The swanvesta social club
Encyclopedia
St Albans
St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
, and are a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n-influenced group
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
.
Career
They released a salsaSalsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
version of "I Predict a Riot
I Predict a Riot
"I Predict a Riot" is a song by Kaiser Chiefs, appearing on their debut album Employment. It was originally released as their second single on 1 November 2004, and was the band's first release on the B-Unique label. It entered at #22 on the UK Singles Chart, a move which started the band's rise to...
" in 2008, on their first CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
release the mini album, Never Mind the Bongos, which featured a mixture of traditional Cuban songs, originals and Latin reinventions of contemporary pop songs. According to the St Albans Review newspaper they model themselves on the Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club
The Buena Vista Social Club was a members club in Havana, Cuba that held dances and musical activities, becoming a popular location for musicians to meet and play during the 1940s...
. The line-up includes actor Simon Grover
Simon Grover
Simon Grover is a British actor and writer. He is also a Green Party Councillor on St Albans City Council.As an actor he appeared in the BBC children's series Tweenies as Max and Judy....
on trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
.
They are most noted for their lively outdoor performances. Ray Cooper
Ray Cooper
Ray Cooper is an English musician. He is a session and road-tour percussionist, and occasional actor, who has worked with several musically diverse bands and artists including George Harrison, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, and Elton John. Cooper is commonly regarded by music fans, critics and fellow...
described them as "one of the most interesting live bands I have seen in ages!".
In 2007 they headlined the Exmoor Folk Festival and were described by folk journalist Rob Hopcott as "monumental", and appeared at the fringe of the St Albans International Organ Festival
St Albans International Organ Festival
The International Organ Festival is a biennial music festival and organ competition held in St Albans, England since 1963. Originally held annually, it was changed to every two years in 1965 due to the complexity of organising the increasingly ambitious programme...
. In 2008 they played alongside Oysterband
Oysterband
Oysterband is a British electric folk or folk rock band formed in Canterbury in or around 1976.-Early history:...
at the Two Rivers Festival
Two rivers festival
The Two Rivers Festival is an annual folk music and morris dancing festival held in July in Chepstow, South Wales. The "two rivers" are the River Wye and the River Severn....
. In 2009 they played at the Two Rivers Festival, again alongside Seth Lakeman
Seth Lakeman
Seth Bernard Lakeman is an English folk singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, who is most often associated with the fiddle and tenor guitar, but has also mastered the viola and banjo...
; The Leamington Peace Festival along with Attila the Stockbroker
Attila the Stockbroker
Attila the Stockbroker is a punk poet, and a folk punk musician and songwriter. He performs solo and as the leader of the band Barnstormer...
, 3 Daft Monkeys
3 Daft Monkeys
3 Daft Monkeys are a world music-influenced acoustic band from Cornwall, UK, consisting of Tim Ashton, Athene Roberts, and Lukas Drinkwater...
and Togfest at Bradwell Abbey
Bradwell Abbey
Bradwell Abbey or Bradwell Priory is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, urban studies site, district and civil parish in Milton Keynes, ceremonial Buckinghamshire, England. The site was once the location of a Benedictine priory, founded in 1155....
.
In July 2009 they released an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, "Songs from the Latin Quarter", which included a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the Max Martin
Max Martin
Martin Karl Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. Raised in Stenhamra, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden, he broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid to late 1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like the Backstreet Boys,...
song "...Baby One More Time
...Baby One More Time
...Baby One More Time is the debut studio album of American recording artist Britney Spears, released on January 12, 1999, by Jive Records. In June 1997, while Spears was in a negotiation with manager Lou Pearlman to join female pop group Innosense, her mother asked family friend and entertainment...
" which was the featured song on Radio Verulam between 26 June and 2 July that year.
In July 2010, they played at the Rhythms Of The World
Rhythms of The World
Rhythms of The World was first organised in 1992. ROTW is a concert which celebrates the culture and art which is expressed through all types of music and art...
Festival in Hitchin
Hitchin
Hitchin is a town in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 30,360.-History:Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people mentioned in a 7th century document, the Tribal Hidage. The tribal name is Brittonic rather than Old English and derives from *siccā, meaning...
, along with Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly is the stage name of English artist Sam Duckworth and his band. He is sometimes referred to as Get Cape, Cape, GCWCF and Slam Dunkworth . According to Duckworth, his stage name comes from a ZX Spectrum magazine...
, Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock is an English bass guitarist most famous for being in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. Drummer Paul Cook has said that Matlock came up with much of the music for the band's songs and most of the lyrics, while lead singer Johnny Rotten made some adjustments...
and Hugh Cornwell
Hugh Cornwell
Hugh Alan Cornwell is an English musician and songwriter, best known for being the vocalist and guitarist for the punk/new wave group, The Stranglers, from 1974 to 1990.-Career:...
. They returned to the festival in 2011 and launched the mainstage playing alongside Ska Cubano
Ska Cubano
Ska Cubano is a London-based group which combines ska and Cuban music such as son and mambo, with elements of other genres including cumbia and calypso.-History:...
and The Selecter
The Selecter
The Selecter are a 2 Tone ska revival band from Coventry, England, formed in mid 1979.Like many other bands in the ska revival movement, The Selecter featured a racially diverse line-up. Their lyrics featured themes connected to politics and marijuana, set to strong melodies and a danceable beat...
.
their first album "The inauthentic sound of Cuba" was scheduled for worldwide release on July 24th 2011 featuring versions of Guantanamera
Guantanamera
"Guantanamera" is perhaps the best known Cuban song and that country's most noted patriotic song.-Music:The music for the song is sometimes attributed to José Fernández Diaz, known as Joseíto Fernández, who claimed to have written it at various dates , and who used it regularly in one of his radio...
, Hasta Siempre
Hasta Siempre
"Hasta Siempre, Comandante, or simply "Hasta Siempre", is a 1965 Spanish song by Cuban composer Carlos Puebla. The song's lyrics are a reply to revolutionary Che Guevara's farewell letter when he left Cuba, in order to foster revolution in the Congo and later Bolivia, where he would be captured and...
and I gotta feeling
I Gotta Feeling
"I Gotta Feeling" is the second single from The Black Eyed Peas' fifth studio album The E.N.D., produced by the French DJ David Guetta. The song was released on May 21, 2009 and debuted at number two on the Canadian and Billboard Hot 100 on the week of June 27, 2009, behind the group's "Boom Boom...
.
Soundclick
The band has twice topped the world Cuban Chart on the SoundclickSoundClick
SoundClick is a music-based social community. It offers bands, artists, and music labels a platform for self-promotion. Songs can be streamed, downloaded in MP3 format, sold through the store, or licensed to others. SoundClick compiles daily charts for various genres, based on how many times a...
social website. In November 2007 with Ella Muchacha (Number 13 in the World Latin chart); and in June 2009 with Quema (Number 23 in the World Latin Chart)