La Dolce Vita Swing Collective

Not knowing what to expect I was ready for anything on a warm September night in Edinburgh. This was a Sunday night and the setting was complete in the nightclub atmosphere that is the Dirty Martini lounge. This band can swing, bass and drums groove sweetly while sax and piano trade solos making this a full sound like there are more on stage. Tony is a seasoned performer from London’s West End to sold out Edinburgh Fringe shows both as writer/director but on stage on vocals and on song. Blending his Italian roots with Volare, On An Evening In Roma and O Solo Mio we were escorted to warm Italy with cool sounds and cocktails to suit. Some of the audience order their chilled wine by the bottle and the Covid safe spaced tables made this comfortable to experience with no restricted views. The second half opened with I Wish I Knew, an instrumental from the days when Cinema was a TV series before Tony returned with more signature arrangements. By now the audience were itching to dance and with peaks like Mack The Knife and (Theme From) New York New York they were at one with the band. The closing title song was a creative masterstroke and a deserved ovation followed.

It starts with hum, then a toe-tap and before you know it you are singing along to the tunes that you know so well. But what’s better, a night with the La Dolce Vita Swing Collective introduces you to new arrangements of those popular songs with an Italian-esque twist – as well as showcasing a selection that won’t be so familiar. The five-piece swing/jazz band – featuring piano, bass, sax, drums and vocals with those specially designed new arrangements – pays homage to likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett and other Rat Pack favourites. Vocalist Tony Delicata put together the band with a collection of musicians whose previous talents range from West End musicals to The Jools Holland Band. Their debut concert at Le Monde, Edinburgh started strong with Tony’s powerful vocals on the likes of ‘I’ve got you under my skin’ and ‘Nice and Easy’ starting to carry the audience. ‘Come Prima’ and ‘O Sole Mio’ gave us the first real feel of the Italian influence. But it was after the interval that the Collective – and the audience – found their stride. The timeless – and age-less – appeal of the Rat Park tunes soon had the crowd moving from humming along and a foot-tapping, to full on sing-a-long mode as the band ripped through classics such as ‘Come fly with me’, ‘King of the Road’, ‘That’s Amore’ and ‘Volare’. By the time of the closing numbers of the near two-hour long show, ‘La Dolce Vita’ and (of course) ’New York New York’, the crowd was sold. It really does show that it does mean a thing, when it does have that swing.