Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor
For the last 43 years, the Smith Fine Arts Series has been providing Western students with live performances, outreach programs and master classes. The series makes world music, dance and art accessible for local communities and brings more artistic diversity to campus.
In another installment in the series, a group from Southern California will be visiting campus. Coming to Rice auditorium on April 6 is the music group The Hot Club of San Francisco, presenting “Cinema Vivant”, a performance of live self-proclaimed “Gypsy” swing music accompanied by vintage silent films. The movies features are the films of European filmmaker Ladislaw Starewicz, who pioneered stop-action animation.
According to the musical group’s website, hotclubsf.com, their music is strongly influenced by guitarist Django Reinhardt. Reinhardt is a French-Romani musicians who was active from the 1920s through the 1950s and incorporated aspects of American Jazz and his own Romani culture into his compositions. The musicians are also inspired by Stephane Grappelli, a French jazz violinist that founded Quintette du Hot Club de France along with Reinhardt in 1934.
The Hot Club of San Francisco consists of five players: Paul “Pazzo” Mehling (guitar), Isabelle Fontaine (vocals, guitar), Evan Price (violin), Jordan Samuels (guitar) and Sam Rocha (bass). All members are accomplished musicians who tour both nationally and internationally.
Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu
Photos courtesy of Lenny Gonzalez
