(Gypsy Jazz, Swing) Hot Club Edmonton - Hot Club Edmonton - 2010, MP3, 224 kbps

Clinton Pelletier and Daniel Gervais were first drawn to Gypsy Jazz in 2003. Clinton was recording his debut album at the time and wanted to cover this style. At that point, Clinton and Daniel decided to fully immerse themselves in Gypsy Jazz. A trip to Europe in the spring of 2006 allowed them to further experience this music from the very source. Inspired at the site of Stéphane Grappelli’s columbarium in Paris, Daniel composed Hommage à Grappelli. In the summer of 2009, Clinton and Daniel returned to France for a tour with the French-Canadian dance troupe Zéphyr. On this trip, they were fortunate to meet a wonderful French Gypsy Jazz violinist, Matthias Guerry. This musical encounter led to an impromptu concert and a very authentic experience, which was an excellent background for the completion of the Hot Club Edmonton debut album.
Although Clinton and Daniel are not Gypsies themselves, there are certain parallels between their world and that of Django’s and Stéphane’s. Firstly, they both have French heritage. Secondly, like the Gypsy peoples, their lives as professional musicians include a lot of travelling. Finally, having grown up listening to Country and Western Swing, they were exposed to and developed an appreciation for improvisation at an early age. Just as Gypsy Jazz was shaped within the context of Paris in the 1930s, the Hot Club Edmonton sound could be described as a product of Gypsy Jazz combined with Western Canadian musical influences.
This musical encounter led to an impromptu concert/jam for the mayor and other guests of the town of Marennes. This authentic experience in France was an excellent background for the completion of the album in November 2009. Although Clinton and Daniel had performed many Gypsy Jazz concerts before, the very first Hot Club Edmonton performance was at the Fête fransaskoise in July of 2009, received with rave reviews from the audience.

Clinton Pelletier , guitar
Daniel Gervais , violin