Latest 7 magazine

Andrew Kay previews this year’s Royal Pavilion Ice Rink restaurant Feast

It hardly seems a moment since we all moaned about the lousy summer weather and now we are all bracing ourselves for the cold and looking forward to a white Christmas. Nothing looked prettier last Christmas than the spectacle of the ice rink at The Royal Pavilion. With the palace lit up and the ice filled with its soft reflections it had never looked more beautiful.

This season it returns and with it a new food offer entitled Feast. Given the shortness of the season I thought it would be a good idea to travel up to Shoreditch and the Worship Street Whistle Stop where they were able to provide me with a taste of things to come. Read the rest of this article »

The Correspondents are Mr Bruce and Mr Chuckles, collaborators in resuscitating a sound from bygone times and mixing it up to make some very contemporary tracks. Jeff Hemmings gets to the bottom line of their bass line

The unlikely duo of Mr Bruce and Mr Chuckles have been enticing all those who witness them to ‘get your brogues on’ – their revamped vintage sounds riding the wave of the fun and fantasy filled electro swing scene, while their records are being released on the local label, Freshly Squeezed. Jeff Hemmings put some questions to the pair ahead of their Concorde 2 gig this week.

Can I clarify – Chucks does the music, programming, etc, and Mr Bruce provides the vocals?
Chucks: We try to, at least!

How did you to get together musically and what are your formative loves, music-wise?
Chucks: We did a bit of bedroom DJ/MC jamming back in our teens. Those were the days. But it wasn’t really until after uni that we both came back to London and started making a few tracks, informally playing at a few mates parties. It all went from there – there wasn’t really any ‘lets make a band!’ moment. Read the rest of this article »

Child’s play

Thirty years ago someone had the bright idea to emulate the american Telethons over here with a fundraiser taking over the entire evening’s television viewing. There were only three channels back then, Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and Bucks Fizz had just won the Eurovision Song Contest involving a rather nifty trick with skirts and velcro. Pioneering feminism and stripping for points, all in a single era.

Terry Wogan was one of three hosts in that first all-nighter and he’s still a stalwart supporter, hosting this year’s festivities along with Alesha Dixon, Tess Daly and Fearne Cotton. Read the rest of this article »

The trio proved they are the kings (and queen) of Western Swing, with two sets of blistering country jazz. Many of the songs were older than guitarist Whit’s 1937 Gibson amp but they all sounded incredibly fresh. His amazing jazz licks, combined with fiddle player Elana’s classical training, really brought these old songs to life, aided by Jake’s slamming bass backing and call outs. Elana’s beautiful voice was made for their selections from the great American songbook and after their breathtaking, breakneck speed closer ‘Orange Blossom Special’, the Devil would be a golden fiddle down were he foolish enough to challenge her.

Komedia,
13th November
Rating:
Steve Clements