Bass player Terry Crayford, saxophonist James Tait Jamieson and guitarist and songwriter Andrew London, who have played at arts and jazz festivals throughout Australia and New Zealand, are on the road again, bringing to the South a mix of improvisation, three-part vocal harmonies and rhythms which summon the spirit of a 1930s swing club.
The band members' eclectic tastes have a lot to do with experience, London explained this week as the band made its way down the West Coast as part of a 23-date national tour.
"Terry, at 72, has been playing jazz for over 50 years and would cite Nat King Cole and Art Tatum as big influences.
"I grew up in the '60s and '70s so was hugely influenced by The Beatles and the other blues-influenced British and American bands of that era ...
"My father was a big fan of swing music so I also absorbed lots of Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole."
London moved from Wanganui to Wellington in 1979 to join a pub covers band, going on to play in venues around the country. Following his developing taste for jazz standards, he performed solo during the late 1980s and in 1992 joined Crayford in a recording session at Radio New Zealand.
The duo played together intermittently until 2000 when both sacrificed their day jobs to concentrate on Hot Club Sandwich.
London, who also plays in five-piece country band The Cattlestops, says he writes songs about "things that occur to me". His mind must be fertile, given the group has released seven albums, including 2004's Toasted, which received a four-star review in jazz magazine Downbeat USA.
SEE THEM
Hot Club Sandwich play the following dates:
• Bannockburn Hall, tonight (7.30)
• Luggate Hall, Tuesday, July 20 (7.30pm)
• Roxburgh Town Hall, Wednesday, July 21 (7.30pm)
• James Cumming Wing Lecture Theatre, Gore, Thursday, July 22 (8pm)
• Criterion Hotel, Waimate, Friday, July 23 (7.30pm)
• Fairlie Golf Club, Saturday, July 24 (8pm)
• New Edinburgh Folk Club, St Martins Hall, Dunedin, Sunday, July 25 (7.30pm)
