This year, instead of participating in the Luxembourg Christmas market which has been cancelled due to the restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, Sultry has prepared a music video of "Santa Baby" which can be enjoyed while sipping some Glühwein from the safety of one's own home. 

As half of the group members are teachers, they appreciate how stressful and challenging teaching is at present. With the video, the group would like to not only appreciate their work, but also to bring some joy and fun to teachers in Luxembourg and beyond.

The "Santa Baby" video is dedicated to all the teachers overcoming the challenges of education in these pandemic times. The video credit sequence includes some outtakes, that show the funny side of making such a video from one's own home.

Preparing the video in line with Covid-19 sanitary requirements

When the spring lockdown measures were loosened, the group restarted their rehearsals meeting one evening per week outside at the Coque park, rehearsing no matter the weather conditions. This continued during the summer and into the autumn and included singing this Christmas song to the surprised passers-by (Santa Baby in August?). From October the group was allowed to rehearse in a room in the Forum, where the requirements for social distancing and masks we adhered to to keep the singers safe.
 
The video was prepared in October and November 2020, sticking strictly to the constantly changing sanitary measures in place. One will notice that there are many separate takes, and there is no shot with all the members at the same time. Even if it may look like that in the video at some moments.

First, the group did the voice recording. This was back in October, when meetings of up to 10 people were still allowed. A friend of the group made available a large room for the audio recording session. This allowed proper distancing of the members (3-5 metres) during the recording. Despite the song being only three and a half minutes long, it took almost 8 hours to record...

After the audio recording was finalised, the group went on to prepare the video, singing along to the recording. There were 6 shoots in total, with a maximum of 2 people in front of the camera at the same time (and in some scenes also the dog). All crew members were wearing masks and social distancing. Only the performers took off their masks just before recording.

New challenges for the group members

The previous experiences of the group included live concerts, but this was the first time where some acting was also required in addition. This is where the support of Felly Kingston, a young theatre director from Luxembourg,  was very much appreciated.

Sultry, a modern A Capella group from Luxembourg

Sultry is a dynamic a cappella jazz group. Founded in 2017 and based in Luxembourg, the group is composed of singers from various countries and cultures who are all passionate about singing a variety of jazz, pop, rock and gospel tunes. Sultry use their voices to create an intense atmosphere ranging from sentimental and exuberant to comical. Bringing back the cool elegance of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, the melodiousness of Stevie Wonder, the energy of rock and the fun of Disney movies, Sultry's versatility has something to fit any musical taste.

The group performs several times a year, including at the Luxembourg Christmas market and Fete de la Musique.

In Spring 2020, the group prepared a remote video dedicated to the staff of Hôpitaux Robert Schuman in order to thank them for their hard work in the times of COVID-19 and bringing some joy to the life of everyone in the times of quarantine and self-isolation. This video can be accessed with the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxddgiVFPwY&feature=youtu.be