It's a Sunday evening of gypsy swing with Atlanta's The Bonaventure Quartet and Savannah's Velvet Caravan! BVQ will perform an opening set at 7pm, followed by Velvet Caravan at 8pm before a grand finale where both bands take the stage for an end-of-show jam.
$12 Adv – $15 Door
Doors @ 6 PM
Velvet Caravan is one of the most unusual ensembles in the music business. Combining Gypsy, Honky-Tonk, Swing and Latin, this band plays upbeat tunes from all over the world with thunderous virtuosity and relentless sense of humor. Bringing together the eclectic sounds are a motley crew of super talented musicians that draw their roots from Venezuela, Serbia, Austin TX, Iowa, Boston MA, and Southern Georgia.
"Based in Savannah, GA., Velvet Caravan brings together musicians from as close as Austin and as far away as Venezuela and Slovenia. The quintet's varied lineage contributes to its eclectic sound, as the group weaves thick threads of Latin and gypsy music into acoustic swing jazz. Last year's Acoustic In Nature documents the group's compositional whimsy and ferocious technique." — Michael Toland, Austin Chronicle
"When five of Savannah’s most skilled musicians deem their genre “European redneck music,” you know you’re in for an unforgettable treat. Even if the only Django you know is a Tarantino character, you’ll be charmed by the lighthearted, hard-playing dedication of Ochoa, Hall, Monkman, Dunn and Sasha Strunjas." — Anna Chandler, DO Savannah - Savannah Morning News
The Bonaventure Quartet is a unique group which hails from Atlanta and is one of the premier Gypsy Jazz / Original Swing Music groups in America. Originally your basic four-piece quartet, we kept growing until now we have arrived at what we refer to as the Double Quartet.
The Bonaventure Quartet was originally just Dave and Charles who were nuts about Django. But we needed some low end, so we dragged Mark Bynum over on Sunday afternoons and became an all-acoustic trio based in Atlanta whose initial inspiration came from the great French gypsy guitarist, Django Reinhardt. At least, that's how it started. Since Amy Pike was a close friend and just happened to be the best singer we'd ever met, we begged her to start singing with us, and once she did, we didn't want her to stop. So then we were a quartet. (Mark got busy on the road and Kris Dale stepped and stayed for years! Now Kris is on the road and Mark is back in the fold.)
But we were still greedy for another melody instrument, so we went looking and found Don Erdman on clarinet and we became a quintet. Inevitably, however, we had to meet a swing violinist. So naturally, when Marla Feeney stepped into the room, we grabbed her, too, and now we have the Secondxtet! But then we recorded the Secret Seduction of the Grand Pompadour. Charles and Mark had worked with the amazing Joel Morris previously in a wacky funk group called the Sargasso Cs, and when some songs called for drums, we said "Yo-Joel!!" And he fit in like a glove. So now we had a Septet.
While recording the above CD, our wonderful friend and engineer, Ken Gregory played some trumpet and trombone, and he was so tasteful, we said, "bring it on, Ken!" Dave got busy with some other stuff and had to step out, but luckily Dan Coy, a great Atlanta jazz guitarist, turned out to be a Djangophile, too, and stepped right into the fold. Which brings us to the Fabulous Bonaventure Double Quartet. But that didn't last long. Gabe Granitz showed up at a gig we did playing the accordion and we said, "wow, it's so shiny!! And it sounds so French!" So now it's a Nonet.
The repertoire of the group is diverse. Our performances of classic standards, western swing, gypsy jazz and original compositions all fall under the spell of the Reinhardt influence. Moviegoers might be familiar with this style featured in the Woody Allen film "Sweet and Lowdown," or "Chocolat".
"The Bonaventure Quartet have only gotten more skillful and convincing in their take on a multitude of jazz variations – be it big ‘n’ brassy, smoky ‘n’ sultry, hot or cool, harsh or easy, the longtime Atlanta outfit handily transplants you to another time and place while putting their own stamp on it all. The ensemble’s latest album, Lost and Found at the Clermont Lounge, may take its title from the Ponce dive-turned-tourist-attraction, but the disc’s 15 songs traverse decades, regions, whole continents. Their mastery of their instruments, not to mention their affection for these sounds and styles, is genuine, never cheesy or cloying, which is no easy task, especially on the more theatrical pieces. It’s always a pleasure to hear Amy Pike sing, of course – the manner in which she embodies these songs, well, frankly I cannot recall her ever sounding better. And in the tradition of The Opal Foxx Quartet, there are no less than ten players on this thing. It’s a full-realized triumph…" — Jeff Clark, Stomp and Stammer