Down for the Count Orchestra play Eastbourne

The critically acclaimed 30-piece Down for the Count Orchestra, conducted by Mike Paul-Smith, has recently been making waves on the UK jazz scene with their warm, engaging and energetic performances. On tour they will be performing timeless classics from the Great American Songbook.

Spokeswoman Jill Lerner said: “One of the few UK swing ensembles to perform with a string section, Down for the Count’s show features recreations of Capitol Studios recordings from Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald, alongside rarely heard British dance band music written by the grandfather of orchestra member Rose Hinton. Audiences will also be treated to transcriptions from the Charlie Parker with Strings albums and many more jazz and swing classics.”

Down for the Count started life as a group of school friends in Buckinghamshire in 2005, in the inspiring environment of the Aylesbury Music Centre. The band’s musical director Mike Paul-Smith explains: “All of us took part in student orchestras and jazz bands and had amazing opportunities to perform at places like The Royal Albert Hall, on tour at The North Sea Jazz Festival and at great concerts with famous jazz artists. Without the fantastic environment at our local music centre, we never would have had the idea to form the band and try to do the same sort of thing ourselves.”

Getting to this stage has certainly been an interesting journey for Mike, who didn’t study performing arts at university but instead read medicine at the University of Oxford.

"Like many musicians I had a dilemma in my late teens about whether or not to go to music college. I chose to study medicine and loved it, 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 about six years ago – and haven’t regretted the decision yet! Each year brings new special memories. In 2018 we had a three-night residency at Le Caveau de la Huchette in Paris, Europe’s oldest jazz club.”

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