Voices of Swing with The Down for the Count Swing Orchestra

The Down for the Count Swing Orchestra play The Tivoli Theatre on Tuesday 18 May 2027, with the concert starting at 7:30pm. It's a 30-piece ensemble led by conductor Mike Paul-Smith, and they'll be joined on stage by vocalists whose names are yet to be announced.

The set is built around the Great American Songbook, with the kind of standards that usually come to mind when you think of the era: 'I've Got You Under My Skin', 'Stardust', and 'I've Got You Wonderful'. The orchestra describes the whole thing as a 'sonic ride back to the sounds of Capitol Studios in the 1950s', and they're not just playing the songs as you might remember them. They use their own arrangements, written by the members of the orchestra, and many of those appear on the group's new album. It's a way of keeping the heritage of the songs intact while giving them their own take.

There's a bit of a niche to what they do, too. The Down for the Count Concert Orchestra is one of the few 'big bands with strings' in the UK, and they've played sold-out shows at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, the London Jazz Festival and Cadogan Hall. That string section is a good part of why they lean into the Capitol Studios sound, which had a lushness to it that a standard brass-heavy big band doesn't always hit. Their work has drawn praise from Michael Bublé, who called it 'Awesome!!!', as well as from DownBeat Magazine and JazzWise Magazine.

Tickets run from £31 to £46, and that price includes a £1 donation towards the venue's restoration. The show starts at 7:30pm at The Tivoli Theatre on Tuesday 18 May.