Big band, swing and Sinatra came to the New Theatre tonight. Playing to an enthusiastic crowd, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra made its way through a series of classics such as Route 66, Lady is a tramp and I’ve Got You Under My Skin.
Nelson Riddle, an Academy Award winning composer and arranger, collaborated with the very best singers of the 40’s and 50’s including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. His orchestra is said to be the ‘world's most recorded’, due to its long establishment and collaborations with some of the greatest singers of the 20th century. His son, Christopher Riddle, now conducts and leads the orchestra in the same tradition and style set by his father.
Throughout this evening’s performance, Riddle enjoyed light-hearted and easy banter with the audience, charming them with tales of his father and Frank, Ella and Nat. The Orchestra’s crooner, Bryan Anthony, was equally charming in his banter, but where Riddle was disarming and sweet, Anthony was dashing and smooth.
Anthony has a full and powerful voice, and belted out the tunes with ease and style akin to those who sang them the first time ’round. He has great stage presence and managed to get quite a few whoops and hollers from the audience, despite their ageing demographic.
The Orchestra itself was excellent, with some of the musicians impressively switching between instruments over the course of the evening, not to mention Riddle himself switching between conducting and playing the trombone. The band was highly professional and had a fantastic sound.
Much of the music has featured on movie soundtracks and television shows, and thus even for those of us who weren’t around back then (a remarkably small proportion of the audience) it had a certain comforting familiarity about it, not to mention evoking images of swing dancing and parties in the 50’s and 60’s.
Overall it was a show that both the audience and the performers seemed to enjoy immensely, and should they be passing through a city near you on their 2008 UK tour, is definitely worth seeing.
Nelson Riddle, an Academy Award winning composer and arranger, collaborated with the very best singers of the 40’s and 50’s including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. His orchestra is said to be the ‘world's most recorded’, due to its long establishment and collaborations with some of the greatest singers of the 20th century. His son, Christopher Riddle, now conducts and leads the orchestra in the same tradition and style set by his father.
Throughout this evening’s performance, Riddle enjoyed light-hearted and easy banter with the audience, charming them with tales of his father and Frank, Ella and Nat. The Orchestra’s crooner, Bryan Anthony, was equally charming in his banter, but where Riddle was disarming and sweet, Anthony was dashing and smooth.
Anthony has a full and powerful voice, and belted out the tunes with ease and style akin to those who sang them the first time ’round. He has great stage presence and managed to get quite a few whoops and hollers from the audience, despite their ageing demographic.
The Orchestra itself was excellent, with some of the musicians impressively switching between instruments over the course of the evening, not to mention Riddle himself switching between conducting and playing the trombone. The band was highly professional and had a fantastic sound.
Much of the music has featured on movie soundtracks and television shows, and thus even for those of us who weren’t around back then (a remarkably small proportion of the audience) it had a certain comforting familiarity about it, not to mention evoking images of swing dancing and parties in the 50’s and 60’s.
Overall it was a show that both the audience and the performers seemed to enjoy immensely, and should they be passing through a city near you on their 2008 UK tour, is definitely worth seeing.