New Members
Hot Club of Cowtown
8-19-2016Since their meteoric liftoff in the late 1990s, Hot Club of Cowtown’s star has continued to rise as its reputation for jaw-dropping virtuosity and unforgettable live shows has become their global brand. Lauded for its “down-home melodies and exuberant improvisation” (The Times, London), Hot Club has always woven 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” (New York Times). The band’s musical alchemy has been described as “another breathless journey in the Texas tardis” (The Times, London), while American Songwriter observed that “The excellent three players of this band could be doing anything but have chosen to honor 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 the New York Times, reviewing a live performance in New York City in 2011, describes the trio as armed with “an arsenal full of technique and joy.”
The Austin-based HC of C explores the space where "Texas swing meets early jazz." Fiddler Elana James, guitarist Whit Smith and bassist Jake Erwin have perfected a unique and infectious hybrid that playfully blurs musical boundaries, conjuring the spirit of both Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys and jazz legend Django Reinhardt. If you've seen them before, be advised that they're only getting better - they went on hiatus, got back together, and came out of it stronger. By now they're one of the great improvising bands in any genre. Their latest album, "Rendezvous in Rhythm," is their first ever dedicated exclusively to the Gypsy jazz and French swing of Paris in the 1930s, featuring the band’s sparkling spins on standards in the style of legendary hot jazz titans Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli.
Along with the Hot Club’s dedicated cult following worldwide, they have toured with Bob Dylan, (Elana has also recorded with him), opened several shows for Willie Nelson, toured with Nelson and Dylan during a summer-long stadium tour, and recently opened seven nights of Roxy Music’s sold-out “For Your Pleasure” U.K. stadium tour. In the U.K. the Hot Club has been featured at the Glastonbury Festival and has been a returning guest on "Later With Jools Holland," the Cambridge Folk Festival, and BBC Radio 2’s Radcliffe and Maconie and Bob Harris Country shows.
In February they were winners of the 2015 Ameripolitan Music Awards: Hot Club for "Western Swing Group," and Elana James for "Western Swing Female."
VIDEO
* Hot Club of Cowtown (at Bull Run Re...
Date and Time
Friday Aug 19, 2016
