The Swinging Cat Jazz Club 2026

A sold-out favourite at Ronnie Scott’s with the Ray Gelato Giants, swing superstar Mr Gelato guarantees a finger-popping night of jazz entertainment with blues-soaked tenor saxophone playing and dynamic vocals.

Ray Gelato has been taking his special brand of swing, jazz and R&B music all over the world since 1988. This multi-talented singer, saxman, songwriter and band leader has appeared at festivals, clubs and concert stages from Brazil to New York City.

The legendary ‘Godfather of Swing’ and his band have had an illustrious and very successful career, including a long-established residency at London’s world-famous Ronnie Scott’s, where the band appears every Christmas. This must-see event is always a sell-out. He has also performed for HM The Queen (twice), opened for Robbie Williams at the Albert Hall, and was chosen to play at Sir Paul McCartney’s wedding. A memorable highlight was performing at New York’s Lincoln Center, fronting an 18 piece big band and wowing an audience of 3,000.

From bebop and cool jazz to hard bop, modal, jazz funk, and fusion, Paul performs both iconic pieces and lesser-known treasures from each era.

Paul Higgs is renowned as one of the UK’s leading trumpet players and composers. He has had an extensive musical career in many fields including performing, composing and arranging music for film, TV and theatre. In the early part of his career he was a leading performer and composer in NYJO, then became a Musical Director for the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company, where he stayed for many years. He has performed with luminaries including Sir Peter Maxwell Davis, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Johnny Dankworth, Rosemary Clooney, Lulu, Tony Hatch, John Williams, Nancy Wilson and Shorty Rodgers.

He has performed in major concert venues around the world, such as the Royal Festival Hall, the Schubert Theatre (USA), Berlin Concert Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and Ronnie Scott’s, and is frequently to be seen performing in jazz clubs around the country.