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Pearl Django
Pearl Django: Chasing Shadows
by Stephen Latessa
Pearl Django's very name should give you a pretty strong clue about where the group derives most of its influence. Indeed, the band's eighth release, Chasing Shadows, continues to mine the fertile territory laid by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. As always, the playing is expert, with a palpable sense of joy evident in the exploration of music these players obviously love.
A melancholy mood pervaded the recording of Chasing Shadows, owing to the death of founding member ...
read morePearl Django: A Decade of 'Hot Club' Jazz
by Jason West
It’s a crisp, autumn evening on the streets of Fremont, but inside Bouchee restaurant it’s toasty warm with standing room only to hear Pearl Django perform barn-burning gypsy jazz tunes, medium-swing melodies and lush string ballads—all of which recall the era of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, when post-war Europe was rapidly adopting jazz into it’s musical vocabulary.
Pearl Django features guitarists Neil Andersson, Dudley Hill and Greg Ruby, double-bassist Rick Leppanen, and Michael Gray on violin. Their quintet is ...
read morePearl Django at Jazz Alley This Week
Source:
Seattle Jazz Scene
Pearl Django with Special Guest Martin Taylor January 3-8 at JAZZ ALLEY 2033 6th Avenue, Seattle Reservations: 206.441.9729 Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley presents Seattle's own gypsy jazz artists Pearl Django with special guest jazz guitarist Martin Taylor. Band members include Troy Chapman (guitar), and Ryan Hoffman (guitar), Rick Leppanen (bass), Michael Gray (violin), and David Lange (accordion). Set times TuesdayThursday and Sunday at 7:30pm and FridaySaturday at 7:30pm and 9:30pm. Doors open at ...
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Pearl Django: Gypsy-Jazz Group Helps Distinctive Music Carry On
Source:
All About Jazz
Imagine being an American playing French-Gypsy jazz to 3,000 Django Reinhardt enthusiasts — in France. It was a little nerve-racking," said Michael Gray, a violinist with the jazz band Pearl Django. Now I have sympathy for the average European blues band coming over here." But the listeners at the 2002 Festival de Jazz de Django Reinhardt, near Paris, were thrilled that we had taken the style and run with it," Gray said. We got nothing but great feedback." For the ...
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