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Rising Stars [Issue
#15]
Hot Club Of San Francisco:
Postcards From Gypsyland By
Ken Micallef
Postcards From Gypsysland
(CD
Lost Wax Music)
Everything old becomes new again, just listen to the furious fingers and romantic tones of Hot Club of San Francisco. Recreating the gypsy swing of French guitarist Django Reinhardt with a quintet of three guitars, violin, and bass, Hot Club of San Francisco are spearheading a new movement with an old sound.
“Just look
how many people are buying gypsy styled guitars,” says Paul Mehling, HCSF’s
lead guitarist. “And there is a huge proliferation of websites about Django
Reinhardt and gypsy jazz in general. That is very cool. When I got into the
game 20, years ago I learned French in school so I could read articles about
Django in French magazines. There was nothing out there. But now there is the
Internet. And also, all of Django’s records are in print. That is odd considering
he has been dead for 50 years.”
HCSF’s eighth album, Postcards from Gypsysland (Lost Wax), produced
by Norah Jones’ guitarist, Adam Levy, covers the many moods of Django with
classic tracks, cover versions, and original HCSF tunes. But where some Django-styled
groups are all about blazing guitars, Hot Club is all about the music.
“I have never wanted our music to only be about smoking guitars,”
Mehling explians. “I always wanted to be a jazz musician. If I always play
flashy, showy stuff with other musicians, they will tell me to play some music.
Our band is not just about guitar, but about music. There is interaction like
most jazz bands. People enjoy listening as well as watching the sparring match
between musicians. People don’t just want to listen to solos, they want
to be entertained. We do the past, the future, we are trying to pretend that
this music is current, and make it current.”
Postcards From Gypsysland
Lost Wax Music
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