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| The Duchess & Her Dukes |
| Swing with a regal diva |
They have built up a repertoire which ranges from the jazz divas of Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington and Peggy Lee to the earthy blues of Etta James and Little Esther. There's plenty of good-time fun too, with the Andrews Sisters, Pearl Bailey and Louis Jordan contributing material to the mix. The band leavens the recipe with instrumentals from Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Lester Young and other classic swingers. This energetic "retro-swing" provides the fuel for thejitterbugs, whether they belong to Ceroc, Lindy-hop, West Coast Swing, Le Jive or any of the other modern jive schools.
The bands musical director, saxophonist Kit Packham, describes their music as being "in the region where jazz meets rock'n'roll". In fact, 3 key band members met while touring with the American Pie Rock'n'Roll Theatre Company. Debra, Kit and pianist Perry White played with American Pie all over the UK from Chichester Festival Theatre to Belfast's Royal Opera House and became firm friends. They also earned each others respect for their talents as musicians and performers. It was only natural that they would look for a way to continue working together when the tour ended.
Kit already fronted his own successful jump/jive band One Jump Ahead and wanted to continue as lead singer himself. However, as an interim measure, Kit invited Debra to try out her repertoire with One Jump Ahead. The rest of the band recognised her talent immediately and naturally wanted to be involved too. Why waste time auditioning when there was a ready-made band who were ready, willing and extremely able? Thus was born The Duchess and her Dukes.
