truly make your event then don't look any further. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thank you so much for making our wedding go with a swing. Our guests made many compliments about your excellent music, and your jazzy uniforms. Thank you once again."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Carlo was amazing from start to finish. He created the perfect ambience for the party. Everybody commented how great he sounded. Highly recommended"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Extremely entertaining, very easy to deal with. Helped us to raise in excess of £10k for cancer research."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Wow just wow! The Rockpins were amazing at our wedding and had all our guests up dancing. They are such lovely people too. We can’t thank you enough and had the most magnificent day from start to finish with you. We had our first dance to their own song Heartbeat too as we wanted something different and it was a truly lovely first dance song."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Just want to say a massive thank you to everyone last night! As we knew it would be, it was amazing! Great song choices and really kept the party going till we sadly had to stop! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We just want to say a massive thank you for playing the harp at our Wedding at West Heath last month. Many of our guests have remarked on how fantastic you were. My mum said that your playing was one of the highlights of the ceremony and for me walking into the room to marry my husband and walking out as husband and wife to your beautiful music made my day! Thank you again!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Very beautiful voice, easily coming high notes! Brava!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"These guys played for us last night at our 40th party and were just amazing. They really know how to get the party going and the crowd involved, would book them again without a doubt!!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Huge thank you to rachel for singing at our wedding it was amazing and brought a tear to everybodys eye. The service we have recieved throughout has been exceptional, we cant thank you enough. Rebecca and Andrew Hughes. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"These guys are great to work with and the entertainment was superb, made the night for all of our staff and friends when they played at our Christmas party in November 2021. Cant recommend enough"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"I just wanted to say thank you so so much for playing at our wedding! The dance floor was full from beginning to end and everyone said how good you were! Many thanks "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"The Songbirds were excellent, on time, lovely voices and very professional. They made the party the success it was - fantastic ladies. Their song repertoire suited the event - a birthday party in World War aerodrome. One guests commented that they were "stonking" - we totally agree. Very highly recommended. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thank you very much The VIP Formula. You were amazing! All of us loved dancing to your music. Your entertaining performance was a plus... My guests had such a great time at our wedding party. You gave a magic touch to our special night. We loved your version of "You are so beautiful" for the first dance... Unforgettable. Thanks so much!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review: