On the Gypsy/Jazz scene there was a couple of memorable albums this year. Samson Schmitt’s put together an unusual trio for; Rire Avec Charlie, whilst the Rosenberg Trio moved into the world of soundtracks, recording pristine copies of Django classics.
In the Classical world I continued to collect more renditions of Wagner’s orchestral works, whilst making more new discoveries of other composers too.
On the band front in 2017, the gigging continued apace with Swingologie, the Matt Palmer Trio, and particularly with Swing Gitan, with all three bands appearing regularly at the Pelican Club and other venues both old and new, like the Yarn Bar, Peggy’s Skylight, and a host of other various gigs, festivals and functions.
This year saw the release of CDs by both Swingologie and Swing Gitan. Ironically, for various reasons both CDs were recorded a year to eighteen months before their release. The Swingologie CD was a live set captured at West Bridgford library in November 2015, and the Swing Gitan CD was recorded in December of 2016, and finally released on CD just as 2017 came to an end. Some promotional videos set to tracks from the CD were also made in 2017 in preparation for its release, and were featured online before the CD was available to buy. The Swing Gitan CD also featured a composition of my own, called ‘Bossa Soleado‘, and I designed the artwork for both CDs.
Wayne's random blog 