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Hot Club of Detroit

Presented by Scullers Jazz Club at Scullers Jazz Club

January 13, 2011

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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 from that tree.

"Django Reinhardt is the showerhead from which we all come down," says guitarist and bandleader Evan Perri. "But if he had lived, I don't think he would've been playing the same things he had in prior years. He was constantly evolving as a jazz musician."

The Hot Club of Detroit has undergone a similar evolution since Perri formed the group in 2003 with fellow students at Wayne State University in Detroit. The ensemble rapidly accumulated accolades and audiences over the next several years, including a first-place win in the 2004 Detroit International Jazz Festival competition and multiple Detroit Music Awards. Their 2006 self-titled debut, while slightly more traditional than later releases, established their broad-minded approach to the Django resurgence.

Since that time, it's become increasingly evident that their inspiration comes as much from the spirit of Reinhardt's playing as by its much-copied sound. While they've maintained some recognizable elements - the absence of drums, the percussive "la pompe" rhythm guitar technique - the Motor City quintet apply those elements to a decidedly modern sound, refusing to be constrained by allegiance to some time-honored, purist ideal.

"To me," says rhythm guitarist Paul Brady, "Django Reinhardt was a jazz improviser like Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young or any of the other great improvisers of his time. We don't approach our music as a gypsy jazz band, but 100% as a jazz group."

On each of its releases the Detroit combo has also flexed its classical muscles, beginning with Nino Rota's theme from "The Godfather" on their debut, followed by Maurice Ravel's "Tzigane" on 2008's Night Town. On their latest relese it's Frederic Chopin's "Tristesse" E Major Etude, arranged by accordionist Julien Labro, which shines a spotlight onto Cafagna's melancholy clarinet and Labro's lush bandoneon.

"All of us come from different backgrounds and have very different musical training and influences," says Labro who plays both accordion, accordina, as well as bandoneon on this release. "Individually, we collaborate with musicians from many genres and styles, from classical, jazz, to world music."

When asked about the accordion's current place in jazz, Labro is succinct: "It is not important what instruments we play. I am a musician, and the accordion just happens to be the vehicle I utilize to express my musical thoughts and ideas."

The remainder of their latest album consists of originals by the band members themselves: Labro's serpentine, Chick Corea-influenced "Equilibrium"; Cafagna's engaging "Restless Twilights"; "Papillon", a wistful ballad by Labro and Kratzat; Perri's aptly-named "Patio Swing"; Labro's knife-edged waltz "Sacre Bleu"; and Perri's "For Stephane" - an homage to guitarist Stephane Wrembel, not the original Hot Club of France violinist.

As wide-ranging as the album is, the one constant is the group's sense of individuality, which Perri says he encourages from each of his bandmates.