DOWN FOR THE COUNT to Release COUNT DOWN TO CHRISTMAS Album Before UK Tour
The 30- to 40-piece big band with strings recorded two full-length albums following a £27,500 crowdfunding campaign.
Fan-funded swing orchestra Down for the Count follows a successful crowdfunder with two new studio albums, starting with a festive record tied to its largest tour to date.
Down for the Count, Britain's only regularly touring large-scale swing orchestra – a 30- to 40-piece big band with strings – will release its new Christmas album, Count Down to Christmas, on Friday 27th November. The release is linked to the 20-date UK Swing Into Christmas tour, the ensemble's highest calibre tour to date.
The album is the result of a fan-backed crowdfunding campaign which raised £27,500 from 400 backers, surpassing its original £25,000 target, allowing the orchestra to record not one but two full-length albums across three days at Angel Studios in London in August. Count Down to Christmas is the orchestra's second Christmas album (Swing Into Christmas was released in 2021), and brings festive standards and lesser-known seasonal material together in Down for the Count's unique big-band-and-strings setting; a second, non-festive album follows in Spring 2027.
The record will be available to pre-order ahead of the tour, and will be on sale at every performance.
'We wanted to make a record that sounds like the Christmas albums of old – with that sense of festive warmth and nostalgia that you get from Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra yuletide classics – but with a bit of modern touch,' says conductor and Musical Director Mike Paul-Smith. 'Recording our new Christmas album gave us the chance to play some songs audiences know, alongside several pieces they will probably be hearing for the first time, and having that mix is really what this band is all about.'
Before leading one of the UK's largest touring jazz ensembles, Mike Paul-Smith studied medicine at the University of Oxford and completed a PhD in gene therapy at Imperial College London, before leaving science behind to become a full-time pianist, conductor and arranger. He now orchestrates much of Down for the Count's repertoire, and has also directed ensembles at international festivals including Montreux Festival and performed at North Sea Jazz Festival.
Down for the Count has previously sold out shows at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, Cadogan Hall, and has appeared on three occasions at the London Jazz Festival.
Down for the Count is a UK touring swing orchestra led by pianist, conductor and arranger Mike Paul-Smith. Its 30- to 40-piece ensemble combines a traditional big-band line-up with a string group, performing orchestrations of Great American Songbook classics arranged by members of the orchestra. Founded in 2005 by Mike and a group of school friends from Aylesbury Music Centre, the band began by performing at local weddings and private events. A chance encounter with London's swing dance scene in 2012 led the band into Lindy hop and vintage dance events across the capital, followed by a headline slot at Twinwood Festival in 2013 and residencies at London jazz clubs including Ronnie Scott's and Pizza Express Jazz Club. Down for the Count began touring regional UK theatres in 2019, the same year it formed the Down for the Count Swing Orchestra, a big band with strings styled on the Capitol Studios orchestras of the 1950s. The band now performs at over 100 public and private events each year, and is recognised as one of the UK's busiest and hardest-swinging live acts.
Tour Dates
Sat 28 Nov - Tivoli Theatre, Aberdeen - 2.30pm & 7.30pm.
Mon 30 Nov - Perth Concert Hall, Perth - 7.30pm
Wed 2 Dec - The Glasshouse, Gateshead - 7.30pm
Thu 3 Dec - New Auditorium, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow - 7.30pm
Fri 4 Dec - The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh - 7.30pm
Sat 5 Dec - The Stoller Hall, Manchester - 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Sun 6 Dec - Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield - 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Tue 8 Dec - Bath Forum, Bath - 7.30pm
Sat 12 Dec - Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff - 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Sun 13 Dec - Cheltenham Town Hall, Cheltenham - 3pm
Mon 14 Dec - St. George's Hall, Liverpool - 7.30pm
Tue 15 Dec - The Halls, Norwich - 7.30pm
Wed 16 Dec - Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry - 7.30pm
Thu 17 Dec - The Great Hall, Exeter - 7.30pm
Fri 18 Dec - Olivier Hall, Oxford - 7.30pm
Sat 19 Dec - Turner Sims, Southampton - 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Mon 21 Dec - Cambridge Corn Exchange, Cambridge - 7.30pm
Tue 22 Dec - Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham - 7pm
Mon 28 Dec - Cadogan Hall, London - 5pm
Tue 29 Dec - Cadogan Hall, London - 2pm & 7pm
Tickets from £25: swingintochristmas.co.uk
Photo Credit: Marcus Charter
Photo Credit: Marcus Charter
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