Issue #13 - July 2025

Benoit's World News

Hello Folks

I should have published this a while ago, but instead I had to abandon my computer and mobile to take advantage of the good weather and reconnect with nature and the people I love. I don't feel guilty about it, and I even recommend it, but I am late by a few weeks. I hope you won't mind.

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Weather Forecast

Glorious it was, is and will be! Up to 33 degrees Celcius in the UK in June, but if you think it's too hot, please spare a though for the people of Southern Europe who endure temperatures of up to 46 degrees for the last two weeks... It's 38 degrees in my hometown right now. I have only booked a few gigs this summer so I can enjoy this fabulous weather until end of August. We'll start performing again after that.

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Global Economy

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A special concert, once again

For those who have missed it, I have hired the Henry Ward Hall in Hastings on the 31st of May. We've put on a great show in this fantastic Victorian Auditorium.

The venue was almost sold out, and due to popular demand. I have booked it again on the 22nd of November for all those that came and are desperate to see it again, and also those who missed it and are desperate to come.

BUY TICKETS NOW! (22 november 2025 - £25)

Some journalists came, and we've received some excellent press reviews:

MIKE'S LIST:​
"The Hot Club sells out everywhere: from Ronnie Scott’s to festivals across Europe. Each musician a powerhouse in their own right, but under Benoit’s witty, magnetic leadership, something special happens. They play in the deepest sense of the word—musically, joyfully, soulfully.... read more"

HASTINGS INDEPENDENT:​
"The concert given by Benoît Viellefon and his Hot Club band commanded an almost sell-out audience, and, like most local audiences, they came in early. The place buzzed with anticipation, excitement and warm conversation, helped on by the bar at the back. And they weren’t disappointed... read more"

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New Album: "Atomek Soviet Swing"

Well, it's a new release but it's not really new. It is a live recording of a very crazy concert we have performed at the London Royal Academy of Arts in 2017. I have discovered the masters while cleaning my archives and thought I should release the music as a piece of history, some kind of classical-folk-gypsy-swing-spinal-tap-esque audio documentary. The album is available exclusively on Bandcamp.​

This is the story of "Atomek Soviet Swing":

In 2017, following a very successful concert commissioned for the American 1930's depression Exhibition by the London Royal Academy of Arts, the curator of the Museum asked me if my Orchestra could put together a program of early Russian folk music for their next exhibition: "The 100th anniversary of the October 1917 Russian Revolution". I was only too happy to have an opportunity to perform such brilliant music. Due to the short deadline and a busy schedule we only had time to write very loose arrangements of classic folk songs and other classical pieces, but we rose to the challenge. Eventually The Hot Club improvised almost freely for about two hours during this unique concert before two thousand sweating, raving and dancing art enthusiasts.

The band has only ever performed this Eastern European and Russian repertoire once again on the 18th and 19th of January 2018, or just three months later, at the Candlelight Club in London for a themed event. These were extremely wild and noisy parties. The musicians pushed it to the edge while people got so excited the shows almost turned into riots. We did not know that we were secretly recorded and mixed by the club promoter Clayton Harley with whatever suspicious equipment was available in house. I've just discovered the tapes and decided to release these pieces of history for our Bandcamp followers. After those three performances, The Hot Club has never performed that repertoire again.

Personnel:
Benoit Viellefon - Guitar Vocals
Dave Shulman - Clarinet & Saxophone
Kit Massey - Violin
Dave Obrien - Piano (Candlelight club only)
Liam Dunachie - Piano (Royal Academy of Arts only)
Greg Gotlieb - Doublebass

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Spotify, Ek. Truly evil

Daniel Ek, Spotify's CEO already had all traits of a James Bond villain with his ambitions of world domination, but not being satisfied having destroyed the livelihood of millions of artists, he now takes it to another level. Read the press: "Spotify’s CEO invests $1 billion into an AI military start-up — and musicians are fuming. The billionaire founder of Spotify is under extremely heavy fire over a controversial decision. For many, it was the final straw". (Australian article)

Please ditch Spotify if you care, it is extremely harmful for the music industry and the environment, and deeply unethical. You pay some subscription or listen to adverts thinking the money goes to musicians, and it ends up insteads in Daniel Ek's deep pockets, some major record company publishing department or in some secretive weapon manufacturing program. 99% of artists get nothing at all. You can instead support artists and musicians directly by listening and buying their music on Bandcamp or buying their records. Bandcamp pays 82% of all revenues directly to artists and musicians.

I have created my own independent label called ​FantasticRecords.co.uk​ using Bandcamp. By pure coincidence the extraterrestrial invaders getting atomised look very much like Spotify's CEO Daniel Ek. Please have a listen and share it with your friends.

Alternatively for those who want to support me and get a great deal, you can subscribe to my music and get my 14 albums, for £25 a year.​

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When charity turns to greed...

In case you wonder why I rarely perform perform at major festivals, here is the answer: we rarely get paid!

Festivals promoters will tell you that they do you a great honour by putting your band on for free. Artists have to cover all the expenses to get there and back, only to get sick on a mixture on days-old-food, dehydration or rain, flooded mud fields with suspicious toilets sunk in them, and they even sometimes are forced to buy their own tickets to perform. Access to the stage is often very difficult at best, and coming out of the sites can literally take more than a day, especially in Glastonbury. In fact, I have performed at Glastonbury five years in a row with a full band on big stages and got paid only once. Yet, Glastonbury charges the public a fortune to get in. It's a multimillion operation set up as a charity but they don't pay artists, traders and staff properly, if at all... Thanks but no thanks.

Now these kind of stories are hitting the press and people seem shocked to hear what we had been saying for years only to be met with disbelief. A series of articles got published recently about this matter, here is one from the Independent:

​https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/glastonbury-pay-to-play-loss-making-acts-bookers-backstage-workers-b2774672.html​

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It's bad but what can We do?

The short answer is: a lot.
Now that you know about some of the bad stuff in the music industry, you can hear about the good stuff too: most musicians (me and my colleagues included) are still trying to perform against all odds and keeping the live music scene alive. You may be the type that sometimes buy records or not, but you can certainly help tremendously by going to live events. Small and medium venues will benefit, artists will benefit, punters... will benefit even more. Just read below at these cool little venues and buy your tickets...

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A new jazz club in Kent

We all hear about small and medium venues, and especially Jazz clubs struggling and/or closing everywhere.

But luckily for those who live in the Southeast, a great little Jazz club has recently opened in Tenterden called the Grapevine! It only boasts a capacity of 50 so it is a real club: cosy and intimate. You can also enjoy reasonably priced cocktails, have a real close look at the band, enjoy almost acoustic performances while having less chatter in the background. We already love the place!

BUY TICKETS NOW! (30 August 2025 - £20)

I will perform there for the first time on Saturday 30th of August, and we hope to turn that into a regular event if it proves popular with the autochthones. Get your tickets today, quite a few are sold already...

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Dancing in London anybody?

As you probably know, I have been performing for swing dancers and listeners alike upstairs at Ronnie Scotts every two months since 2012 without fail (apart from the one show when TFL while building the Elizabethan Line cut the main power supply for the area and the whole of Soho suffered a blackout for that day, but that's another story).

Upstairs at Ronnie Scotts has been in renovation for about a year now, and it may take just as long to finish the job I am told. I am sure that the jazz conservation society and various archaeologists are delaying the project digging behind every brick with a little brush hoping to find skeletons, delaying the work substantially.

BUY TICKETS NOW! (19 September 2025 - £15)

To address the dancers and public frustration, I have instead booked a show at the excellent Correspondent club in London Green Lane. We hope that all the swing dancers that use to come to see us live will come in droves. It will be a one off, so please book your ticket as soon as you can.

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Upcoming concerts:

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From the author

That’s it folks, It's was a bit long but I hope it was good, or at least "somewhat good". For complaints and accolades please email me, I will respond.

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A bientot. (French: meaning "See you soon")

Benoit Viellefon

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Benoit Viellefon - St Matthews Gardens, St Leonards-on-sea, East Sussex TN38 0TT
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