It's always very rewarding (and indeed flattering!) for the band to receive so much positive feedback from the enthusiastic audiences we've endeavoured to entertain at concerts in fine churches and well-maintained village halls, often (to us!) seemingly in the middle of nowhere, yet packed to the rafters thanks to tireless organisers and committees, plus plenty of publicity. As the great British tenor sax player and promoter Ronnie Scott used to quip : "You've made a happy man very old!"

 

Some recent plaudits to have gladdened our ageing hearts include the following:

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"I have had a number of lovely messages about your concert on Fri night. We all agreed that your band is on the best form ever"

 

"Huge thanks from us both for playing so well. Your repertoire is right up my street as it was for many others and we have had quite a few emails and calls already, all mentioning the great music which did so much for the atmosphere"

 

"Thank you all so much for such a brilliant afternoon yesterday, we all loved listening to you and Dad was absolutely delighted"

 

"Thank you, Mike, for a brilliant concert: we loved it all!"

 

"Last night was absolutely brilliant. An appreciative audience, and lots of warm comments afterwards.  Please pass our thanks, and compliments, to the band. I’ve no doubt that we’ll be talking to you about a repeat performance for next year sometime"

 

"Thank you so much for providing the perfect entertainment for our birthday party yesterday. Everyone commented on how much they enjoyed listening to you all"

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"Everyone was full of superlatives for the amazing music on Saturday. We were  the perfect demographic to appreciate that lovely music that we grew up with. Please pass our heartfelt thanks on to the rest of the band"

 

"Brilliant concert by the SCS at the Cheap Street church last night.  It's wonderful how the spirit of traditional jazz gives a youthful vigour to all your team - not least Hamish Maxwell!"

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"Just  finished  listening  to  the  CDs.  Great  stuff!  I've  never heard  a  band play Joplin's 'The Strenuous Life'  before and they do  a  grand  job on it.   Hamish  is  a  joy  to listen to -  'It Won't Be Long Now'  was relaxed, in tune & swinging - as were  'Downhearted Blues'   and  'Sunset Cafe Stomp' ... "

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​"Brilliant night with lots of great feedback. Great to see you back together  again on the stage. A very pleasing profit accrued for the Parish coffers"

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"Absolutely fantastic CD  - these boys are on form! ... Versatility is the SCS middle name.  The more I play it the better it sounds  - possibly the best CD the Stompers have done"

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"Once again a marvellous evening from you all and thoroughly enjoyed by all who came [well no-one's complained so far!].  We are enjoying listening to the super CD. Can we please make a booking for the same Friday next year?"

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​"I have just listened to 'Old Man Blues' - three times!  Absolutely brilliant!  A new sound for The Stompers.  I thought 'Changes' was your best recording - but this one beats it!  One great track after another. Perhaps I shouldn't say this, but I think the band has never sounded better!"

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"I listened to your CD last night and it was terrific. Surely one of your best. Everyone on form and it's a really top quality sound. 'Echoes of Harlem' was very Ellington-like and who would believe Hamish was 80? Well done to the lot of you, you must be very proud to turn out a sound like that!"

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"Firstly a huge thank you to your very professional yet relaxed band of musicians for a marvellous evening at Salisbury Jazz Club.   Thank you too for producing a programme that suited our dancers and those in the audience who prefer to sit and listen.   As expected, Hamish was sensational and the boogie woogie number to close was the icing on the cake. It was clear to all by the thunderous applause and cheering that we would all love to see you at the club again next year"

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​“On February 13 we went to Dorchester to hear the Sunset Café Stompers celebrate their 30th anniversary with a concert at the Corn Exchange. Congratulations to Mike Denham and his team! The concert was great, with a well-balanced programme of Ragtime, Classic jazz, and specially arranged numbers from the 1930s. The Corn Exchange was packed, and every number was enthusiastically received. It was well worth the journey from Bristol to see and hear them"

                                                                                      - Maureen & Dennis Armstrong, Bristol

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​"Thank you so much for tonight, it was brilliant! Fabulous feedback from everyone. 

Please give our thanks to the band and your lovely singer"

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​"What a fantastic performance! Thank you very much for pulling out all the stops to make my Charity night an evening to remember. I have been inundated with messages of congratulation and I would be grateful if you would convey my thanks to your fellow musicians.  I do hope that there will be the opportunity to organise a similar event next year.  Many, many thanks for giving us all such a wonderful and uplifting occasion"

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"... an informal and friendly atmosphere among the players who demonstrate that they all know each other's talents very well as they bring love and happiness to their music"

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​"With Mike on the piano and six gifted musicians to provide the Stompers' back-up, the audience were treated to a superb evening of nostalgia as they enjoyed memories of great artists like Fats Domino, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong"

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"With their rendering of  the classic 1920s hit 'The Chant', the jazz world of Jelly Roll Morton filled the building along with arrangements from the era of ragtime, swing and blues, a memorable evening indeed!"

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"We love the fact that you play acoustically! So many bands are over-amplified and therefore much too loud! And you don't play the same old tired numbers - there's always something we haven't heard before, or a number we've only ever heard on our old 78s!"

 

​"Brilliant evening ... I have had so many emails saying what a great night it was"

 

​"Many thanks for bringing the whole team to W Lulworth once more and for a sparkling evening. The audience were clearly enthralled by the quality of the individual and ensemble playing"

 

​"I cannot think of another band that would enable us to raise about £14 per head profit and send everyone away with a tune in their hearts"

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​"Just a very big thank you, for helping us have such a lovely night last Saturday.  Your band are superb.   Everyone was saying how much they enjoyed the evening.  They loved your music.  We raised a lot of money for  the school in Kenya"

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“For two years running, the Stompers have played to a capacity hall of jazz enthusiasts, both novice and expert. Even after two full sets, they have left us asking for more"

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