Hot
Club of Detroit
is inspired by the
Quintette du Hot Club de France, featuring guitar virtuoso Django
Reinhardt and
violinist Stéphane Grappelli.
The current Hot Club of Detroit is made of guitarist Evan Perri,
accordionist Julien Labro, soprano and tenor saxophonist Carl Cafagna,
rhythm guitarist Paul Brady, and bassist Andrew Kratzat.
Perri founded the Hot Club of Detroit in 2003 while
attending Wayne State University in Detroit.
In the following years the group won several awards.
Their self-titled debut album (2006) was followed by Night Town
(2008). It's About That Time is their third album (2010),
released on Mack Avenue.
With On the Steps the group signals uncompromising jazz "A
Grande Vitesse" in the style of Django Reinhardt presenting the
members of the group in solo phases. Jazz aficionados will recognize
the chord changes of Pat Martino’s On the Stairs (with a pithy
quotation from John Coltrane’s Giant Steps).
Charles Mingus' Nostalgia in Times Square finds a new face
formed by this remarkable group. Still in the tradition of jazz with
guitar and accordion the group also adds modern elements like
hand-clapping. Django Reinhardt is the showerhead from which we all
come down,” says guitarist and bandleader Evan Perri. “But if he had
lived, I don’t think he would’ve been playing the same things he had
in prior years. He was constantly evolving as a jazz musician.”
On Noto Swing competes guitarist Evan Perri with accordionist Julien Labro
and clarinetist Carl Cafagna. All three deserve the crown. Frédéric
Chopin's "Tristesse" E Major Etude comes back with a vengeance.
After the classic intro the group creates their own unique
continuation. Equilibrium tends to Chick Corea, while the
Restless Twilights spreads the chic of Paris. The accordion
evokes pictures of romantic
strolls along the Seine, crusty baguettes shared in quaint cafes,
intimate brasseries, and soulful crooning by sultry chanteuses as a
Parisian city-guide describes.
For Stéphane is an homage to guitarist Stéphane Wrembel, not
the original Hot Club of France violinist Stéphane Grappelli, as I
assumed. A gypsy, a friend of guitarist Evan Perri sharing the
interest for the music of Django Reinhardt. The slow ballade
Papillon is filled with melancholy. Duke and Dukie is a
tune, Django Reinhardt wrote in 1947, the time when he rejoined with
Grapelli. It's the music, which was full of the happiness after
surpassing a hard time during world war. Hot Club of Detroit captures
perfectly that spirit.
Heavy Artillerie
is another tune by Django Reinhardt." We try
to find Django tunes that haven’t been performed to death,” Brady
says. “He wrote a ton of stuff so we can always find something that we
can have fun and stretch out on.”
It's About That Time from Miles Daves In A Silent Way
(1969) sparkles in from time to time.
Patio Swing is the right sound for total relaxation in your
garden or elsewhere. The waltz Sacré Bleu reveals more of the
dynamic force of the group. Julien Labro shines on his accordion as
Evan Perri does on his guitar. Final tune on this album is Sweet
Chorus delivering a breath of depravity like The Third Man
Theme.
Hot Club Of Detroit is a high-prolific band exceeding all conceivable
speed limits. On their third album the group offers some slow elements
which hopefully destroy the impression of overdosed pyrotechnics of
Perri and Labro and gives the group more atmosphere and charismatic
exposure.
Biography
Website
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Album Information
Title: It's About That Time
Artist: Hot Club Of Detroit
Year: 2010
Length: 0:56:35
Genre: General Jazz
Label: Mack Avenue Records
Tracks:
01 On the Steps [4:26]
02 Nostalgia in Times Square [3:04]
03 Noto Swing [3:26]
04 "Tristesse" E Major Etude [4:18]
05 Equilibrium [4:48]
06 Restless Twilights [4:33]
07 For Stéphane [5:30]
08 Papillon [4:27]
09 Duke and Dukie [4:16]
10 Heavy Artillerie / It's About That Time [4:11]
11 Patio Swing [5:33]
12 Sacré Bleu [3:36]
13 Sweet Chorus [4:26]
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