Hot band swing by the hotel

A near-sellout show by Hot Club Sandwich at the Boathouse Theatre in July prompted the concert's organisers to invite them back to a bigger venue this month.

Singer and guitarist Andrew London, pianist and bass player Terry Crayford, and clarinet, saxophone and flute player Nils Olsen make up the Wellington band. They describe their music as equal parts jazz, blues, country and rock'n'roll – with a little bit of old-time English music hall.

Hot Club Sandwich started in the early 1990s when London and Crayford recorded some songs for radio in the Hot Club swing style made popular in the 1930s by guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli.

Olsen joined them this year, and 90 per cent of the music they play is originals, juggled with a few standards on which they stamp their own flavour.

What are the songs about?

"Ordinary things that happen to ordinary people – iPods, the coffee culture, rugby fans, pretentious socialites," says London.

There shouldn't be too many of the latter at Blenheim's Heartland (formerly Scenic Circle) Hotel tomorrow night. The best audiences are often found in the country's regional towns, London says.

"People in cities get a bit blase about live shows. It's hard to get them out. So we prefer playing in small towns."

Intimate settings as opposed to large outdoor shows are the best, he says. "We like the cabaret styles, where you can talk to an audience – and see the whites of their eyes and laugh with them."

London, Crayford and Olsen describe themselves as suitably "urbanised" and "citified", but they all grew up as "provincial boys" – London is from Wanganui, and the others are from Kawarau and Nelson.

Since 2001, Hot Club Sandwich have released a live DVD and six albums, including 2004's Toasted, which received a four-star review in the world's longest-running jazz publication, Downbeat USA. Their new album, Wallpaper, will be on sale at tomorrow's concert. It is already on its second production run – the first 500 copies had to be destroyed after the recording company omitted one of the tracks.

Hot Club Sandwich, Heartland Hotel, Henry St, tomorrow, 8pm. Tickets ($25) at the door or from Ken Hams Music Works.

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