Another day, another dinner

May 5th 2013.  A hard day's work at Bedford Hotel is rewarded with a pleasant meal.


Our immaculately dressed drummer is mistaken for a waiter and has to serve the drinks

The restaurant was fully booked for the jazz lunch, but staggered bookings combined with delays in diners being served left us running out of tunes and energy.  Bravely, we carried on well past our scheduled end time of 2 pm.  And finally, it was a tired band that sat down to lunch at around 3.30 pm. 

Sadly there had been no time to organise photographs of us playing this time.  So you'll have to put up with just one or two pictures of our sojourn in the 'green room'.  Here's Mick asking Debs to check that his nostrils are clean.

And John the waiter hungrily contemplates his lunch

At the end of our gig, just as Charlie was doing the band name check and bringing it to an end, a keen jazz fan who had only just started her meal asked us to play Summertime.  We obliged with a tired and rather ragged rendering.  So should we try to accommodate folk coming up and asking for tunes or not?  Discussion continued over lunch.  Opinions were divided, but Charlie our leader had a clear viewpoint:

It subsequently emerged that the folk booking us for a future gig for a diamond wedding had submitted, er, a list of requests.  Here's Charlie rehearsing his outfit to satisfy the requirement.

That's him on the left I think

Yep, they want some Abba.  Anyone got a swing version of Dancing Queen?

See you next time!



Cheers!

 

It begins to tell.....

...'round midnight, midnight...

Musician clocking off time

Our vehicles hadn't turned into pumpkins, but we were pretty tired after a long evening in Yealmpton on Saturday 27th April.  We played to help the friendly folk from Yealmpton celebrate 25 years of their twinning arrangement with Milizac in Brittany.

Les Mesures Désespérées ont joué la musique pour les personnes françaises et anglaises hier soir.

Speaking of pumpkins, do you know their favourite sport?  Squash.

We arrived at six o'clock to set up and kicked off around 7.30 while the partygoers had their meal.  To allow civilised bilingual conversation, we played a couple of low key sections.  Actually in many different keys, but...oh, well, you see what a late night does to your metaphors.  For these sections we had clarinet, bass and guitar, followed a few songs by Tessa with bass, guitar and keys.

We were then completely upstaged by the appearance of a new young french singer...

This petite chanteuse was part of a tradition of singing that seems to have evevolved in the the twinning arrangement, and there were further choral sessions during the rest of evening.

The Yealmpton Choir sing "Sloop John B"

The band can't resist joining in

More Desperate music was then played, and we were pleased to see that was well-received.

It was the best conga achieved in a Desperate audience so far!

Couple more pictures - and well done us!



Four to the bar (their usual destination)

That's not your mike, Tessa!

Next week, Sunday jazz lunch at the Bedford Hotel again.  See you there!

The Life of Pie

Following a successful day at a Wedding Fair in February at the Bedford Hotel in Tavistock, the Desperates have agreed to play for their lunch on the first Sunday of the month, for the next few months.

Today was the first - and we were greeted at the front door by the sight of a smart sign advertising the event.  Just like a proper band!

So for a jazz lunch, does the chef make it up as he goes along?  What scales does he use? 



The light and airy venue


We had access to a room to store our cases and coats...

...so we had a nice tidy stage

The aim of these gigs for us is to give ourselves a bit of exposure, in a manner of speaking.  And it seems to be working as we are now in discussion with one of the Sunday-lunchers about another possible gig in August. The events diary for the band is filling up nicely after along quiet period since Christmas. Check out our events on our web-site!

Our audience...

 

As things turned out, we were a bit premature with our set.  Over-excited...  The early tunes were well received, but only by a handful of diners - and by the time it came to the end of our first set, the restaurant had filled up.  Bravely and steadfastly, we elected to plough on without a break.  They'd come for a jazz lunch and, by jingo, they were going to get it.

The hotel seemed to be happy and we were offered free soft drinks.  Strangely, most of the band seemed to prefer slightly stronger stuff.  But this time, the accompaniment was not the usual crisps from the Royal Oak, but the chance to finish off the chef's roasted compositions. 

Living the dream....

Cheers!



It looked like rein deer...

...but fortunately the weather stayed reasonably clement on 9th December in Plymouth town centre. 

Red Ar-mee

For the preivous year's Santa Run organised by the Rotary, we assembled a band of waifs and strays, but this year the real Desperates played, apart from our vocalist Tessa (who'd better bring a note next time) and Geoff our keyboard virtuoso, who wanted to keep his instrument dry.  So to speak.

Double entendre was the order the of the day, starting with discussion about which way to dangle.

Charlie dangles to the rear

We were of course discussing our santa hats. 

Our little grotto was smaller this year.  I blame the cold weather.  So some brave members were left a little exposed, regardless of elf and safety.

Debbie shows her jazz knowledge by playing outside

Despite attempts by a local character, we were not persuaded to change the set list to include any AC-DC hits.  Maybe the runners felt it was a "Highway to Hell", but we thought "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" was more encouraging.  As it turned out, the runners didn't sleigh us.  Or give us the sack. 

Here's a few pictures...

John always gets the drumsticks



Happy pluckers

Yule like this one

Plymouth Ho Ho Ho

Our rehearsals begin again after the Christmas break, so until then we wish you all a warm and happy time at Christmas and into the new year.  And some of the band can sing....

O! it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour.

Harberton Village Hall 20th October 2012

To continue with the slightly pretentious litererary allusions...October reminds us that summer's lease hath all too short a date but, for us, the carefree feeling of summer returned to Haberton on Saturday 20th October, when Desperate Measures hosted an afternoon of music to celebrate the life and compositions of Andrew Burnett.

Andrew is no doubt presently admonishing the heavenly choirs to sing what 's written and not to rush it, but many still earthbound miss his inspiration.  And this was ably demonstrated by the number and variety of musicians who enjoyed giving up their normal Saturday activities to join us and play.



Desperate Measures plus

Andrew made friends at jazz workshops, played in several ensembles and was instrumental (!) in encouraging many of us to get involved.  So the mix of musicians that afternoon included established professionals, long-term friends and several of Andrew's protegés.  Old bands reformed, and current bands mixed and matched, to provide a variety of groupings.  We played many favourite standards, and a lot of Andrew's own compositions. 

The Shack Band

Just Jazz

Lewis Riley leads a big band

Here's a little experiment - video!  Just snippets of three of Andrew's compositions:

Credit for the organisation of the event must go Mick Johnson, the ubiquitous bass player on the day, and to Charlie Lowe and Jo Talbot of Desperate Measures.  We were also well supported on the afternoon by many helpers who set up tables, served tea, washed up and provided general conviviality. 

Oh, and delicious cakes were made...

Somehow, our events always seem to involve food.

I hope that video of much of the event will be available in a week or three for those interested (I need a few free days to put it all together). 

My words really cannot do justice the music we enjoyed that day, nor to the atmosphere that surrounded us, so I'll sign off the way I started with the same slightly pretentious thespian style:

"The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night
And his affections dark as Erebus:
Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music."
(Merchant of Venice)

Magnificent Seven

Monday 27th August 2012

Things to do on a rainy day in Devon?  You could watch the DMs play outside the Royal Oak in Meavy!  Brian and Yvonne did.

Our audience

We were without Jo our esteemed clarinetist and our usual drummer John -  and on the day Geoff (keys) and Felicity (bari) couldn't make it either.  So with Tom-the-drums on loan from the Cuckoo Collective it was a magnificent seven of us that huddled under our little gazebo.  But as the spanner said, the secret of a happy life is to be adjustable...


Spread out guys, only seven of us

 

Richard's essential accessory - drinks holder.

Richard showed off his new drinks holder accessory which allows him to play like a well-oiled machine.  However, our band leader, Charlie, was prevented from imbibing alcoholic drinks after several examples of outrageous compere anecdotes.


Milky bar kid

 This did not prevent him using his 'perfect pitch' joke however.  Neither did the irony of our set list escape him when after "A Very Good Year" we offered "Summertime".




Prophylactics for our equipment after our first set.

 Whic reminds me of that other musical joke.  "Why are drummers/guitarists/trumpeters (delete as required) like prophylactics?  Because you know you should use one but it's better if you don't."

Sorry.

Here's some nice pictures courtesy of the Royal Oak facebook page:

We finished appropriately enough with "Nobody Here but us Chickens".



Meavy chicken: "We got eggs to lay,
we've got worms to scratch..."

 Actually the gig went pretty well really.  Brian and Yvonne stayed for the whole thing.

Yay for Brain and Yvonne!

What is this thing....

..called sun?  Today a strange light was seen in the sky over Meavy where the Desperates assembled to play.

On the sunny side of the street

Although it wasn't exactly sweltering when we arrived.  (Click on images to see then bigger!)

Coats and warm drinks required

Pete has a line for every situation

Debs admires Felicity's parts

The lunchtime gig at Meavy was in support of ‘Jeremiah’s Journey’ a Plymouth charity which supports bereaved children.  We played over lunchtime to add to the atmosphere for people doing a 9-mile charity walk (called the Parish Plod) starting and finishing in Shaugh Prior and passing via the Skylark and Cadover. They stopped for lunch - and live music (the Desperates!!) - at  the Royal Oak

Walkers mingle with Sunday lunchers

The uneven cobbles are a familiar setting for the band who tend to lean at odd angles after playing.  Except for John the drums who brings a selection of woodwork to insert at strategic places.  When we talk about checking our levels we don't mean the sound check.

John sets his levels

I don't think those guys are checking out the band...

For a change, the whole gig was rain-free; we were able to play Summertime without a trace of irony - and our audience enjoyed the nearest thing to summer we've seen for a while.  Oh, and we all thank the lovely Pete for stepping in on keys as Geoff couldn't make it. 

Pete on keys (also provided young dancers)

See you all next time....