The Quintette du Hot Club de France emerged in 1933 from a series of backstage entre-acte jam sessions by 4 members of the house band at Le Claridge Champs-Elysées: Romani jazz guitar genius Django Reinhardt, the great Parisian jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelly, rhythm guitarist Roger Chaput, and bassist Louis Vola. Concert promoters Pierre Nourry and Charles Delaunay, who were co-founders with Hugues Panassié of the French jazz appreciation society Le Hot Club du France, urged the group on, convinced a new record company, Ultraphon, to record it, and gypsy jazz, France’s unique contribution to jazz was born. Grappelli and Reinhardt went their separate ways in 1939 as WWII loomed, reunited briefly in 1946 and made their last recording together in Italy in 1949.
Chuck Redd and the festival jazz unit featuring both of our jazz guitarists–Howard Alden and Randy Napoleon–welcome jazz violinist Eddie Parente for a celebration of the Quintette's best work…and a special contemplation, featuring Vanessa Greenway and Michael Stone, of what the group might have sounded like with vocalists and vibes.
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| | Nuages (1940) Django Reinhardt (m) |
| | I Saw Stars (1934) Al Goodhart, Al Hoffman, Maurice Sigler (w/m) |
| | The Continental (1934) The Gay Divorcee Herb Magidson (w) Con Conrad (m) |
| | Minor Swing (1937) Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli (m) |