"The ultra-stylish Kit Packham’s One Jump Ahead band is now 30 years old. For this Sunday afternoon gig at the award-winning Hideaway, they performed a rollicking set of songs ranging from 1940s and 1950s jump/jive, R&B and classic rock ‘n’ roll, to jazz standards and originals, featuring the band’s core seven-piece line-up: Bandleader and composer, Kit Packham on saxophones and lead vocal, Steve Knight on guitar, Perry White on piano, Alex Keen on double bass, Kenrick Rowe on drums, Tracey Mendham on saxophones and vocals, and Simon Da Silva on trumpet and flugelhorn. Striking in a blue pinstripe suit and fedora, Packham resembled Frank Sinatra, and he introduced numbers in a clear and informative way. They opened with one of the band’s original tunes, ‘Swing It’, which immediately propelled people to the dance floor. The band’s perky theme tune, ‘One Jump Ahead’, contained one of Packham’s signature, impactful abrupt endings and deadpan Knight added even more colour to the act by performing a nose flute solo on The Blues Brothers classic, ‘Minnie the Moocher’. White nailed a stunning boogie-woogie piano solo punctuated by thrillingly deep bass notes from Mendham on baritone saxophone on ‘Choo Choo Ch’Boogie’, and they even managed to squeeze in a world premiere featuring Vera Lynn’s World War II song, ‘We’ll Meet Again’: Loosely named ‘The Last Song Of The Set’, it cleverly welded an old song onto a new one. Eventually the two tunes overlapped, bringing the gig to an impressive end. The time flew; a sure sign that Kit Packham’s One Jump Ahead with its thoroughly well-written arrangements and heartfelt blend of comedy and music, had done a fine job of bringing this classy joint to life."

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"The Kings of hot swing were really brilliant - lots of lovely compliments from our guests, thank you very much!!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Excellent. Highly recommended."

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"Thanks so much for Saturday, you were as good as I'd hoped you'd be and better, lots of our guests said that it was the best party they had ever been too! It was a little dream come true for mum as she has never had a proper party and has always wanted to dress up and go to a 50's dance so thank you for helping us achieve that. She told me she would never forget it. It's the band that makes the party and you absolutely nailed it! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Hey. you all absolutely smashed it. Everyone said you guys were amazing. Thank you so much. Take care"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We absolutely loved having you guys there and you definitely got the atmosphere right. We had a lot of comments that people loved the music during the day so a big thank you for that! Also, our guests LOVED having a band for the ceremony (rather than the traditional harpist or flute players). Our only regret is that we hadn’t booked you guys for longer or for the evening too! But we’ll definitely recommend you to friends and if we can think of a way to hire you again we definitely will! Thanks again ever so much!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Great band!! Couldn’t recommend them more for your event! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"What an absolutely brilliant band, Chloe and the boys were absolutely great. My dad loved them and it was his 80th birthday and still jiving. They played a great playlist from the 50's which obvious enjoyment and pleasure that infected everyone there. The best comment I heard was from a relative who said they were like the bands were back in the 50's; young, enthusiastic and brilliant. The dance floor was full all night and I saw people dancing who I would have bet my mortgage on would never jive. Thank you all so much, great band, great people and worth every penny."

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Hello! I realised we never said THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! You lot absolutely 100% nailed it! We are both so so happy with the glorious soundtrack you provided for our party. The music was amazing, and the energy you all brought was incredible. We knew it was going to be good, but had no idea it would be that good! You got the party started in ways we could never have imagined! Everyone had the best time dancing to your sound, we could not have wished for more. There aren’t words for how grateful we are, just thank you thank you thank you!!! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Our 1st gig yesterday and you were absolutely FANTASTIC. Great fun family day out! Intelligent, funny, catchy songs... kept the adults and kids entertained. Can't wait for the next one!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"What an amazing wedding band! We were quite nervous about choosing a band for our wedding especially given we couldn't see them live due to Covid. But we definitely 100% made the right decision and they were exactly what we were looking for and so much more! The band were really easy to communicate with and really listened to what we wanted. They took the time to get to know us, a bit about our day and our music preferences before building their set list. On the day they were so professional and the music was incredible. To have our first dance performed live was just amazing and we really couldn't have asked for more! All of our guests have given such amazing comments about them and they kept the dance floor going all night - nobody wanted the night to end! Thank you SO much House of Chords - you guys are brilliant and we would highly highly recommend! Katie and Dan x"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Well done for last weekend's performance at the Running Horse Leatherhead. My wife and I enjoyed it and were very impressed - thought you did really well. Sorry we couldn't stay for the second part. Personally I really liked the seventies Bowie, Who, Floyd, Led Zep, whereas she liked the slower stuff - but that is probably more a reflection on our tastes than anything to do with your performance! Well done - hope you enjoyed it too- and hope the next gig comes soon. "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Thanks again for your great set last Sunday. I think you could probably tell we all enjoyed it! We have had great feedback from friends who have asked for your details. Thanks again!"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"We and all of the guests loved the band. Lots of people asked where they were from and how we found them. They definitely got people up dancing and created a party atmosphere. All of the ladies thought the drummer was pretty hot too. Very impressive 'wipeout' guests were amazed to see it done so well live! Thank you! "

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review:

"Well, what can we say? The House of Chords played at our wedding last week and were amazing!!! Everyone commented about how much they enjoyed the music. The guys were all so nice and they put a huge amount of effort in to making the set tailored to our taste. We were so pleased you played at our wedding – would highly recommend! x"

Rating: 10 / 10 Share this review: