Pop and Groove Based Elements to the Django Reinhardt Resurgence on New Mack Avenue Records Release, Junction
Hot Club of Detroit
Junction
Release Date:
August 14, 2012
DL Media · (610) 667-0501
Maureen McFadden
"You might be tempted to think you're floating on the banks of the Seine in
pre-war Paris, but this group is far from merely nostalgic, as their new release, Junction, clearly shows." - Wall Street Journal
"The Hot Club of Detroit, though not without its debts to the great guitarist, is
the rare edition that takes its inspiration from Reinhardt's spirit rather than
being a slavish knockoff." - Philadelphia City Paper
Following up It's About That Time, Night Town and the eponymous 2006 debut Hot Club of Detroit - Hot Club of Detroit expands its sonic and compositional horizons with Junction.
Retaining its original lineup of reeds, two guitars, accordion, upright
bass and no drums, this is the band's fourth release for Mack Avenue Records.
There are personnel changes, however, and for the first time, the Hot
Club of Detroit is joined (on three tracks) by a vocalist: French
musician Cyrille Aimée, a native of Django Reinhardt's hometown and third-place winner of the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Vocal Competition.
Junction's
sound is at once vintage and boldly new, rooted in the legacy of Django
Reinhardt but also the sensibilities of Ornette Coleman, Pat Metheny,
John Zorn and even the rock band Phish. Far from a traditional gypsy
jazz ensemble, Hot Club of Detroit (HCOD) proves itself a versatile
modern jazz group, with a unique acoustic-electric sound that surges
past expectations and genre boundaries.
"A
lot of bands that model themselves after the Hot Club of France are now
working with drummers, or percussion of some sort," says HCOD rhythm
guitarist Paul Brady. "We never have. And by doing that
it forces us to think creatively about what we can do without it. How
can we approach odd meter, how can we approach certain grooves?
Regardless of what a drummer can add, that absence to me is interesting
and different."
Unfortunately, Junction
comes at a difficult time. HCOD bassist Andrew Kratzat and his fiancée
were both seriously injured in an auto accident in July 2011, and are
currently on a long road to recovery. "This album is a dedication to
both of them," declares Brady. "It's been tough for us, musically but
also emotionally," adds HCOD accordionist Julien Labro. "Andrew is like a brother, a family member. But we're still hopeful, and one day I'm sure he'll be back to playing."
Honoring Kratzat's example, bassist Shawn Conley brings stellar musicianship to Junction. Another new face is saxophonist Jon Irabagon,
winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition
and member of the acclaimed punk-jazz quartet Mostly Other People Do the
Killing. Andrew Bishop, also on reeds, makes
appearances on three tracks, increasing the band's power and timbral
variation. (Family obligations required Carl Cafagna, the group's
original saxophonist, to step aside.)
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Photo Credit: Anna Webber
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Irabagon is assertive from the start, contributing his own "Goodbye Mr. Anderson" as the album opener. (The title comes from The Matrix, the chords to an extent from Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" and John Coltrane.) The writing partnership of Labro and lead guitarist Evan Perri
is also central to the album's sound. From their rich creative exchange
comes the flowing soprano sax/accordina melody of "Song For Gabriel"
(named for pop legend Peter Gabriel); the Pat Metheny-esque 6/8 time of
"Junction"; and the French-style waltz "Midnight in Detroit" (a parallel
to Stephane Wrembel's "Midnight in Paris," used in the Woody Allen
film). "The openings of 'Song For Gabriel,' and 'Junction' are very
idiomatic to the guitar, which makes them feel like pop tunes to me,"
adds Perri.
Perri
and Labro also co-arranged "Rift," by Phish's Trey Anastasio, to close
the album, adding a foundation of brisk la pompe rhythm guitar, even a
hint of Western swing, to a 1993 rock song of fairly epic (and very
electric) proportions, though without abandoning the tune's structure.
"I considered it sacrilegious, and refused to shorten the original form
of 'Rift' during rehearsals!" Perri laughs.
Labro's
pieces make clear his rigorous attention to craft and his wide-ranging
influences. "The thing with 'Hey!'" he explains, "is that it was not
supposed to be two tenors at first. When we knew Andrew was able to
participate, I started thinking I could hear a dialogue and absolutely
wanted to include his voice." John Zorn is the inspiration behind
"Chutzpah," with a blasting free-form intro that gives way to precise
ensemble passages and a riot of changing tempos and feels. The darker
and calmer "Goodbye Mr. Shearing" honors the late piano master George
Shearing, who in fact started out on accordion. "There are just a few
recordings where he plays accordion and his language was great, so ahead
of its time for the instrument."
Another
Labro composition, "Django Mort," was inspired by a Jean Cocteau poem
that was read at Reinhardt's funeral. Aimée sings the French text as the
band plays in a laid-back shuffle feel with a romantic flair. "I tried
to imagine when those words were first recited, perhaps with an organ
playing in the background," Labro says. "So the accordion starts by
itself, and the counterpoint is very Baroque. I also thought about
Django being a jazz musician, and why not have a procession like they do
in New Orleans. So I opened that up into a bluesy vibe, thinking about
guitarists like Howlin' Wolf."
Just
before "Django Mort" is Labro's arrangement of an unfinished Django
Reinhardt mass, "Messe Gitane." While researching Django's death, Labro
came upon the only recording of this remarkable work-in-progress, a
roughly 10-minute fragment for solo organ. "Django never orchestrated
any of it," Labro reports, "but you can tell that something bigger was
supposed to arrive." Irabagon and Bishop both play clarinet on the
piece, enhancing its chamber-like beauty.
Aimée
also offers "a nice bit of vocal athleticism," in Brady's words, on the
Angel Cabral tune "La Foule" ("the crowd"), a Parisian standard
associated with Edith Piaf. "The lyrics are about two people who meet in
a crowd and they dance," Brady offers, "and the party gets more and
more crowded and they lose each other." Labro resets the popular waltz
in a tricky but natural-sounding mixed meter. "The song is actually
Peruvian in origin," he says, "so I wanted to bring that Latin back in.
It was already in Cyrille's repertoire, but to sing it that fast with
the different meters was a challenge, and she hung in there. She's
really willing to take risks."
No
less challenging was Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman," also arranged by
Labro, featuring Irabagon on alto saxophone and Aimée singing a lyric
written by Margo Guryan. Labro explains: "In the original, the time and
the harmony are there but they're so loose. We needed to find a way to
capture what the words are about, without destroying what Ornette
intended."
Labro
and Brady share composer credit on "Puck Bunny," which is slang for a
female hockey fan. "A critic once called us 'puckish'," Brady explains,
"so I was originally going to call this 'Puck,' as in the Shakespeare
character." Brady also cites the free-spirited influences of Mostly
Other People Do the Killing as well as Jason Moran's Bandwagon.
Labro scored the piece for bass clarinet (Bishop) and sopranino
saxophone (Irabagon), creating the widest possible sonic range. "What's
great about having Jon and Andrew together," Labro says, "is that they
can play so many woodwinds, so it gives you a lot to work with. You can
mix and match and get totally different sounds."
Different sounds coming together, band members collaborating from different cities: all of this makes Junction
the perfect album title. "It's a nice mix of pop-oriented material and
also rather avant-garde stuff," Brady concludes. "I remember an
interview with Marc Ribot, my favorite guitarist in the world, talking
about how avant-garde and pop have a lot of crossover, and even some of
the musicians are the same people, like Marc himself. It made total
sense to me, and it came into my mind while preparing this record."
Perri concurs: "We've always believed that if Django Reinhardt were
alive today, he wouldn't play the same way he always did. In his short
lifespan you can see how much evolution and vision he had. To pay
tribute to him is to continue pursuing our own ideas."
Junction Track Listing:
Jon Irabagon / saxophones
Julien Labro / accordion/accordina
Evan Perri / acoustic/electric guitar
Paul Brady / rhythm guitar
Shawn Conley / bass
Cyrille Aimée / vocals (trks. 3, 7 & 10)
Andrew Bishop / tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet (trks. 4, 6 & 12)
1. Goodbye Mr. Anderson (Jon Irabagon) - 6:03
2. Song For Gabriel (Evan Perri, Julien Labro) - 4:23
3. La Foule (Angel Cabral, words by Michel Rivgauche) - 4:11
4. Hey! (Julien Labro) - 5:59
5. Chutzpah (Julien Labro) - 5:39
6. Messe Gitane (excerpts from Django Reinhardt's unfinished Mass) - 4:00
7. Django Mort (Julien Labro, words by Jean Cocteau) - 5:33
8. Junction (Julien Labro, Evan Perri) - 4:05
9. Midnight in Detroit (Julien Labro, Evan Perri) - 2:12
10. Lonely Woman (Ornette Coleman, words by Margo Guryan) - 5:44
11. Goodbye Mr. Shearing (Julien Labro) - 4:03
12. Puck Bunny (Paul Brady, Julien Labro) - 4:03
13. Rift (Trey Anastasio) - 5:57
Upcoming Performances:
August 17 / The Green Mill / Chicago, IL
August 18 / The Jazz Kitchen / Indianapolis, IN
September 16 / Pender Harbour Jazz Fest / Pender Harbour, BC
September 19 / DjangoFest / Whibley Island, WA
November 10 / Izzy Asper Jazz - Winnipeg Art Gallery (w/ Cyrille Aimée) / Winnipeg, MB
January 26 / Centenary Stage Company / Hackettstown, NJ
For more information on Hot Club of Detroit, please visit hotclubofdetroit.com
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Mack Avenue Record labels in general (including album covers, promotional photos and
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