Gypsy jazz troupe the Hot Club of LA, disciples of the great Django Reinhardt, have had a Monday night residency at the Cinema Bar for 12 years now, and they’re not slowing down. Band member Carl Byron told the News all about it…
When did you start playing and performing?
Hot Club of Los Angeles began in 2011 as a gathering of local established sidemen and recording musicians with backgrounds in country, jazz, folk, blues, pop/rock and world music to initially perform the repertoire of Belgian guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt (1910-1953). Reinhardt pioneered the hybrid genre now known as gypsy jazz, popularizing it with his Quintette du Hot Club de France in 1930s Paris. The band’s current lineup, which includes founders, drummer Jim Doyle and accordionist/pianist Carl Byron, along with bassist Paul Eckman and fretmasters Josh Workman and Jake Bluenote, draws on the widely varied experience and eclectic taste of the members, yielding a unique and modern approach to the storied “Hot Club” sound.
Describe your sound/style?
Hot Club of Los Angeles, hailed by Jackson Browne as “an LA treasure,” is a nuevo Django quintet that showcases gypsy jazz-based instrumentals, French, Roma and Russian vocal numbers, straight ahead jazz repertoire, and jazz-inspired originals.
What are your career highlights so far?
Our great pal Jackson Browne sitting in with us at the Cinema Bar is a major highlight for the group, as well as serving as the house band for Artists for Peace and Justice benefits in 2017- 18, which Jackson curated. On those events, we backed up Jeff Bridges, Adam Sandler, Gaby Moreno, Jack Black, Rufus Wainwright, T-Bone Burnett, Petra Haden and many other great performers. We’ve also accompanied Devo’s Gerald Casale, hosted visiting trad and gypsy jazz luminaries on the bandstand, headlined Jazzville in Palm Springs, and graced stages at DjangoFest in Las Vegas, the Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach, among other notable concert appearances. The widespread critical acclaim for our 2020 release Cinema Swing is a wonderful highlight for us.
What recorded music is available — particularly the most recent?
Cinema Swing, our critically lauded 2020 album is available from all streaming and download services. CDs can be purchased directly from us at our shows and also via our website: www.hotclubofla.com.
What can the audience expect from the set this time?
We’ll be performing selections from our next album, Nova, to be released January 26, 2024. Many of those numbers are originals that reflect the wide stylistic range that Django Reinhardt embraced in his own work. We’ll also feature our trademark takes on Django masterpieces, such as “Nuages” (sung in French), “Belleville” and “Swing 42”; as well as our arrangements of other classic gypsy jazz fare and a rousing folk song, “?aje Šukarije” sung in Serbian Roma. In addition, our guitarists will shred on contemporary gypsy jazz fret burners such as Biréli Lagrène’s “Made In France”, Tchavolo Schmitt’s “Tchavolo Swing” and Dorado Schmitt’s “Bossa Dorado”.
We’ll serenade you with some Charles Trénet numbers (also sung in French) and swing you with a segue of “Django” (the Reinhardt tribute composed by John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet) and the Duke Ellington showpiece “Caravan”. Another pairing that you’d likely hear is “Miserlou” followed by “Goldfinger”, along with the theme from “A Man and a Woma” and other soundtrack selections such as Nino Rota’s “Carlota’s Galop” and John Williams’ “Cantina Band”.
What else do you have coming up?
Besides our ongoing Monday night residency at the Cinema Bar (9pm-11:30pm, no cover, 21+) which began in 2011, we’ll be headlining the Write Off Room in Studio City, one of LA’s prime venues, on Thursday, November 2, 8pm:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hot-club-of-los-angeles-tickets-737632949007?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
The Hot Club of LA performs at 9 p.m. every Monday at the Cinema Bar. Go to thecinemabar.com for more information about the show.
Elsewhere this week
The Culver Hotel will be hosting the likes of Sylvia & the Rhythm Boys, and Scotty Bramer. Go to culverhotel.com for more info.
The Boulevard Music hosts the Carl Verheyen Band at 8 p.m. on Friday, November 3. Visit boulevardmusic.com for more info.