Hot Club of Cowtown will be appearing at St Brides Community Centre 10 Orwell Terrace on 15 November as part of their UK tour.
The band’s latest release RENDEZVOUS IN RHYTHM is an exuberant collection of Gypsy songs and American Songbook standards played acoustically and recorded in the hot jazz style of legendary violin and guitar masters Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt. RENDEZVOUS IN RHYTHM is the Hot Club of Cowtown’s first-ever dedicated foray into the Gypsy jazz and French swing of Paris in the 1930’s and features the band’s sparkling spins on standards made famous by Reinhardt and Grappelli including Crazy Rhythm, Minor Swing, Dark Eyes, The Continental, I’m in the Mood for Love, Douce Ambiance, and many more.
The Hot Club of Cowtown comprises Elana James-fiddle and vocals, Whit Smith–guitar and vocals andJake Erwin–upright bass and vocals. Since its beginnings in the late 1990s, Hot Club of Cowtown’s star has continued to rise as its reputation for jaw-dropping virtuosity and earth-shattering live shows has become the band’s global brand. Lauded for its “down-home melodies and exuberant improvisation” (The Times, London), the Hot Club of Cowtown has always weaved a combination of seemingly disparate styles together to its own magical effect, setting up camp “at that crossroads where country meets Jazz and chases the blues away” (The Independent), and “conscious always that above all else, the music is for dancing and an old-fashioned good time” (The New York Times). The Hot Club’s musical alchemy has been described as “Another breathless journey in the Texas tardis” (The Times, London), while American Songwriter shrewdly observed that “The excellent three players of this band could be doing anything but have chosen to honour the greats of jazz and swing with their sound.” The Belfast Telegraph calls them “a pretty much perfect country trio at the very top of their game,” while a live review last year in the New York Times described the trio as armed with “an arsenal full of technique and joy.”
Along with the Hot Club’s dedicated cult following worldwide–they have toured for the US State Department as Musical Ambassadors to Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Republic of Georgia and the Sultanate of Oman–certain titans of the industry have also taken notice. Bob Dylan, with whom the band toured and with whom James has toured and recorded, is a continuing inspiration both personally and professionally. The Hot Club has opened several shows for Willie Nelson, toured with Nelson and Dylan during a summer-long stadium tour and opened seven nights of Roxy Music’s sold out “For Your Pleasure” UK stadium tour in early 2011. In the UK the Hot Club of Cowtown continues to tour extensively and has been featured at the Glastonbury Festival and has also been a returning guest on Later with Jools Holland, the Cambridge Folk Festival, the Radcliffe and Maconie Show, and Bob Harris Country on BBC Radio 2.
For more information and the latest tour news, please visit http://hotclubofcowtown.com/
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
