2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Toot'n'Croon turns 20
Lesley Askin (left), Alison Kerr, Chris Lang, Lynne James, Bevan Rogers (sitting), Geoff Tavendale, Hartley Ferrar, Lyall Walker, Jeni Sanderson, Warrick Sinclair (soundman). PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Canterbury band Toot'n'Croon will celebrate their 20th anniversary on Saturday night.
The band, which was formed in 2005 by Rangiora doctor Bevan Rogers, has played at many celebratory events and in many venues over the years.
The band members have changed, but the foundation remains, and all the while their music has continued to be as popular as it was when they began, having changed with the times and the audience.
It was Manhattan Transfer that inspired Rogers to get into the swing of forming a band, which still enjoys singing songs of the American harmony jazz group Manhattan Transfer he heard in the Christchurch Town Hall.
''When Manhattan Transfer sang the song Operator I noticed that the crowd really loved it, so I sent away to America for the sheet music — no internet downloads in those days — and in October 2004 I sang Operator at the doctors' concert (NZ Association of Artist Doctors), with the choir and piano, rhythm and brass backing me.
''It was such a blast that I thought, I want to do this more often than once a year. I'm getting older, so now is the time to start my own band.''
Their first public performance was in a variety concert in the Rangiora Town Hall to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War 2.
It was only after the band had been going for five years that they started putting on evenings of stand-alone Toot'n'Croon music.
''The first was at Rossburn Receptions but we soon swapped to the Rangiora RSA, and we found that we were popular enough to put on about three evenings a year.''
Initially 'Toot'n'Croon sang songs from the 1940s, but as their audience grew younger, the music became bouncier with popular numbers, mostly from the 1950s and 1970s.
''Over time we found what sort of music was the most popular with people, and we have slowly changed to singing popular danceable music, mostly from 1950s rock and roll to 1970s Neil Diamond.''
The band's greatest love is having the audience sing along, tap their feet and dance, says Rogers.
They have four singers – Bevan Rogers, Lesley Askin, Lynne James and Chris Lang. They perform songs with as much harmony as possible, supported by Alison Kerr on piano, Hartley Ferrar on saxophone, Jeni Sanderson on bass guitar, Geoff Tavendale on guitar and Lyall Walker on drums.
