As a prelude to what turned out to be a very enjoyable jazz festival, I popped into the Grapevine on Conduit Hill last Thursday (August 24) and was treated to a couple of hours of very professional entertainment from The Bling Crosbies.
This is a duo made up of Ellie Laine and Alan Du Sell. Dressed in a shimmering costume of diamante, sequins and glitter, [that was Alan!] and a figure hugging sparkling red dress [Ellie] they certainly looked the part. It didn’t stop there. It was obvious from their performance that they put a lot of work into their act.
During the evening they must have sung at least twenty songs, drawing on Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra and many others, giving us a truly eclectic and electric evening. They are so over the top in such a lovely and measured way.
Combine this with two very good voices, terrific backing tracks ,eye catching costumes and a very professional presentation, and you have a recipe for an evening of lovely entertainment.
Speaking to Ellie in a break in their performance, she told me that they had met when they both sang with the Wall of Sound , run by Sandra Scott in Rye, four years ago, She also told me that she practices up to an hour a day and that she and Alan practice together twice a week.
Ellie said that they were so delighted to be singing twice in the jazz festival in front of people who had come from far and wide to enjoy the music on offer. “On Thursday we had a lady from Valencia dancing and singing along and two gentlemen from Perth, Australia , who seemed to be going to as many events as they could cram in ”
If you want catch them , they will be at The Grapevine Saturday Sept 23 and Saturday October 21.
Photo : Rye News Library and David Hance
Many thanks to David Hance for such a lovely article. The jazz festival was a fantastic occasion to bring together many hundreds of people to share their passion for music. Rye is very fortunate to have such an excellent event, and also to have The Grapevine jazz bar – a friendly place with gorgeous decor and a wealth of quality music. It is a really superb asset for the town.