A gypsy swing band based on the oft-imitated model of the Hot Club de France. A solid guitar and bass rhythm section, a top class lead guitarist and occasional vocals, and wonderful Seonaid Aitken on fiddle and lead vocal. Seonaid is an incredibly talented musician performing across classical, folk and jazz genres, and this was the first time I'd had the chance to see her leading her own band.
Mixing thirties standards with their own compositions the band delivers a top quality exposition on the art of gypsy jazz. The instrumental solos are luminously imaginative and often of dizzying speed, whilst the interplay between the two lead instruments was at times delightful. My favourite moment featured a pizzicato exchange between fiddle and guitar in which it became increasingly difficult to determine where one ended and the other began.
On top of this Aitken sings with a voice of surprising purity, a wide range matched by perfect articulation (even, it seemed, in French).
If you have any love at all for the music of the great Grappelli and Reinhardt then Rose Room will not disappoint. Here's a bit of what they can do. Sublime.
Footnote to festival organisers. Put the start and finish times for ALL gigs into the programme. If your customers want to pack a few gigs inTO an evening they need this information to avoid becoming double booked....
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