Ameranouche Gypsy Flamenco Swing

The award winning Ameranouche (pronounced uh-Mare-uh-noosh) plays a passionate style of music they call “Gypsy Flamenco Swing.” They are veterans of the Newport Jazz Festival, Djangofest Northwest, Muzikfest Bethlehem, PA and the National Press Club. The name is derived from two words: American and Manouche, the gypsy tribe of guitarist Django Reinhardt. The rip-roaring ensemble is a super force of hot acoustic Gypsy inspired music mixing Flamenco, Bebop and Jazz swing influences. Played on traditional French jazz guitars, the music is rhythmic, vigorous, and elegant. Whether they’re playing a musette waltz from 1930 or an Andalusian inspired original tune, Ameranouche’s Gypsy Flamenco Swing style is a fresh and highly enjoyable new sound for the 21st century.

Gypsy Flamenco Swing is about coming together and celebrating our shared humanity. Ameranouche is committed to connecting deeply with its audience and sharing joy and peace through its live shows and recorded albums.

Richard “Shepp” Sheppard, Guitar, comes from southern New Jersey. He attended the Berklee School of Music, studied guitar and composition with Pat Martino in Philadelphia, studied composition and aesthetics with Dr. Frank Haas in Vineland, NJ and studied guitar with Attilla Zoller in Southern Vermont. He has taught guitar, composition, and music theory as a faculty member of Bennington College (Bennington, Vermont) and Pittsfield Community Music School (Pittsfield, Massachusetts). He has performed and done shows with many different artists. Among these are John Jorgenson, Ritary Ensemble, Rick Danko, Taj Mahal, Hot Tuna, and Vassar Clements, to name just a few. His passion for Gypsy music and love for the guitar in general are what drew him to form Ameranouche. He has written hundreds of compositions and continues to invest his time in the evolution of Ameranouche. Shepp is an endorser of Dell Arte guitars, Wegen picks and John Pearse strings.

A versatile bassist, Michael K. Harrist finds work in various musical traditions. He has toured throughout the U.S. and Europe with various artists including new music ensemble Capillary Action and Ross Daly and Kelly Thoma of Crete. Mike is a respected member of the Boston music community and plays regionally with Orkestra Marhaba and jazz great Joe Hunt, among others. He composes and writes songs for the Çeşni Trio, Harrist Family Band and Sol & Kiel. Mike draws heavily from his background in Jazz improvisation and his studies of Hindustani music, Ottoman Art Music and the Western Classical tradition. Mike studied composition and music history under composer Stan Charkey at Marlboro College and double bass with James Macdonald at the Open Music Collective in Vermont. He continues his studies with William Allaudin Mathieu, Pandit Ramesh Mishra, Fred Stubbs, George Ruckert, Ross Daly and Evgenios Voulgaris. Mike teaches privately and gives workshops in New England and beyond.

Julian Loida is a percussionist, multimedia artist, and curator exploring repertoire spanning Western Classical Music, to Cuban Bata drumming, to Jazz and R&B. Julian grew up in St. Louis with his rock band Project 324 along with the St. Louis Youth Orchestra. Since then he has gone on to perform with Alarm Will Sound, the Callithumpian Consort, and the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. He has attended some of the country’s most prestigious music festivals such as Spoleto Music Festival USA, the National Orchestral Institute, the Chautauqua Music Festival, and Round Top Music Festival. Though Julian is a proficient sideman, he is a passionate entrepreneur, curator, and producer as he has directed interdisciplinary projects such as Versus through Verses, Zeitgeist, as well as his solo project Recital of Dedications. His leadership extends beyond the Western Art tradition as he leads a folkloric Cuban and Brazilian band called INA (formerly Bata Boston), a modern world-jazz quintet called Mojubá, as well as his awarded folk band Night Tree that is the 2016-17 New England Conservatory Wildcard Honors Ensemble. In his final year at New England Conservatory, Julian will be receiving a Master’s Degree in Classical Percussion.