Ay, no hay que llorar, que la vida es un carnaval - ¡es más bello vivir cantando!

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Simply because one can never have too much Celia Cruz...

We had a stupendous time at the Cadogan Hall last night for the centenary Celebration of Celia Cruz, courtesy of a very talented ensemble indeed, Orchestra Mambo International!

Not only are they superb instrumentalists - trombone, baritone sax, trumpets, bongos, drums, güiro, maracas, guitar, piano and vibraphone, the key components of salsa music, all played to perfection - but they had on the bill a trio of utterly wonderful singers: Yuri Moreno, Juanita Euka, and - probably best of all, mainly because he held everything together so well from beginning to end - the band's lead singer Carlos “Pachanga” Peña. 

It was the ladies, however, upon whom the spotlight shone, as they took it in turns to perform as "Celia" on a whole raft of songs from her back catalogue...

... and here's a fine example:

Orchestra Mambo International - La Vida es un Carnaval [centenary Celebration of Celia Cruz, 21 October 2025]

Orchestra Mambo International - La Vida es un Carnaval, part 2 [centenary Celebration of Celia Cruz, 21 October 2025]

We have been to the Cadogan Hall (a crown amongst the riches of Chelsea) many times before, and this is the very first time we have seen the entire audience - of all ages, creeds, colours and class - take to their feet and dance like there was no tomorrow! On a Tuesday night, no less!

¡Azucar!

Celia would have been proud.

["Ay, no hay que llorar, que la vida es un carnaval - ¡es más bello vivir cantando!" = "Ay, there's no need to cry, because life is a carnival - it's more beautiful to live singing!" in English.]

Found wanting?

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Madam Arcati and I concluded our "choral triptych" - we saw Faure's Requiem in March, and Verdi's Requiem in June - at the Cadogan Hall last night, with the biggest and most OTT of the lot, William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast.

Famously, the piece requires a huge vocal ensemble (last night's production had two choirs - Epsom Choral Society and the Barnes Choir), and just about every instrument in the orchestral canon. Indeed, the renowned wit and esteemed conductor Sir Thomas Beecham (who was very sniffy about the work as it was about to receive its premiere) said to the young William Walton: "As you'll never hear the thing again, my boy, why not throw in a couple of brass bands?" So he did.

It's impressive, that's for certain, if not exactly my "cup of tea" either. It's based upon one of those dramatic Old Testament stories full of smiting: the Jews are in exile as slaves in Babylon and the tyrant Belshazzar commits sacrilege by taking their sacred vessels for his guests and concubines to use at a lavish feast, bringing damnation upon his head. It includes the original source of the phrase "the writing's on the wall" - "You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting." Belshazzar's subsequent death and the fall of his empire become the cause of great celebration for the Jews. Noisily.

BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, cond. Sir Andrew Davis - Belshazzar's feast: Then sing aloud to God (Finale) [Walton]

It is, of course, another phrase from that original story [later repeated in one of the Psalms] that has become even more famous in popular culture - not least in this eternal classic. I couldn't possibly imagine two more polar opposite pieces of music - but hey, that's the way my mind works!

Boney M - Rivers of Babylon

---

PS

It's France's greatest day of celebration, Le Quatorze Juillet (or Bastille Day)...

...so here's some coq gaulois, for your delectation:

Ooh, la, la!

I even named her Dies Irae*

Madam Arcati and I had our "culture with a capital K" hats on again last night, as once more we ventured off to the simply faboo Cadogan Hall - this time for a very special concert performance of Verdi's Requiem by Twickenham Choral. Heavens, what spectacular experience it was, too!

We've long been particularly fond of the Requiem - probably "Joe Green"'s finest work - and every time we hear that immense drum [and last night's was six feet across! A bit like this one.], we always do the choir's wailing "Aa-aa-aa-aa-aa-aa"...

...sort-of like this:

BBC Symphony Orchestra and Choruses, cond. Semyon Bychkov - Requiem - Dies Irae e Tuba Mirum [Verdi; BBC Proms 2011]

[Crank it up to 11! Full version here.]

Apart from the brilliance of last night's choir, the faboo soloists and the orchestra, we were also quite privileged to find ourselves part of the retirement celebration of the Twickenham Choral Society's conductor Christopher Herrick after 50 years at the helm [read more] - complete with his rather emotional speech, and afterwards in the bar the presentation of a "book of thanks" from its membership, past and present...

We're still coming down to earth from the experience!

[* In case anyone's confused - it's a pun on the lyrics of a familar Sondheim standard...]

Paradisum ex Chelsea

Cadogan Hall in swanky Sloane Square, Chelsea is a fascinating oddity. Originally built in 1907 as a Christian Scientist church, it was designed in the radical "Byzantine Revival" fashion by architect Robert Fellowes Chisholm - and its singular style was obviously an influence on later Art Deco building designs.

Christian Science [fiction, double feature?] having declined dramatically in the later 20th century the church's congregation dwindled, and it closed in 1996. Enter, stage left, mega-rich, mega-loony Mohammed Al-Fayed (then-owner of Harrods and father of Princess Diana's last lover Dodi) who bought it and wanted to turn it into a luxury private mansion(!). Thankfully the council turned the plans down - this is a Grade II listed building, after all - with the unfortunate result that the building ended up in serious danger of dilapidation.

Thank heavens for the British nobility! The Earls of Cadogan have owned most of the prime lands in the area - basically everything from just above the Royal Hospital Chelsea (home of the famous Flower Show) to the King's Road, to just south of Harvey Nicks, sweetie - since 1753, and it was their estates management company that bought the building in 2000 and transformed it into the magnificent concert venue it is today.

And so it was, for the first time since the very last weekend before London went into lockdown because of COVID way back in 2020, that Madam Arcati and I ventured through its illustrious portals on Saturday evening, for a performance by Wimbledon Choral of the lovely Requiem by Gabriel Fauré.

And here, for your delectation, dear reader, is a beautiful version of it...

Orchestre de Paris, cond. Paavo Järvi, soprano Chen Reiss, baritone Matthias Goern - Requiem [Fauré]

It's about time this den of depravity got some class! [With a capital "K", of course.]

It don't mean a thing if...

The Madame and I braved the OTT scaremongering of this threatened "Covid-19 lockdown" to go to the swanky Cadogan Hall [the second time in two weeks] last night for an evening in the company of the very lovely Clare Teal, presenter of one of our favourite shows on Radio 2, with her "Big Mini Big Band"!

Miss Teal alone is a charming and sincere host and a sublimely-talented singer, so we knew we were going to be in for a good night. As one reviewer put it:

"Despite holding the title of having the biggest recording contract for a British jazz singer, Clare Teal is as down-to-earth as they come. She strolls onto the stage with a big smile and a wave, from then on it feels almost like being at home with her having a cup of tea and a chat."

However, when combined with an array of jazz talent, courtesy of her own band - conducted by trumpeter and composer Guy Barker - pianist extraordinaire Jason Rebello, and special guests clarinettist Giacomo Smith and guitarist Dave Archer of Kansas Smitty's House Band, this was something very special indeed.



The combo played a full set of familiar standards (the likes of My Funny Valentine, From This Moment On, Cry Me A River, Perfidia and more), lesser-known numbers (including 30s singer Maxine Sullivan's If I Had a Ribbon Bow, a long-forgotten '70s number by the Little River Band Reminiscing, and an obscure Elvis number Don't), big band showpiece numbers (including It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)) and some rather marvellous jazzy re-workings of unexpected musical choices that included a version of Tea For Two as arranged by blind accordionist Joe Mooney, Radiohead's No Surprises performed as a smoky late-night cabaret number - and we whooped with joy when she sang Tainted Love done in the style of Miss Peggy Lee!

Despite some unnecessary early heckling from the audience about Miss Teal's microphone being drowned out by the band (which was soon addressed by the venue's audio team) and the asthma-inducing clamber up and down the stairs of the Hall to and from the bar and toilets, this was a superbly-structured evening's entertainment, and a much-needed treat, indeed.

There's a dearth of videos out there to show off Miss Teal and her Big Mini Big Band's talents, but here are a few selections I have found from the interwebs for your delectation:

Clare Teal - Tea for Two

Clare Teal - All of Me

Clare Teal - Get Happy

We love Clare Teal!

When you dance, you're charming and you're gentle, 'specially when you do the Continental

Madam Acarti, our friend Al and I are long-term fans of the German bandleader Max Raabe - indeed I first posted a blog about him twelve years ago. At that time, we adored discovering Herr Raabe and his Palast Orchester and their novelty "cod-dance-band" versions of hits by Britney Spears and Tom Jones, but before long our exploration of the man's musical repertoire led us to collect several of his albums, including his collaborations with the faboo Nina Hagen (who nowadays leads a Big Band of her very own).

Imagine our delight when we managed to land tickets for the opening concert of the very first UK tour by the maestro himself, at the swanky Cadogan Hall in Chelsea, no less!

Herr Raabe's is a loving tribute to the music of the Dance Band era of the 1920s and 30s, from both sides of the pond - and we were treated to not only some familiar standards from the golden age of British dance bands and from early Hollywood, but also a portfolio of (sometimes less-than-familiar) music from his native Germany, all interspersed with some dry-as-dust humour from the man himself, and some very amusing interplay between band-members and the audience as they "played-up" the sillier moments of some of the musical arrangements.

It was utterly faboo from beginning to end. Here is just a small selection of the musical numbers we enjoyed:

Max Raabe & Palast Orchester - Singing In The Rain

Max Raabe & Palast Orchester - Dream a Little Dream Of Me

Max Raabe & Palast Orchester - I Won't Dance

Particularly inventive and great fun were these two less familiar numbers:

Max Raabe & Palast Orchester - Dort tanzt Lulu

Max Raabe & Palast Orchester - Salome

Time just flew by in the company of Max Raabe. Getting up and down the myriad staircases at the Cadogan Hall from seats to bar and back again, on the other hand, seemed to take half a lifetime...

The evening was faboo, nonetheless - es war wunderbar, meine Lieben!

For details on the continuing tour visit Max Raabe and Palast Orchester website.

Music, Maestro, Please

No, it's not Venice, nor even Venice Beach - it's just off Chelsea's Sloane Square!

Last night, Madam Arcati and I went "way up West" - to the upmarket environs of Belgravia, no less [the locale around which Upstairs Downstairs was based].

The reason for our trip? I had spotted online Midnight in Mayfair, an event at the impressive Cadogan Hall (pictured above), that was advertised thus:

Keith Nichols and his Mayfair Orchestra take us back to the 1920s and ’30s when the great British dance bands performed at London’s exclusive clubs and great hotels; Carroll Gibbons and Fred Elizalde at the Savoy, Sydney Lipton at the Grosvenor House, Lew Stone at the Monseigneur, Jack Jackson at the Dorchester, Henry Hall on the BBC and Ambrose at the Mayfair. Their bandsmen and singers such as Al Bowlly, Sid Phillips, Tiny Winters, George Chisholm and Nat Gonella soon became household names.

Understandably, I could not resist booking us tickets...



I am so pleased I did. It was a brilliant evening of perfectly-arranged period dance band numbers, beautifully precise vocals, and the sheer entertainment value of watching (from a very good vantage point) a group of obvious enthusiasts for this lost world putting their every effort into the performance - thoroughly enjoying themselves in the process!

Here are some examples of the talents of [several of] last night's players:

Keith Nichols: "Fred Elizalde & His Orchestra" - Dance Little Lady

Keith Nichols' Blue Devils Band - Bugle Call Rag

Emma Fisk, violin; Jacob Ullberger and "Spats" Langham, guitars; Henry Lemaire, string bass - Coquette - tribute to Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France

Keith Nichols: "Jack Hylton's Hot Orchestra" - Music, Maestro, Please

With the assembled talents of trumpeters Enrico Tomasso, Andy Schumm and Duke Heitger, trombonists Jim Fryer and Alistair Allen, saxophones and clarinets by Robert Fowler, Lars Frank, Richard Exall and Jean-François Bonnel, violinists Emma Fisk, Dawn Allen and Jessica Graham, Martin Litton on the piano (often duetting with Keith Nichols), banjoist Martin Wheatley, Malcolm Sked on double-bass, the fantabulosa drummer Richard Pite and the marvellous vocalists the glamorous Janice Day and the multi-talented Thomas "Spats" Langham (at times paying suitable homage to Al Bowlly, at times playing the banjo), it was simply the very best way to spend a Saturday night I could imagine.

I'll be looking out for more Mr Nichols' entertaining evenings in future...