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Hot Club of San Francisco

Paul "Pazzo" Mehling

Leader, Guitar, Violin, Bass, Vocals

Paul Mehling, the leader of HCSF, has been dubbed the godfather of American Gypsy jazz. He discovered the music of Django Reinhardt and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France in grammar school, and decades later the music that took root in his young soul finally bore fruit.

“I was born in Denver and grew up in what is now Silicon Valley when it was all fruit trees,” Mehling recalls. “My father was a record collector. I grew up with the music of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller and all the swing era bands.

He’d come home and turn on the stereo and, at a year old, I’d sit in front of the speakers and soak up the music. To this day, I get a sense of déjà vu whenever I hear a song I heard back then. When I was older, I became a discipline problem because I wanted to stay up all night and listen to records. Being exposed to swing at an early age predisposed me to playing this kind of music.”

“I had an older sister who turned me onto rock’n’roll. When I was six, we saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan and it was like getting hit by lightning. I said, ‘I wanna do that - make the girls scream and give people the buzz I get from hearing the music.’ The Beatles made music guitar centric, and I picked up the guitar. I tried playing in rock bands, but it didn’t work for me. The music wasn’t satisfying. I liked the acoustic guitar better and learned classical music, but that wasn’t what I wanted either. Then I heard Django: three guitars, bass, and violin and they sounded and acted like a rock band. I saw pictures of them, and they looked sharp, sophisticated, and mysterious.

“When I was a teenager, I saw Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks and he was playing a contemporary blend of The Beatles and Django. I went to see them a lot and listened to their combination of rhythm guitar with jazz violin and tried to figure out how it worked.” Around the same time, Mehling discovered folk and bluegrass. He taught himself violin and mandolin after hearing David Grisman’s Dawg Music, a blend of swing and bluegrass that became known as ‘newgrass.’

After graduating from high school in Santa Cruz, Mehling landed his first gig as a professional musician playing rhythm guitar and banjo with Jake Stock and the Abalone Stompers, a New Orleans style traditional Dixieland jazz band. He played the happy hour at The Catalyst (the premier Santa Cruz live music venue) with the Stompers every Friday evening for the next 15 years. He freelanced with The Santa Cruz Symphony on viola and played in jazz and swing combos, including The Magnolia Jazz Band and The Hot Club of Friends, his first Gypsy jazz group.

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303
Album Review

Hot Club of San Francisco: Hot Club Cool Yule

Read "Hot Club Cool Yule" reviewed by Dr. Judith Schlesinger


The liner notes imply that this is the Christmas album Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli might have made, had they made one. Certainly the The Hot Club of San Francisco is a virtuosic group that specializes in conjuring that era (see their masterful Bohemian Maestro for a recent example). But there's a wealth of delicious humor here that goes beyond anything that legendary pair ever produced.

For instance, check out the inspired derangement of “Djingle Bells," and “Don Rudolfo" (as ...

564
Album Review

The Hot Club of San Francisco: Bohemian Maestro: Django Reinhardt and the Impressionists

Read "Bohemian Maestro: Django Reinhardt and the Impressionists" reviewed by Dr. Judith Schlesinger


This could be the most ingenious tribute I've ever heard: it's not just the music of a much-loved legend, but the sounds that surrounded and inspired him as well. In this case the legend is Django Reinhardt, and the tribute-makers are the reliably terrific Hot Club of San Francisco [HCSF] and their classy classical guests: pianist/conductor Jeffrey Kahane, on three tracks, and the all-female, all-woodwind Aeros Quintet, on two.

Bohemian Maestro offers a generous buffet of ...

292
Album Review

The Hot Club of San Francisco: Postcards from Gypsyland

Read "Postcards from Gypsyland" reviewed by Jim Santella


With their ninth CD release, the Hot Club of San Francisco brings a contemporary, acoustic, all-string jazz band to the music of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. Theirs is a pleasant outing, performed with brilliant musicianship and built around a theme of romantic passion.

Reinhardt's memorable “Nuages" is given lyrics and dressed up in sensual attire. Like most of the program, this familiar anthem pours gently from the heart without having to bring overt emotions into the formula. ...

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8
Radio

Hot Club Of San Francisco On Riverwalk Jazz This Week

Hot Club Of San Francisco On Riverwalk Jazz This Week

Source: Don Mopsick

This week on Riverwalk Jazz, acouistic guitarist Paul Mehling and the Hot Club of San Francisco join The Jim Cullum Jazz Band to celebrate the great Gypsy Jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. The program is distributed in the US by Public Radio International, on Sirius/XM satellite radio and can be streamed on-demand from the Riverwalk Jazz website. Think of 20th century guitar greats—Charlie Christian, B. B. King, Bucky Pizzarelli and Les Paul—they all have one thing in common. Each one of ...

204
Recording

"Hot Club Cool Yule": New Hot Club San Francisco CD Due 10/27 from Azica Records

"Hot Club Cool Yule": New Hot Club San Francisco CD Due 10/27 from Azica Records

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli never recorded an album of holiday music, but the Hot Club of San Francisco--who’ve long been inspired by those gypsy-jazz pioneers--always wished they had. “What Would Django Do?,” the Hot Club’s guiding principle, led happily in this case to the creation of Hot Club Cool Yule. It’s the 12th album in the San Francisco quintet’s 20-year career and their second for Azica Records, who’ll release the CD on October 27. “We’d been considering a holiday ...

86
Recording

New CD by the Hot Club of San Francisco

New CD by the Hot Club of San Francisco

Source: All About Jazz

The Hot Club of San Francisco, in its 20-year history, has released ten adventurous, critically acclaimed CDs in the passionate gypsy-jazz style that traces its origins to guitarist Django Reinhardt and his Quintette du Hot Club de France. On their new CD, “Bohemian Maestro: Django Reinhardt and the Impressionists, “ the Bay Area quintet explores classical treatments of several compositions by Django as well as early 20th century French classical music that may have inspired the gypsy guitarist during his ...

161
Recording

New CD by the Hot Club of San Francisco Due from Azica Records

New CD by the Hot Club of San Francisco Due from Azica Records

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

The Hot Club of San Francisco, in its 20-year history, has released ten adventurous, critically acclaimed CDs in the passionate gypsy-jazz style that traces its origins to guitarist Django Reinhardt and his Quintette du Hot Club de France. On their new CD, Bohemian Maestro: Django Reinhardt and the Impressionists, the Bay Area quintet explores classical treatments of several compositions by Django as well as early 20th century French classical music that may have inspired the gypsy guitarist during his time ...

“…a relaxed, swinging delight” – Downbeat

“This music is about a balance of excitement and beauty, and Hot Club of San Francisco has found the perfect balance.” – Jazzweek.com

“…one of the most cohesive and entertaining Gypsy swing bands in the United States” – San Francisco Chronicle

“…a dazzling display…” – Charleston Daily Mail

“Hot Club sizzles at Jazz in June” – Daily Nebraskan

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Swingbooty
band / ensemble / orchestra

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Original Gadjo

Hot Club Records
2024

buy

John Paul George &...

Hot Club Records
2016

buy

Bohemian Maestro:...

Azica Records
2009

buy

Hot Club Cool Yule

Azica Records
2009

buy

Postcards from...

Lost Wax Music
2005

buy

Videos

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