Home » Jazz Musicians » Hot Club Of Detroit

Hot Club Of Detroit

Back in 1930s Paris, the Hot Club de France kept music fans jumping and dance floors filled to their intricate and lively brand of gypsy jazz. In 21st century Detroit, the fans are jumpin' and the dance floors are filled, too--" this time to the sound of the Hot Club of Detroit, an electrifying and visionary ensemble that takes the traditions pioneered by Django Reinhardt and company and spins them in a way that's both reverent and refreshingly contemporary. As guitarist and group leader Evan Perri explains, "We want to spread the music and keep the gypsy spirit alive. But we're from Detroit. We're not gypsies in a caravan in France. Our influences come from stuff we grew up listening to here in Detroit. We're not trying to live in the shadow of the Rosenberg Trio or Birelli LeGrane. We just want to make music that's true to the spirit of Django but that's also true to ourselves." The first recorded document of that philosophy is "Hot Club of Detroit," a 13-song collection recorded in just three days and brimming with the energy and focus of a band honed to truly hot form thanks to a full schedule of live shows and to the fiery chops of the six musicians who play on the disc. The repertoire is also a testament to their breadth and stylistic facility. The album certainly has its share of Reinhardt favorites "Nuages," "Belleville," "Stompin' at Decca," "Anouman"--but it also includes selections by Fapy Lafertin ("Aurore"), Wes Montgomery ("Leila"), Antonio Carlos Jobim ("How Insensitive") and Fats Waller ("Honeysuckle Rose"), as well as two Perri originals--"Swing One" and a variation on the theme from "The Godfather." "I wanted to make an album that was as diverse as possible but still in the Django style," Perri says. "I chose some tunes that were outside of our book, some tunes we had never played before, just to create that interesting album from beginning to end. I didn't want someone to get halfway through the album and be bored." Hot Club has been playing since 2003 but Perri, of course, has been at it longer. The son of a jazz guitarist, he played bass as a youth growing up in the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe before picking up guitar when he was 18 and soaking up influences such as Jerry Garcia, John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra and the improvisation-oriented rock band Phish.

Read more

Tags

5
Album Review

Hot Club Of Detroit: Junction

Read "Junction" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


When the Hot Club Of Detroit's journey began, they followed the road that guitarist Django Reinhardt laid before them. They traveled the highways and byways of so-called “Gypsy Jazz," walking in the footsteps of their forefathers while picking up and exhibiting other influences and sounds along the way, and eventually reached a crossroad. Rather than choose a single path, the group decided to try them all out and Junction is the artistic byproduct of that decision.Personnel adjustments, whether ...

595
Album Review

Hot Club of Detroit: It's About That Time

Read "It's  About That Time" reviewed by Larry Taylor


This is the year of “gypsy jazz." Around the world, the 100th birthday of Django Reinhardt, legendary Gypsy guitarist, is being celebrated with festivals and concerts.

At this centennial time, the Hot Club of Detroit's It's About That Time is firmly in the tradition of Reinhardt's Hot Club of France, his legendary quintet from the1930s. This follows the Detroit group's 2008 self-titled release, but goes further beyond gypsy genre-related tunes with arrangements that incorporate the influences of greats from Duke ...

273
Album Review

Hot Club of Detroit: Night Town

Read "Night Town" reviewed by Jay Deshpande


The Hot Club of Detroit will without a doubt soon be among the most popular bands playing in the gypsy tradition of jazz manouche. Django Reinhardt's band, the Hot Club de France, first brought the fiery, flamenco-infused sound to the realm of jazz. In homage to and elaboration of the tradition, the HCOD presents its sophomore release, Night Town. Despite the referential name, the Hot Club of Detroit doesn't just follow Reinhardt's footsteps. This quintet's sound is ...

453
Album Review

Hot Club of Detroit: Night Town

Read "Night Town" reviewed by Matthew Warnock


The Hot Club of Detroit's Night Town is a tour de force full of hard-swinging, toe-tapping arrangements of gypsy jazz standards and original compositions penned by members of the ensemble. Having won four Detroit Music Awards, Shannon Wade (bass), Carl Cafagna (clarinet), Evan Perri (guitar), Julien Labro (accordion) and Paul Brady (guitar) are setting their sites on the national and international scene, and Night Town is the perfect vehicle for the HCOD to broaden and expand its audience.

347
Album Review

Hot Club of Detroit: Night Town

Read "Night Town" reviewed by Ken Dryden


The Hot Club of Detroit is one of many bands that have been inspired by the work of Django Reinhardt with the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, though leader and guitarist Evan Perri's group omits the violin, instead utilizing accordion and saxophone. Yet the band's second CD doesn't exclusively stick to Gypsy jazz and swing, also delving into early jazz, bop and post-bop, along with Perri's compositions. The spirit of Django is very much alive ...

Read more articles

Event

Jazz Arts Group Presents Hot Club Of Detroit Featuring Cyrille Aimee - Sat. Oct. 12

Jazz Arts Group Presents Hot Club Of Detroit Featuring Cyrille Aimee - Sat. Oct. 12

Source: Scott Vezdos

Columbus, OH: The Jazz Arts Group's Inside Track series continues to heat up the Lincoln Theatre stage on Saturday, October 12 with the gypsy jazz of Hot Club of Detroit featuring the unique vocal stylings of French artist Cyrille Aimée. More than seven decades after the innovations of the Quintette du Hot Club de France, featuring guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt, combos called Hot Clubs carry on the gypsy jazz sound around the globe – in Tokyo, San Francisco, Seattle, Sweden, ...

1

Recording

Hot Club Of Detroit Adds Avant-Garde, Pop And Groove Based Elements To The Django Reinhardt Resurgence On New Mack Avenue Records Release, Junction, Available August 14

Hot Club Of Detroit Adds Avant-Garde, Pop And Groove Based Elements To The Django Reinhardt Resurgence On New Mack Avenue Records Release,  Junction, Available August 14

Source: Mack Avenue Music Group

Following up It's About That Time, Night Town and the eponymous 2006 debut Hot Club of Detroit - Hot Club of Detroit expands its sonic and compositional horizons with Junction. Retaining its original lineup of reeds, two guitars, accordion, upright bass and no drums, this is the band's fourth release for Mack Avenue Records. There are personnel changes, however, and for the first time, the Hot Club of Detroit is joined (on three tracks) by a vocalist: French musician Cyrille ...

143

Recording

New Release: Hot Club of Detroit - It's About That Time

New Release: Hot Club of Detroit - It's About That Time

Source: Riffs on Jazz by John Anderson

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Django Reinhardt and the 76th anniversary of the formation of the original Quintette du Hot Club de France with Stephane Grappelli. From all appearances, the tradition of “gypsy jazz" is alive and well, and the Hot Club of Detroit is a prime example. They both honor the tradition and extend it in new directions. Formed by guitarist Evan Perri in 2003, the Hot Club of Detroit has been winning awards ...

89

Recording

Available Today -- It's About That Time, the New CD by Hot Club of Detroit on Mack Avenue Records

Available Today -- It's About That Time, the New CD by Hot Club of Detroit on Mack Avenue Records

Source: DL Media

AVAILABLE TODAY--IT'S ABOUT THAT TIME,HOT CLUB OF DETROIT'S NEW CD ON MACK AVENUE RECORDS The family tree that traces its roots to the Quintette du Hot Club de France has sprouted countless branches across the globe in the seventy years since Django Reinhardt first jammed with Stephane Grappelli. It seems like a new city lays claim to its own Hot Club on a virtually daily basis, but the Hot Club of Detroit is undoubtedly the apple that has fallen farthest ...

168

Festival

Hot Club of Detroit Presents Seventh Annual Detroit Django Reinhardt Festival

Hot Club of Detroit Presents Seventh Annual Detroit Django Reinhardt Festival

Source: DL Media

Hot Club Of Detroit Presents Seventh Annual Detroit Django Reinhardt Festival Features Special Guests Howard Alden and Anat Cohen Mack Avenue recording artist Hot Club of Detroit presents their seventh annual Detroit Django Reinhardt Festival, Friday, March 19th through Sunday March 21st. Featuring special guests, guitarist Howard Alden and clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen, Hot Club of Detroit is proud to bring this festival in celebration of Reinhardt's centennial to Detroit and Cleveland; two cities that Reinhardt himself performed in during ...

146

Recording

Hot Club of Detroit to Release "It's About That Time" on Mack Avenue Records

Hot Club of Detroit to Release "It's About That Time" on Mack Avenue Records

Source: DL Media

HOT CLUB OF DETROIT BRANCHES OUT ON NEW CD IT'S ABOUT THAT TIME SET FOR APRIL 27 RELEASE ON MACK AVENUE RECORDS The family tree that traces its roots to the Quintette du Hot Club de France has sprouted countless branches across the globe in the seventy years since Django Reinhardt first jammed with Stephane Grappelli. It seems like a new city lays claim to its own Hot Club on a virtually daily basis, but the Hot Club of Detroit ...

222

Recording

The Hot Club of Detroit CD Night Town

The Hot Club of Detroit CD Night Town

Source: All About Jazz

The Hot Club of Detroit has always walked a delicate tightrope, honoring its commitment to the nostalgia of Django Reinhardt-inspired gypsy jazz with the recognition that jazz and American culture didn't stop evolving in 1944.

If the band looks too far into the past, it becomes simply an exercise in musical dress-up. If it looks too far into the future, the music turns into awkward pastiche. On Night Town, the Detroit quintet's sophomore album for Mack Avenue Records, the band ...

“...for our money the gypsy-fied version of the theme from The Godfather is divine inspiration...” --JazzWeek “Through these newer songs, the Hot Club of Detroit proves their mastery of Reinhardt's music, since they can not only play his songs so well; they know how to translate it to other styles. That adventurousness, combined with their considerable musicality, makes Hot Club of Detroit a first-rate debut album -- and after listening to it, it's hard not to want to hear how they go forward on their next album.” --All Music Guide "This is a recording that can be listened to and enjoyed over and over again-I certainly intend to do so!" --Howard Alden "The Hot Club of Detroit plays with such reverence and passion

Read more

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Junction

Mack Avenue Records
2012

buy

It's About That Time

Creative Sources
2010

buy

It's About That Time

Mack Avenue Records
2010

buy

Night Town

Mack Avenue Records
2009

buy

Night Town

Mack Avenue Records
2008

buy

Puck Bunny

From: Junction
By Hot Club Of Detroit

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.