People who think “serious” jazz will put them to sleep ought to see The Hot Club of Detroit.
“We do a lot of fast, improvising, hard-driving, hard-swinging music, though we do some slow ballads too,” said guitarist Paul Brady. “I think our music probably appeals to a broader audience than a horn-based quintet, at least partly because a lot of people are fascinated with where our music stems from.”
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Or more specifically, whom it stems from — Django Reinhardt. The legendary French gypsy jazz guitarist died in 1953, but his innovative style has influenced generations of guitarists, and not just jazz guitarists.
The Hot Club of Detroit’s members are serious jazz musicians, all in their 20s and 30s, who play songs Reinhardt did, as well as music of his style and original music inspired by him. Plus original music that seems to come from nowhere.
The band’s instrumentation also sets it apart from other jazz groups — two guitars, bass, accordion and saxophone or clarinet.
“Some stuff we play might freak people out,” said Brady.
The Hot Club of Detroit will bring its unique sound to The Landing at Pine Point in Scarborough on Friday.
As the name might indicate, the group formed in Detroit, where founder and lead guitarist Evan Perri was teaching music at Wayne State University. Brady is from the suburbs of Detroit himself, but was teaching and playing guitar around Chicago when he joined the band in 2005.
Both Perri and Brady knew very little about Reinhardt or his legacy until they were adults. Brady didn’t even start playing guitar in a serious way until his senior year in high school, when his family was spending a year in France.
“I took piano lessons and was very much into classical and straight jazz,” said Brady, 28. “But in France, my senior year, they didn’t play the sports I played, mostly hockey, and I needed something to do. So I started focusing on guitar.
“Then my father took me to a jazz club in Paris. And then I began to learn about (Django Reinhardt).”
Reinhardt began recording in the late 1920s with a guitar-based jazz sound and virtuoso playing that were ground-breaking for the time. He recorded French standards in his style, and many of his own compositions have become jazz standards, include “Nuages,” “Minor Swing” and “Belleville.” His best-known group was the Quintette du Hot Club de France.
“If anyone is interested in hearing genius guitar playing, at some point they come across Django Reinhardt, whether they are into jazz or not,” said Brady. “He has such a place in history, and cuts across so many genres.”
Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:
rrouthier@pressherald.com
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