The Quintette du Hot Club de France was founded in 1934 by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, remaining active as the house band into the late 1940s. Although the Hot Club was the venue, not the ensemble, many jazz groups -- usually featuring guitar and violin, but sometimes with other instruments and even vocalists -- have taken the name Hot Club over the ensuing 90 years. Here is a sampling, with some emphasis on the Hot Club of Cowtown, which uncharacteristically adds western swing, just because I like them (feel free to skip some of the Cowtown clips if there are too many for you).
My mother, an amateur musician (and fulltime physician) played Django for me as a pre-teen and teenager. I LOVED it but got laughed at by my friends, including those in our band that played at the school dances. Fortunately, they wised up!
Django’s story is well-known, of course. His ability to play with 2 paralyzed fingers is extraordinary, although it also may have helped create his unique sound.
I also love Grappelli and own about 6-8 albums. On his second trip to the States in about 1970, I went to a 4 a.m. Stephane Grappelli gig in an odd venue - a second floor jazz club on Second Avenue in NYC that must've lasted a year or less. What a genius! I later married my first wife, who had perfect pitch. She couldn’t listen to Stephane because he was always sliding from one note to another. For me it was beauty; for her it hurt her ears.
Thank you, Steve! I’ll listen to the rest tonight.
Richard Zitrin
Posted by: Richard Zitrin | March 10, 2024 at 12:27 AM