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Going Full Circle - Live at the Royal Albert Hall

Benoit Viellefon

Label: Fantastic records
Released: 2026
Duration: 01:25:00
Views: 109

Tracks

Stevedore stomp; I won't dance; Ca se fait, ca se fait pas; Whispering; Rocking in rhythm; Exactly like you; The embassy; Egyptian Ella; I'm just a gigolo / I ain't got nobody; Everytime I hear that mellow saxophone; The Jumping jive (Nicholas brothers version); Undecided; C'est si bon; Between the devil and the deep blue sea; Flaming youth; Stepping out with my baby; It must be jelly; Putting on a ritz; Woaaah arghh; The skeleton in the closet; One more please; The tiger rag

Personnel

Benoit Viellefon

guitar and vocals

Gaspar Sena

drums

Andrew Oliver

piano

Louis Thomas

bass, acoustic

Tom Dennis

trumpet

Dave Shulman

woodwinds

Hoagy Plastow

saxophone

Additional Personnel / Information

Recorded live in the "Elgar Room" Royal Albert Hall , London, May 1st 2016. Recording and mixing - Royal Albert Hall house engineer Mastering - Tadashi Masuda -Yokohama Japan Artwork - Benoit Viellefon

Album Description

Recorded live in the "Elgar Room" Royal Albert Hall, London, May 1st 2016.

This recording has never been published as we thought at the time that we did not play well on that day compared to our unachievable quality standards. After rediscovering the tapes, I have since changed my mind. The Orchestra was seven years old then, and we were performing about twenty concerts a month, mostly in the UK but also in Europe. Times have changed drastically, and since and these were good times to play music and entertain people, I thought it may be a great idea to release a recording of that concert exactly ten years later.

We had only two condensers in the room and a stereo pair from the desk so the sound is a live mix rather than an album mix. Everything was recorded in one tale on the same night. There are some small playing mistakes here and there, noises, giggles, people fainting, and other things that AI can't replicate. But I dit not want to edit anything, I just I wanted to keep it as authentic and real as possible as to capture the atmosphere.

I kept the songs in the order we played them that day. and also kept some of the chatter between the tunes to get a feel of the interactions with the audience which were always a big part of the performances. Hopefully that will give you an idea of what it was to be there in the room with over two hundred happy, and slightly inebriated people. Many of our fans remember the shows years later, where and when they saw us, and even sometimes who was in the band and what I said on the microphone, and that always leaves me astounded as I was so exhausted at the time that I usually can't recall anything.

Now that I am in my 50s and still have to continue producing and managing everything on my own, I realise that will probably never have the opportunity nor the energy to play almost everyday with a 7/8 piece band for over a decade. That almost killed me then, and if it try again it certainly will, so instead, I revel in nostalgia.

I hope you will enjoy this as much as I do.

Benoit Viellefon

Album uploaded by Benoit Viellefon