LOST Cat are a trio of musicians from Malvern with an unusual line-up of two saxophones and percussion.

The band came together about five years ago after seeing a phenomenal YouTube video of New York buskers called Too Many Zooz.

“As soon as I saw them I had one of those light-bulb moments and knew I wanted to set up a band like that,” said Jackie ‘Bomber’ Harris, alto sax player.

“I have been playing sax since I was 15 years old.

“I studied music at university and was particularly interested in jazz, but have played in a variety of bands over the last 30-odd years, from Big Bands to classical, funk and samba.

“When I heard these amazing musicians from New York the sheer power of the sound – officially called Brasshouse – just bowled me over. I couldn’t help but just want to get up and dance.”

Jackie persuaded her bass player-turned drummer husband to join forces in the project, and she knew exactly who she wanted to play baritone sax.

“I showed Darren ‘El Robo’ Robinson the video and asked him if he was up for it. I’d played with him in a saxophone quartet I ran a few years previously, and knew he would be the right person.

“His sense of timing and solid rhythm, together with his phenomenal big fat tone, were exactly the right combination of sounds and skills I could hear in my head.”

Darren classes himself as a “late starter” on the sax. He played guitar for a number of years, then found his daughter’s sax lying around, so picked it up and had a go.

“I thought having some lessons on the sax would help me with guitar solos. From that moment on I haven’t looked back. The only difference is, the saxes got bigger and bigger until I ended up with a baritone.”

Jackie said: “Fortunately, he was as excited to get going as Pete and I were.

“We tried out a couple of the tunes we’d heard Too Many Zooz playing. From that first rehearsal I knew we had something exciting, with lots of energy and the potential to get people moving.”

“The name Lost Cat came from Pete. He had often spotted posters calling for people to help find missing cats and thought it would make a good name for a band. He was right! We all loved it.

“We have gradually added more and more tunes to our set, and audiences will recognise anything from Night Train to Feel It Still, film themes from Pulp Fiction, to Get Carter, jazz standards like St Thomas and Watermelon Man, Latin classics such as Tequila and Oye Como Va – all hand-picked by us – mostly suggested by my husband, Pete, who has a fantastic ear for how we can voice the tunes for just two melody instruments and percussion.”

Playing a stripped down drum kit, with just bass, high-hat, snare and the ‘magical mini cymbal’, ‘Peaky Pete’ (homage to Seasick Steve) manages to drive the band along with his approach of using each piece of percussion as an individual sound.

“We are a bit of a Marmite band. People either love us or don’t quite know what to make of us. There are no guitars or singers involved, which is how most people are used to listening to music, but we busk frequently and always draw a crowd. Small children absolutely love us. They totally get it and can’t help dancing.

Lost Cat often play Open Mic nights in Malvern and Worcester to pressure test new tunes. We can be seen busking in Worcester, Malvern and Cheltenham and have also been booked for parties and events, such as the Ariel Motorbike Owners meeting in Pershore, which attracted people from all over Europe.

Lost Cat will be supporting The Fezz (homage to Steely Dan) at Worcester’s Marrs Bar on Saturday. They go onstage at 9pm.