Throughout the Cycle of Songs project, we have had lots of support and one group in particular has accompanied us from the very start: the Searle Street Band.

Based in Cambridge and taking their name from the street where they resided as students, the Searle Street Band play jazz standards, swing, ballads and original compositions in and around the city.

The Cycle of Songs’ first experience of their musicianship was at the partnership launch on 31st March 2014. This evening was organized by Helen Weinstein the Creative Director and Producer for Cycle of Songs, and included a media and history workshop, an introduction to the project, and an opportunity to celebrate the commission with partners and artists. It took place at the Hot Numbers café on Gwydir Street and the musical accompaniment was a great addition to the evening, resulting in lots of positive feedback and another performance request.

On Friday 16thMay the Cycle of Songs organised and presented a programme of choirs, musicians, and singers for the Museums at Night event. This event was hosted by the Fitzwilliam Museum and we were granted the spectacular Gallery 3. The Searle Street Band suited the environment perfectly, with wonderful acoustics and beautiful setting, drawing in a great number of the public who stopped to spend the last 45 minutes of the event in the gallery.

The band were then invited back to perform for the Cycle of Songs Choir at the Fitzwilliam Museum for our Song Fest that took place on the 7th July, marking the arrival of the Tour de France in Cambridge.

The band were invited to play on the portico to both the choir and the hundreds of people lining Trumpington Street.

We would like to say a big thank you to the Searle Street Band for joining us on this journey and for helping to make our events memorable.

You can find out more about the Searle Street Band at the following links:

https://soundcloud.com/thesearlestreetband

https://facebook.com/TheSearleStreetBand?__tn__=C

To see photos of the band’s involvement with Cycle of Songs please click on the slideshow below:

Created with flickr slideshow.