Hot Club of Detroit with Connie Evingson

Connie Evingson, vocals
Evan Perri, guitar
Paul Brady, guitar
Julien Labro, accordion
Carl Cafagna, saxophone
Andrew Kratzat, bass

More than seven decades after the innovations of the Quintette du Hot Club de France, featuring guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt, combos called Hot Clubs carry on the gypsy jazz sound around the globe—in Tokyo, San Francisco, Seattle, Sweden, Norway, Austria, and many other locales. None, however, offers a fresher take on the tradition than does the Hot Club of Detroit, led by fast-fingered Reinhardt disciple Evan Perri.

Unlike the instrumentation of original Paris-based quintet, comprising Reinhardt, violinist Stephane Grappelli, two rhythm guitarists, and a bassist, the current Hot Club of Detroit is made of guitarist Perri, accordionist Julien Labro, soprano and tenor saxophonist Carl Cafagna, rhythm guitarist Paul Brady and bassist Shannon Wade. The fibrous accordion tones of Labro, a native of Marseilles, France, links the Detroit quintet to the French musette style from which gypsy jazz partially sprung, while Cafagna’s robust saxophone work introduces bop and post-bop elements to gypsy jazz.

One of the Twin Cities’ favorite vocalists, Connie can swing the standards with the best of them. And she can hold her own with a Beatles book. And she sounds great in a hot club/gypsy jazz setting. She has recorded CDs with all of these projects and more, and her newest, Little Did I Dream, finds her in familiar territory. A collection of songs by former St Paul native Dave Frishberg, Connie revisits his classics like “Peel Me A Grape” and “My Attorney Bernie” as well as shedding light on some lesser known tunes. She retains his inimitable cleverness in her phrasing, as well as letting her band shine.

She has “her own delicious sense of swing, silken phrasing and sense of adventure” – City Pages

---