On March 10 in Room One, Loughborough’s Tuxedo Swing hosted their annual night at the Student’s Union; Union Jazz. ‘Tux’ played tribute to the revered genre that is jazz by playing an assortment of lilting tracks by artists who have been cherished world wide for decades.
The band inaugurated the evening with instrumental pieces that showcased all their individual talents as well as their style and artistry as a whole, and were effective in setting the mood for the audience, keeping them thoroughly entertained for the four hours to follow.
The Master of Ceremonies for the evening, David Williams, then proceeded to introduce the four vocalists who would be belting out classics and crowd favourites for the rest of the show: Emma Clift, Caroline Budden, Benjamin Victor and Label Music Editor George Crabb.
The first vocal by Crabb, ‘Georgia On My Mind’ an absolute jazz classic prepared the audience for the hits that were about to follow, with pieces such as Clift’s chilling rendition of ‘At Last’ and Budden’s sultry ‘I Wanna Make Love to You’ and deserved a night filled with applause.
The instrumental solos by each of the band members were outstanding and were well supported throughout and elicited enthusiastic response from the audience all night long and left them truly impressed, and dancing all around Room One. Songs such as ‘In the Mood’, ‘Spain’ and ‘Have You Seen Them Cakes?’ left the viewers astounded at the talent on display, metaphorically hearing their money being well spent.
The night was concluded with a rather emotional farewell to the leaving members, as well as two fantastic group numbers from the vocalists: ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ from the hit musical, Funny Girl, and rounding off the night the classic, ‘Theme from New York, New York’.
With a huge smile on his face, vocalist George Crabb told Label; “It has truly been a fantastic year and what a way to prove it. All I can say is that it couldn’t have happened without the help of the Union staff, CrewSoc and of course the packed Room One audience. A simply incredible night.”
The atmosphere on the night was magical, as the band, together, with the vocalists performed with such synergy and enthusiasm, seeming to flow with consummate ease so as to rival most professional jazz bands out there.
All in all, Union Jazz 2012 was nothing short of a grand success, as much appreciation as I have always had for the genre I have never been a devoted fan, however, I think it is safe to say Union Jazz has converted me.
