Christmas hasn't started until you've seen Swing Into Christmas!
Quintessential Christmas classics performed live by a 30-piece big band with strings
“Luscious renditions of jazz standards from greats including Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.”
Ammar Kalia, The Guardian
One of the UK’s premier swing orchestras is embarking on their most ambitious festive tour to date this Christmas. The acclaimed 30-piece Down for the Count Swing Orchestra, under the baton of conductor and arranger Mike Paul-Smith, continues to make waves on the UK jazz scene - and is set to bring the magic of the festive season to life with their enchanting performances across the UK.
In a time when bands are getting smaller and smaller, and backing tracks are becoming ever more common, the Down for the Count Swing Orchestra continues to buck the trend with their huge line-up. Every show is 100% live and features a unique 30-piece “big band with strings” line-up, unique amongst bands touring the UK this Christmas.
The Swing Into Christmas extravaganza promises to transport audiences to a world of timeless classics. This year’s tour features brand-new arrangements of Christmas favourites written by conductor and arranger Mike Paul-Smith, offering audiences a fresh take on classic tunes. Audiences can expect to hear recreations of hits such as The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Andy Williams) and Let It Snow! (Frank Sinatra), alongside lesser-known tunes such as Mambo Santa Mambo and Christmas in New Orleans and non-festive classics from the Great American Songbook.
Each song showcases the fantastic instrumentalists and vocalists in the Orchestra, who are a tight-knit group of friends. “One thing that audiences comment on time and time again is what fantastic on-stage camaraderie we have” explains musical director and conductor Mike Paul-Smith, who formed the band in 2005. “We started out as a group of friends who would perform for weddings and private parties in Buckinghamshire, where we grew up. The band gets larger every year but we’ve still maintained that bond of friendship with each other.”
For the musical director Mike, the journey has been as unique as it is inspiring. Choosing to study Medicine at the University of Oxford, he faced a common dilemma among young musicians. “Like many musicians I had a dilemma in my late teens about whether or not to go to music college. I chose to study medicine at University of Oxford and loved it, and after graduating I even decided to do a PhD in gene therapy. However, I was finding that each year Down for the Count were being offered increasingly exciting performance opportunities, so I made the decision to concentrate on music full-time about six years ago - and haven’t regretted the decision yet! Each year brings new special memories - whether it’s performing at Le Caveau de la Huchette in Paris (the oldest jazz club in Europe), or in front of 10,000 people at an outdoor concert supporting The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.”
Within years of forming, Down for the Count became one of the most in-demand event bands in the UK. However, a spontaneous trip to a Bedfordshire vintage festival in 2012 renewed the band’s love of swing music from the 1940s and, the next year, they returned to the festival as performers - and it all grew from there.
“Playing at Twinwood Festival in 2013 was our first major public performance and 6000 people saw us that day for the first time” explains Mike. “In the next few years we went on to perform at all of the top jazz clubs in the UK, culminating in a 2018 performance at the most famous jazz club of them all, Ronnie Scott’s in London, where we now perform at least once or twice a year.”
Down for the Count’s Swing Orchestra line-up is one of the largest swing ensembles who regularly tour the UK. “Adding a string section to the traditional big band line-up just allows us to do so much more musically” explains Mike. “I was first inspired to do so after seeing the John Wilson Orchestra at the BBC Proms, and the sound the Orchestra makes is really quite special - it’s quite a treat for me to stand in front of it, conducting each night. I definitely have the best seat in the house!”
The pressures of touring in a post-pandemic world certainly poses challenges to bands and orchestras, yet Mike is determined to keep music live. “There’s something very special and unique about a live concert - being in a room listening to music which is 100% live is a one-of-a-kind experience which you just can’t replicate listening at home. We’d love everyone to be able to come out and hear the band this Christmas and experience it for themselves!”
Down for the Count’s 2024 Swing Into Christmas tour is by far the Orchestra’s most ambitious to date - featuring 31 shows in 26 locations across England, Scotland and Wales. Everywhere the Orchestra go, audiences love the band’s energy, obvious camaraderie and on-stage humour, but above all their love of Great American Songbook repertoire. “When people see a swing show, sometimes they expect to see a group of bored performers with no energy - but with a Down for the Count show, nothing could be further from the truth” explains Mike. “Everyone in the group is aged between 25 and 40 and loves the music, bringing a youthful energy to the performances which really comes across to the audience. We also tell some stories behind the songs so that audiences can leave feeling informed about the music - and it’s all done in a down-to-earth way so that people get to know us as musicians.”
Tickets for Swing Into Christmas 2024 are available from www.swingintochristmas.co.uk
Upcoming shows
Sun 17 Nov ~ INVERNESS Eden Court
Mon 18 Nov ~ ABERDEEN Tivoli Theatre
Wed 20 Nov ~ DUMFRIES Easterbrook Hall
Thu 21 Nov ~ NEWCASTLE Cathedral
Fri 22 Nov ~ LEICESTER Empire Hall
Sat 23 Nov ~ CARDIFF Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Sun 24 Nov ~ EXETER Great Hall
Fri 29 Nov ~ CAMBRIDGE West Road Concert Hall
Sat 30 Nov ~ BIRMINGHAM Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Sun 1 Dec ~ IPSWICH Corn Exchange
Mon 2 Dec ~ BATH The Forum
Tue 3 Dec ~ CHELTENHAM Town Hall
Wed 4 Dec ~ LIVERPOOL St. George’s Hall
Thu 5 Dec ~ GLASGOW Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Sat 7 Dec ~ EDINBURGH The Queen’s Hall
Mon 9 Dec ~ PERTH Concert Hall
Fri 13 Dec ~ SHEFFIELD Octagon Centre
Sat 14 Dec ~ YORK Central Hall
Sun 15 Dec ~ MANCHESTER The Stoller Hall
Tue 17 Dec ~ NOTTINGHAM Albert Hall
Wed 18 Dec ~ HUDDERSFIELD Lawrence Batley Theatre
Thu 19 Dec ~ HULL City Hall
Fri 20 Dec ~ OXFORD Olivier Hall
Sat 21 Dec ~ WORTHING Assembly Hall
Sun 22 Dec ~ SOUTHAMPTON Turner Sims
Sat 28 Dec ~ LONDON Cadogan Hall
About the author
Polis Loizou-Denyer is Down for the Count's marketing and communications officer. Though it's a long time since he played an instrument himself, he likes to keep creative with his own writing, performing, theatre making, filmmaking and oral storytelling.
