perfect stranger

Chris Welch was in attendance at our PizzaExpress Live gig on 11 November last, and had some nice things to say about us for UK Jazz News.

Thanks Chris!

Two successful gigs! I feel we've made our mark on the Southampton Modern Jazz Club and PizzaExpress Live Soho.
Please forgive the wait for this: various circumstances (partly medical) have delayed things, which is why I hadn't reported back from these two gigs, both of which went very well in spite of various factors such as weather and lack of rehearsal time. Lovely, receptive audiences in both places, and lots of nice comments afterwards. We gave a première in Southampton, my Bebop #8, and a semi-première…

Yes, our Big Gig is now only 10 days away, on Tuesday 11 November…

There are still plenty of tickets left, but this can change quite rapidly at the last minute (he said optimistically), so do book now - or trust to luck by simply turning up at the time and paying at the door.

Here's the Facebook event with more details.

Unfounded fears! I'd been somewhat apprehensive about this gig - long journey, two deps unfamiliar with the music, almost no chance to rehearse properly (not to mention filthy weather!) - but when it came to it, everything fell into place and we played pretty well. Here we all are, from left: Rob Millett, Max Ellenberger (dep), Eddy White, Mick Foster, Jonas Golland, George Jefford, Tom Green, Alan Gibson (dep), Alcyona Mick, Chris Sansom.

The only real fly in the ointment was a miscalculation on my part of…

As promised, the full details and booking link for the PizzaExpress Live gig are now on the Gigs page. But first, in between, we have a gig at the Southampton Modern jazz Club (SMJC to its friends) on Sunday 19 October - we're very much looking forward to that one too.

Yes, that more or less says it all, except that it's on Tuesday 11 November, but there will be more info nearer the time. We're very excited about this, and it's now up to us to make it a good one!

I wasn't expecting any more reviews of Unfinished Business at this late stage, but here comes one from At The Barrier (no, me neither), by Gareth Allen, and it's a corker!
"Unfinished Business by Perfect Stranger is an album that winningly combines music that is challenging and thought provoking, with a joyous and accessible musical experience for the listener."
"... very ambitious and requires quite serious listening. Ultimately though, it completely succeeds in producing something unique and very…

Our gig at Jazz Café POSK on 5 April was a great success. We had a good sized audience, who all enjoyed it, as did we. We played well, in spite of having three deps on board: Martin Hathaway (for Adam Bishop), Bob McKay (for Mick Foster) and Miguel Gorodi (for George Jefford). Of those only Miguel has performed this music before; Martin and Bob had only had one rehearsal! But also… Martin has now taken over the ‘saxes 1’ chair, as Adam has now (quite amicably) left the band — so welcome, Martin! He's a…

Aha! We finally have another gig on the slate. This will be our first appearance at Jazz Café POSK in King Street, Hammersmith, on Saturday 5 April. Looking forward to it hugely.

And since the last post we've had several more excellent reviews for Unfinished Business:

Ian Mann in The Jazz Mann: "Even after half a century the music still sounds fresh and exciting, qualities that are enhanced by the superb playing of Sansom’s hand picked, all star, contemporary jazz ensemble."

Lance Liddle in Bebop Spoken Here…

UNFINISHED BUSINESS was duly released on 18 October and has already garnered two lovely reviews.

First from Neil Duggan in All About Jazz: "The album is sometimes eccentric, sometimes sublime, offering much to enjoy."

Even better, from Nick Lea in Jazz Views: "Moving through straight ahead swing, bebop, grooving bass lines, rock rhythms, funk and reggae the music takes you on a quite a journey, but one that you won’t want to miss."

And Chris Sansom was interviewed by John Fordham, no less, for a forthcoming…