ON its return after last year’s sold-out show, York Swings Against Cancer brought together York performers and classic swing songs for charity on Sunday night.

There was a definite air of excitement about the place before the lights dimmed and the show began. The introduction was appropriately raucous, with the big band and musical director Tom Marlow cranking out an enthusiastic cacophony of brassy fun.

Classic favourites like Let’s Face The Music And Dance and That’s Amore were intercut with some more unusual choices, such as a curiously restrained swing cover of Van Halen’s Jump and The Jungle Book’s I Want To Be Like You, but all were performed with great gusto by musicians and singers alike, creating an atmosphere of infectious enjoyment.

The only slight downside was Marlow’s insistence on introducing each song in turn. While this was hardly egregious in itself, the constant interjections broke the flow somewhat, although his chatty manner definitely coaxed a fair few chuckles from the audience.

The second half opened with the fun little diversion of a short screening of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin performing a comedic piece, before the musicians got back into the swing of things with more old and new songs, such as That’s Life and Back To Black, and one surprise marriage proposal, culminating in a full ensemble finale with New York, New York.

While York Swings Against Cancer may have benefited from a slightly tighter presentation, there’s no denying that everyone involved, both performers and the audience, had a lot of fun.