Pittsfield — If you missed the sold-out show by the Django Festival All-Stars at Barrington Stage last fall, then you will be pleased to learn that the Hot Club of New England will be giving you another opportunity on Saturday, February 24 to enjoy performances in the French Jazz Manouche style, also known as gypsy jazz, the signature (and irresistibly infectious) sound of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. But there’s a twist: The show on the 24th, “10 by Duke,” will consist entirely of Duke Ellington charts, because it is presented by Berkshires Jazz on the occasion of Pittsfield’s 10×10 Upstreet Winter Arts Festival in the year of Ellington’s 125th birth anniversary.
The Hot Club of New England is a collective of New England’s best swing, gypsy, and hot jazz musicians, formed when vocalist Atla DeChamplain and pianist Matt DeChamplain got together with violinist Jason Anick, guitarist Max O’Rourke, and bassist Greg Loughman of the Rhythm Future Quartet. Matt and Atla are both Ellington specialists. Together, all these musicians amount to a gypsy jazz supergroup. Hot Club likes to bring the “elegant and classic style of the swing era and the roaring ’20s” to modern listeners. Accordingly, their music might remind you of American Songbook legends like Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington but with a strong whiff of Quintette du Hot Club de France.
Guitarist Django Reinhardt, a member of the Roma ethnic group, along with violinist Stéphane Grappelli, popularized the gypsy jazz style in 1930s France, with Reinhardt’s playing style now recognised as the archetype of “gypsy jazz” guitar. The style was popular, mainly in Europe, before and immediately after World War II, but as the “swing era” ended, it faded in popularity.
With a career spanning more than five decades, Duke Ellington was a pioneering pianist, composer, and bandleader who played a key role in the evolution of American jazz. He is famous for pieces like “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “Sophisticated Lady,” and “Satin Doll,” which represent a tiny fraction of an absolutely staggering musical output. His jazz orchestra was active from 1923 until his death in 1974.
Hear Matt and Atla DeChamplain with the Hot Club of New England performing 10 of Duke Ellington’s greatest hits in the theater of the Berkshire Museum, 39 South Street, Pittsfield, on Saturday, February 24, 7:30 p.m. Tickets, $25, are available here or in person during museum operating hours, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sundays, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. The museum’s theater opens at 7 p.m.
After this show, the next Berkshires Jazz event is the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival, April 19 through 28, with the Marcus Roberts Trio and more, including the annual “jazz crawl” and prodigy concert.
