Formed on the streets of New Orleans, The Roamin' Jasmine bring a fresh sound to traditional jazz with tight 3-part horn harmonies and bluesy vocals. Atlanta's The Bonaventure Quartet opens the show with an instrumental performance of Django-esque gypsy jazz.
$9 Adv – $12 Door
Doors @ 6 PM
Forged out of the lively street music scene in the French Quarter of New Orleans, the members of The Roamin’ Jasmine found one another busking under the swampy Louisiana sun, along the banks of the Mississippi, or after hours in storefronts on Royal, Frenchmen and Decatur Streets. Inspired by the city’s history of ethnic and musical diversity, and fresh out of music school at University of Miami’s, bassist, vocalist, and bandleader Taylor Smith began to collect some of his favorite old blues, jazz, and country tunes, while also composing some of his own songs. Arranging this collection for a six piece jazz ensemble and giving them a healthy dose of New Orleans flavor, he decided to share his work with some like-minded colleagues, and bring it to the streets of New Orleans. The Roamin’ Jasmine repertoire explores 1920s era speakeasy blues, vintage Calypso from Trinidad, seminal 1950s New Orleans Rhythm & Blues, and original compositions, all set to traditional jazz instrumentation with original arrangements. Through polyphonic collective improvisation inherent in their new homeland of New Orleans, the Roamin’ Jasmine hold true to a great New Orleans jazz tradition while participating in its evolution with undertones of different eras and places.
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