Swing Into Christmas

The Down for the Count Swing Orchestra bring their annual festive show to the Gannochy Trust Auditorium, Perth Concert Hall on Monday 30 November, starting at 19:30. It's a 30-piece big band with strings, one of the largest swing bands currently touring the UK, and they're led by conductor and compère Mike Paul-Smith.

On stage, the orchestra recreates the sounds of Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Judy Garland in an authentic big-band-with-strings style. The set is built around fresh arrangements of festive classics like 'Let It Snow', 'This Christmas', 'The Most Wonderful Time of the Year' and 'New York, New York'. It's a big ensemble, with some of the country's top vocalists and instrumentalists filling out the sound.

They've played Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, the London Jazz Festival and Cadogan Hall, and the show has picked up praise from Michael Bublé ('Awesome'), the Liverpool Echo ('almost faultless'), DownBeat Magazine and Jazzwise, with reviewers naming them a potential competitor to the John Wilson Orchestra.

Tickets are £43.50, £38.50, £33.50 and £28.50, with student prices at £31.50, £28.50, £24.50 and £20.50, and under-18s at £23.50, £21.50, £18.50 and £16.50 — all including a £2.50 booking fee per ticket. The concert is at the Gannochy Trust Auditorium in the Perth Concert Hall on Mill Street, PH1 5HZ, on Monday 30 November at 19:30.