AFTER tribute bands to Queen, The Beatles and Abba, it was inevitible that one for Frank Sinatra should spring into life. But equally as improbable that Old Blue Eyes should start swinging at Le Gouffre.
Sporting a creditable titfer Paul Tongs jumped in front of the tiny stage at the Hollows, as the trio struck up The Lady is a Tramp.
It was maybe a little fast and a little unbalanced but the packed audience of diners lapped it up.
When they played Night and Day, the band's third number, they were in synch. Bassist Dennis Burns played the first of many fine solos and saxman Jonny Lipiett displayed his exquisite technique is getting better.
By playing Sinatra, Tongs had to relinquish the keyboards, but Greg Milverston was more than a substitute.
'I'm back in Guernsey full-time and it seemed a great idea when Babis (manager at the Hollows) suggested we do a Sinatra night. Jonny and Greg only arrived in the island today. So we've only had one real practice,' said Tongs.
Maybe they were a little rough around the edges in their first set but with All of Me, As Time Goes By, and Foggy Day in London Town he was leading the trio as Sinatra used to lead his ensembles, from the front with his voice.
If he sounded sometimes like Louis Armstrong karaoke-ing Sinatra it did not matter.
The audience loved Come Fly with Me, My Sunny Valentine and I'm Gonna Sit Right Down (and Write Myself a Letter).
As Tongs got more under the Sinatra skin the closer he got to the man's sense of timing.
'I'm not going to sing My Way,' he said.
But the crowd were having nothing of that.
So he did My Way the Tongs way.
By the end even those who were not out and out jazz or Sinatra fans were won over.
Great band, great location, marvellous fun. Someone ask Paul Tongs to do it again.
