Results for "Quintet of the Hot Club of France"

Quintet of the Hot Club of France

Active since: 1934

The Quintet of the Hot Club of France, founded in 1934 in Paris, was a pioneering jazz ensemble that blended traditional American jazz with the rhythms and melodies of French music. Led by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli, the group is best known for creating a unique style known as "Gypsy jazz" or "Jazz Manouche." The band gained fame for its virtuosic performances and intricate improvisation, making a significant impact on both European and American jazz scenes. Despite facing adversity during World War II, the Quintet's influence on jazz remained lasting, as they introduced new possibilities for string instruments and helped popularize European jazz globally.

Hot Club of San Francisco

Active since: 1988

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.

John Jorgenson’s Gypsy Jazz Quintet at the Musical Instrument Museum

by Patricia Myers
July 7, 2013

John Jorgenson's Gypsy Jazz QuintetMusical Instrument MuseumPhoenix, AZJune 27, 2013 The swinging sound of gypsy jazz popularized by Django Reinhardt and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France was elegantly interpreted by John Jorgenson in a quintet setting that imbued the 1930s genre with modernistic verve.The program was ...