GIGS don't come any more swinging than those of Cafe Orchestra. Their unpretentious stage presence - the superglue of which is the Orchestra's leader, the stolid, bohemian `Mad Professor' look alike, Pat Collins - heralds in the authentic sounds of Stephane Grapelli and Django Reinhardt, and that duo's ground breaking work with their Quintet of the Hot Club of France.
The obvious difference is the degree of lyricism, but it's a minor point - Collins really does make his violin sing any tune he wants it to.
The trick that Cafe Orchestra work is in blending as much exultation as melancholia into their material. Their working of the theme from Betty Blue into a no holds barred swingathon is excellent. As is the beautiful Afterhours, a tune classically arranged and poignantly executed.
Although the acccordion playing of Michael Flynn undoubtedly adds to the boulevard swagger, it is Collins who gives Cafe Orchestra its unswerving direction. Those with long memories will recall it was he who played an important part in the success of an early 1980s act called The Phantom Orchestra, a gathering of musical mavericks who interrupted Ireland's post punk deliberations with a selection of similar Grapelli/Reinhardt melodies, and other 1930s-40s standards.
With Cafe Orchestra, Collins has continued his quest to put this type of music on the map. Three albums (the latest of which is Topaz) and a host of party type gigs later, it's a safe bet to say that they'll be around for some time to come.