Praise Duke

To the GLive Hall in Guildford this evening for a concert featuring the Vivace Chorus, an excellent local choir, and the 'All Stars' Jazz Band. The main work was Duke Ellington's Sacred Concert, which also featured a brilliant tap dancer, Annette Walker, and a soprano, Joanna Forbes L'Estrange, who used to lead The Swingles (I rememberThe Swingle Singers from the 60s). The programme also included Bob Chilcott's Little Jazz Mass, a more recent jazz take on the Latin Mass. Chilcott is currently the Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Singers and must be desperately unhappy at the recent news that the BBC plans to close down the choir. The choir was due to celebrate its centenary this year and closing it is cultural vandalism unworthy of the BBC,  however pressured they are to make cuts because of the government's decision to freeze the licence fee.