Recorded live on Brexit day (31 March 2019) with a single stereo microphone positionned in front of the band.

The songs appear as they were recorded on the day, no editing, no mixing, just a bit of mastering to iron things out.

Although the audio quality is not of the highest standard, It was decided to release it because despite having played many hundreds of shows, it is the only live recording of the band we have. The name was prophetic: "Out of dates", meaning out of fashion, out of romantic dates, and out of work/gigs...

The Orchestra has not performed since that concert due to the Covid19 pandemic followed by Brexit, except in 2022 once in Vienna Austria and once at the Slovakian national radio in Bratislava. Nobody knows if socio-politico-economical circumstances will allow us to start touring again with a 7 piece Orchestra, so instead we perform with smaller line ups (Hot Club, Quartet & Trio). What a tragedy!

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ABOUT "OUT OF DATES":
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This live recording from Benoit Viellefon and his Orchestra is an album befitting the end of an era for one of the UK’s premier swing bands. Since Brexit and the pandemic, it is no longer viable for Viellefon to tour in this particular format; music streaming services have destroyed album revenues and eleven years of austerity has ravaged the arts sector, running grass-roots venues into the ground, eroded budgets, and left all but those signed to the biggest record labels and agencies unable to employ larger numbers of musicians.

How appropriate though, that this, their swansong, was recorded live on the bandstand, leaving us with a warts-and-all portrait of the group in their natural habitat: the heat of battle - spitting out dramatic improvised solos with one hand, while holding their audience’s captivation in the palm of the other.
Though those forensic tweaks of mixing and quantising (born of the often sterile atmosphere of a modern-day recording studio) may be absent, they are more than made up for by the sheer vitality and raucous exuberance evidenced on these 12 short tracks. The primitive technical set-up of two-microphones capturing an entire ensemble can lead to an occasional inconsistency of volume between the instruments, but this has always been the case, and places the album within the pantheon of classic live jazz recordings, where similar a similar attitude was always taken: sacrificing phonogenic perfection for the sake of an exuberant charisma available only to those interacting with a live audience.

With such quality among the band members, it’s not difficult to understand why. The world-class Tom Dennis steals the show on trumpet with his dazzling virtuosity, soloing on several numbers - perhaps most notably on Skeletons In The Closet, where his brassy acrobatics bring to mind the great Charlie Shavers. Hoagy Plastow on tenor sax and Dave Schulman on clarinet and alto sax make up the remainder of the horns, combining a velveteen section sound with authentic and inspired soloing. Their playing on the iconic Pink Panther Theme is sure to be a favourite. The rhythm section - made up of pianist Alex Bryson, bassist Greg Gottlieb and drummer Robbie Ellison (who, we are told, was standing in at merely hours notice; playing with the band for the very first time; sight-reading throughout; seeing the music for the very first time as they record) - proves a dynamic, swinging engine-room that propels the band along, and provides a rock-solid foundation for the guitar and vocals of their charismatic bandleader: Benoit Viellefon himself. The snippets of Viellefon’s infamous patter included on this album are an undeniable bonus, offering a sample of the kind of unique comedy that has become a staple of the band’s performances, and remains so popular with fans of the group.

Popular too should prove the selection of repertoire; there really is something for everyone here. We begin with dues paid to titans of the rich heritage of 30s and 40s jazz. Exactly Like You contains many a knowing nod to Count Basie’s famous recording of the song, while The Mooche is an iconic example of the compositional genius of Duke Ellington. For those with a taste for the old classics, the lilting rendition of I Cover The Waterfront conjures to mind all the grace of an art deco ballroom in full flow. Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby is drenched in the blues, while Viellefon resurrects his native roots with the French lyrics of Ferme La Bouche. The album concludes with a pair of all-time favourites: Henry Mancini’s The Pink Panther Theme; before Just a Gigolo/Ain’t Got Nobody resolves proceedings in a swashbuckling shuffle of the kind made famous by Louis Prima. It is hard not to feel part of the audience in the room, who’s audible excitement is an infectious and irrepressible side-effect of this dazzling finale.

And so, after more than a decade, the orchestra signs off in trademark fashion: by bringing the house down. It has been a long road; one that has taken the band through various different line-ups, always featuring the top UK jazz artists of the day; one that has taken the band all over the world, from the UK and Europe to Russia and Asia, at to the world’s most prestigious venues, its top jazz festivals, and even the private parties of A-listers and royal families; all the while bewitching its audiences with their irresistible euphoria at every stop (see benoitviellefon.com). Out of Dates is the perfect curtain call to such an illustrious history. How worthy a tribute to a band of supreme calibre, that they should finish on such a high - and indeed swinging - note.

Robert Ellison. Drummer & Novelist