Music in the Parks: Swing Gitane

The Calaveras Arts Council presents
Swing Gitane
at Shutter Tree Park in Mokelumne Hill

Wednesday,
July 12, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. 
Moke Hill Lions  will be serving
​a pie and ice cream social!

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Music in the Parks is free to all, but we rely on the generosity of those who can contribute to make this program available to the community. Please help if you are able. Thank you for your support.

Swinging Hot Club Jazz for a hot summer night

Jazz haters beware. You’re going to love the tunes that Swing Gitane slides into when they take the stage in Shutter Tree Park on Wednesday night.
 
“Most people associate jazz with bebop,” said Ralph Ashmead, co-founder and guitarist of the band. But hipster-jangling chords and discordant shards of broken musical glass are not what Swing Gitane plays. They focus on a different jazz altogether.
 
“We play the swing-era stuff,” Ashmead said. “Which mostly was played by big bands. It’s very danceable, very melodic.  Most people recognize the tunes, even if they don’t know the names.
 
“You don’t really hear this stuff much any more," Ashmead lamented. "It’s not on regular radio. You have to hunt it down.” Swing Gitane changes that dynamic a bit: While you’ll hear tunes that are considered Jazz standard—Gershwin, Cole Porter, Django—they’re not as well known.
 
In fact, Swing Gitane lives solidly in the legacy of guitar player Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli, who, in 1930’s Paris, invented the style now known as Hot Club Jazz or Gypsy Swing. With a wild, throbbing beat and ecstatic violin riffs, (you’ll recognize the style if you saw the animated feature, The Triplets of Belleville) this kind of jazz transcends our post-Rock ‘n Roll era, sounding clean, hot, and modern even as it grabs you and sends you whirling out onto the dance floor.
 
And dancing is where it’s at for Swing Gitane. “We think of ourselves as a dance band. I love to dance,” Ashmead said. He even admitted to taking swing dance lessons.  Co-founder violinist Rick Barlow swing dances too, and Ashmead feels that their experience dancing helps them play the music. “You really get a feel for the music when you dance,” he said. “Problem is, I’m in the band now, and I don’t get to dance much anymore.”
 
Ashmead and Barlow started playing together 20 years ago, but over the decades the band has grown to 7 members: Dan Krynytzky on accordion, Matt Nesper on stand-up bass, Gordon Giedt on clarinet and saxophone, Jim Bannister on drums, and vocalist Susie Easley.
 
As more musicians have joined the band, their choice of music has morphed to include the talents of the new members. According to Ashmead, “The strict definition of Hot Club Jazz would be Django and Grappelli from Paris of the 30s, but Hot Club was mostly instrumental. Now, because we have a good singer we do more vocals. At this point we’re a combination of Diana Krall and Django.”  They have also introduce latin tunes like Besame Mucho into their repertoire, and mid-century songs like Charade.
 
“Charade is new to us,” Ashmead said, “but it’s fun to jam on. Suzanne sings it really well. We play it more Django style, but it’s good.”