Product Description:
Personnel: Evan Perri (guitar); Paul Brady (steel guitar, nylon-string guitar); Julien Labro (accordion); Carl Cafagna (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Shannon Wade (upright bass).
Audio Mixer: Todd Whitelock.
Liner Note Author: Howard Alden.
Recording information: Lava Room Recording Studios, Clevland, OH.
Director: Maria Ehrenreich.
Photographer: Cybelle Codish.
Unknown Contributor Role: Evan Perri.
Arrangers: Julien Labro; Paul Brady.
While the legendary Belgian jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt might not be a household word, his influence extends far beyond his 1930s and `40s heyday. Many jazz musicians (along with eclectics David Grisman and John Jorgenson) have been influenced directly or indirectly by his unique six-string style and his synthesis of Swing-era jazz with Central European folk, gypsy, and pop sounds. The Hot Club of Detroit pays direct tribute to Django without coming off as unoriginal or retro. Basically acoustic, the HCD have an arsenal of guitars, accordion, sax, clarinet, and bass, and NIGHT TOWN is an inspired mix of standards and originals performed with plenty of jovial, earnest swing and old-school gentility. There are post-Django influences as well, such as the pre-electric cool style of Miles Davis ("Seven Steps To Heaven").
Entertainment Reviews:
Down Beat - p.73
3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[O]n NIGHT TOWN, the HCOD has dropped clarinet and added a mainstream jazz saxophone to present a commendable program covering old and new Gypsy swing numbers, American jazz standards and French song miscellanea."
JazzTimes - p.86
"[A] delectable mix of 15 originals, standards and suprises with an authenticity and excitement that transport the listener to 1930s France."
