Current Members:
Amber Dolphin - Violin
Ben Johnson - Upright Bass
Matt Krueger - Octave Mandolin, Mandolin
Mike Kratochwill - Guitar
Blaine McQuinn - Violin
Let's not forget our honorary member who is currently away in school...
Nate Hess - Mandolin
As well as our friends who play with us from time to time...
Matt (Beefus) Amati - Banjo
Rob Rasch - Piano, Keyboards
Chris Rupenthal - Guitar
Ed Fila - Guitar
Influences
Django Reinhardt, Bireli Lagrene, Romane Acoustic Quartet, Robin Nolan Trio, David Grisman Quintet, Bola Sete, Roby Lakatos, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Pat Metheny Group, John McLaughlin, Bill Evans Trio, Miles Davis, Fapy Lafertin, Angelo Debarre, Danu, Altan, Daithi Sproule, The Beatles, Frank Zappa, etc...
The Gadjo Players is an acoustic jazz band based out of Madison, Wisconsin. We play a mix of styles including Gypsy jazz, Latin, and even a little bit of Celtic and Bluegrass.
We started out playing bluegrass with our good friend and banjoist extraordinaire Matt Amati in an original band known as Large Marge. We were the hosts of an open mic at the Liquid Lyrics Lounge. It was there that we met our good friends from the Caravan Gypsy Swing Ensemble - a band influenced by the awesome music of Django Reinhardt. Caravan's leader Chris Ruppenthal and Mike Kratochwill would jam regularly and it was there that Mike's love of gypsy jazz started to develop.
It wasn't long before Large Marge started to dabble in this wonderful genre. Ben, Matt, and Mike soon added mandolinist Nate Hess to the line up. We started out learning standards but soon we were writing lots of originals. Shortly after we discovered there was a punk rock band who were also called Large Marge so a name change was in order. Thus, The Gadjo Players was born!
In the summer of 2006 Nate deciced to head off to Redwing, Minnesota to attend a school for luthiery. It looked as though the Gadjo's would have to function as a trio but it wasn't long before fortune smiled upon us and Amber Dolphin joined our line up on the violin. We still consider our friend Nate a key member and invite him to play gigs whenever the opportunity presents itself for his schedule.
Recently the Gadjo's added Blaine McQuinn as a second violinist. Blaine has been a great addition to our line up and we look forward to having him around for a long and fruitful musical adventure.
In February 2007 we released our debut CD Between Two Waters! It features 10 original tunes of ours and was recorded in our own Wavelength Studios. The CD features our original lineup of Ben, Matt, Mike, and Nate with Amber playing on four of the tracks. We also invited some of our favorite friends to play on the CD as well including Chris Rupenthal and Ed Fila (both guitarists of Caravan G.S.E) and Matt Amati (aka Beefus) on the banjo.
Currently the Gadjo's are in the studio working on their second CD of 12 original tracks of eclectic acoustic music! Be sure to keep your eye out for its release and come and check us out live sometime.
Hello my new friend, thanks for adding me. It is very good to meet you. May life bless you with an abundance of happiness, love and peace.
Let me introduce myself properly...I am a healer, a mystic, and a writer. My goal is healing the planet. I love connecting with other light workers.
Please subscribe to my blogs, read them, post comments IN THE BLOG itself, and do forward my bulletins on to your friends.
My blogs contain: * Practical True Wisdom - Teaching People how to Heal Themselves. * Stories of Love and Adventure (ie. My Arranged Marriage to my Indian Wife) * Fantastic Photographs of my World Wide Travels
It's all the talk among the primates that human nature shows host Mr. Roberts will soon sight the eluvise Beef-chicken banjo creature along with Gadjo-esque bunny rabbits.
Hello The Gadjo Players Thank you for counting us among your MySpace friends. Happy New Year 2008 and keep in touch! All the best to you and yours, from Pegasus in Bonnie Scotland.
Thanks for adding me to your friends list! Also, thanks for letting my hear the rough tracks of your new material. It sounded great!! I hope to hear the finished tracks soon!
Bonjour et merci pour le p'tit mot et l'échange musical.Nous revenons bronzés et plein de souvenir de notre tournée des Dom Tom (Guadeloupe, Guyane et martinique) les photos sont en lignes n'hésitez pas à y passer, vous allez voir ca réchauffe
I definitely will try. i can't believe i didn't add you a while ago. i go to the myspace frequently but never added you. but yeah i'll see if i can make it. hope to play with you soon.
