Hot Club of Las Vegas members, from left. Front Row: Marlow Valentin on guitar, Carol Linnea Johnson featured vocalist, and Mundo Juillerat (the band’s founder) lead guitar. Back Row: Gabriel Falcon on drums/percussion and Chris Davis on bass. All members also perform with shows on the Strip — Davis with “Phantom,” Falcon with “Donny & Marie,” Juillerat with “Le Reve,” and Carol Linnea Johnson has stared as Donna Sheridan in "Mamma Mia!", the longest running most successful musical on the Las Vegas Strip.
Jazz, infused with flavors of Europe
Vegas band’s big reward is the music — a blend of styles
By Jerry Fink Las Vegas Sun March 10, 2009
Jazz is a well-traveled musical road with many byways — stride and Dixieland, big band and swing, bebop and Latin.
When jazz made its way from the United States to Europe in the early 1930s, it took on a distinct continental flavor. It caught the ear of Belgian Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt, who adopted the art form and created an entirely new genre by blending jazz with flamenco, French dance hall “musette” and American swing.
He formed Le Quintette du Hot Club de France, and his brand of “Gypsy jazz” flourished in and around Paris.
Aficionados later would hear echoes of it in the music of such American performers as Dan Hicks and David Grisman, who played in several groups featuring Stephane Grappelli, who played in the original Hot Club.
About 20 years ago, Hot Clubs began popping up across the United States — Hot Club of San Francisco, Hot Club of Cowtown (Austin, Texas), Hot Club Sandwich (Seattle), Hot Clubs of Detroit, Boulder (Colorado), Marin (California), Nashville, Philadelphia ...
And Hot Club of Las Vegas.
Hot Club isn’t a place or a social organization, but a group — what members of Gypsy jazz bands call themselves.
On a recent Wednesday night Hot Club of Las Vegas convened at Money Plays, a neighborhood beer and wine bar on West Flamingo Road near Decatur Boulevard. The blue-collar saloon, once a popular hangout for musicians who wanted a beer late at night after performing on the Strip, was crowded with men in sweatshirts and baseball caps and women in jeans. They made space for the band by pushing the pool table by the pinball machine and the video game. A steel beer keg served as a speaker stand.
Half the 40 or so people in the bar were absorbed in their own conversations. The other half listened to the unfamiliar music emanating from the back of the room.
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JAZZBEAT FEATURED ARTIST - DON AND ALICIA CUNNINGHAM
Well summer has come and gone and fall is in the air so here I am back on myspace as promised. I thank you for your patience in being without comments for such a long time.
"Ticklin' The Strings" by Sweet Hollywaiians
Amazing Japanese hot string band playing 1920's, 30's, 40's style hawaiian, swing, calypso, blues, italian music and originals,featuring vintage instruments.3 songs with Robert Armstrong and Tony Marcus(from Robert Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders)
"The Sweet Hollywaiians have probably the best feel for this 20's music of any string band working today. They manage the rare feat of sounding relaxed even when their playing is hot, are top notch musicians with tasteful arrangements and a full, rich, warm sound.Plus, they have a nice gamut of tunes, from King Nawahi to Giovanni Vicari to Bobby Leecan. See them live, if you can, for an unforgettable experience. If you can't, buy their Cds!" ~ Terry Zwigoff
Here is some Bob Trivia for you today. Bob Crosby and Doris Day
In 1939, Doris Day was told of the opening for a vocalist in the band of Bob Crosby, a star band leader in his own right. Day auditioned and got the job at age 17. She stayed with Crosby's band for three months before she was approached by band leader Les Brown. While singing with Bob Crosby's band, she first worked with many of the sidemen -- Bob Haggart, William Stegmeyer, Billy Butterfield, and Zeke Zarchy -- who would later work on her own recording sessions. It was with Les Brown's band, however, that the public first got to hear her voice and know her name, initially on the radio and then on Brown's recordings.
It's our exclusive jazz promotion site. We know how important it is to get your name and your music out everywhere. We have placed over 1,500 musicians into over 250 jazz playlists. Each day hundreds of jazz fans come to this site to listen to our playlists. These people are music buyers. If you have a CD to sell or just want more people to visit your MySpace page, get your spot on this site ... today!
The Craig Charles Funk And Soul Show is broadcast live on BBC 6Music every Saturday night between 6 and 9 pm. On last Saturday’s show A review of the best soul and funk releases of 2008 with music from The Cherryboppers, The Dells, Baby Charles, Brenda Boykin, Modus, Alice Russell, The Soul Snatchers, The Flirtations, The Perceptions, Bahama Soul Club, The Bamboos, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Mr Confuse, Smoove, and much more.
Also catch our Radio 2 Funk and Soul Special (which went out on 30th) on their listen again facility http://www. bbc. co. uk/iplayer/episode/b00g69g7/6_on_2_Craig_Charles/ Featuring Marlena Shaw in conversation And music from The Sweet Vandals, Billy Butler, The New Mastersounds, Eli Paperboy Reed, Laura Vane, Kokolo, Jackie Wilson and much much more.
Best wishes. The Craig Charles Funk And Soul Show Team.
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