Swing into Christmas!

Down for the Count Swing Orchestra are embarking on their most ambitious festive tour to date and are making a whistle stop in Exeter!

As they continue to make waves on the UK jazz scene, the 30-piece orchestra are set to bring their joyous celebration of the Great American Songbook to the city later this month.

Under the baton of conductor and arranger Mike Paul-Smith, Down for the Count can not only boast a three-day residency at Le Caveau de la Huchette in Paris, Europe’s oldest jazz club, and an outdoor concert supporting The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, performed to 10,000 people – it also boasts the rare combination of swing band and string section.

In addition to timeless Christmas classics, this year’s tour features brand-new arrangements, offering audiences a fresh take on songs such as The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,Let It Snow!, and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, alongside non-festive favourites by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong that showcase the orchestra’s sensational musicians and vocalists.

Down for the Count started life in 2005 as a group of school friends in Buckinghamshire.

Mike explains: “We all participated in student orchestras and jazz bands, performing at iconic venues like The Royal Albert Hall and on tours such as The North Sea Jazz Festival. The inspiration and opportunities we had at our local music centre were invaluable and sparked the idea to form the band.”

Initially, the band performed at local weddings and parties, quickly growing to become one of the most in-demand event bands in the UK.

However, a spontaneous trip to a Bedfordshire vintage festival in 2012 renewed the band’s love of swing music from the 1940s and they returned to the festival as performers the following year. It all grew from there.

But Mike, who was studying Medicine at the University of Oxford, faced a dilemma that’s common among musicians: whether or not to go to music college.

“I loved Medicine, and after graduating I even decided to do a PhD in gene therapy. However, I was finding that each year we were getting more and more performance opportunities, so I made the decision to concentrate on music full-time – and haven’t regretted it yet!”

The band are at Exeter Northcott Theatre at 5pm on November 24.

For tickets, click here.