Jazz: Swing From Paris

Tickets: Adult £16, Concs £14, Child £5

Often described as ‘the finest gypsy jazz in the Cotswolds’, Swing from Paris are a UK quartet of violin, two guitars and double bass. Inspired by the great swing bands of the 1930s and 40s, they present their own versions of music by Gershwin, Piazzolla, Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet, Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli.

Founder member Fenner Curtis is a classically-trained violinist based in Cheltenham. Struck by the music of Django Reinhardt at a young age – when his local youth orchestra desk partner gave him a cassette of Stéphane Grappelli – he has been hooked ever since. Guitarist Andy Bowen takes inspiration from the great jazz guitarists of the 30s and 40s, chiefly Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian. He has a jazz guitar YouTube channel and splits his time between performing with ‘Swing from Paris’ and ‘Moscow Drug Club’.

Sam Hughes is a guitarist/composer based in Herefordshire. Raised on a strict diet of 60s/70s blues and rock, he was turned on to the music of Django Reinhardt after hearing the great gypsy guitarist Angelo Debarre. As well as working on his own original jazz compositions, Sam enjoys reworking the music of Mozart, Chopin and J.S. Bach into the gypsy jazz style. Improvising with spontaneity and humour, he is equally as likely to break into a Led Zeppelin riff as a Bach motif without warning. Tomasz Williams on double bass draws his influence from the great 50s and 60s jazz bassists such as Paul Chambers and Ron Carter, and has performed in many residencies around the South West.

Swing from Paris have been seen on the BBC’s Hairy Bikers, they have appeared at major jazz festivals including Cheltenham, Brecon and the Django Reinhardt Festival at Samois sur Seine, and have even performed at the opening of a service station for the pleasure of King Charles III(!), always charming audiences with their stylish jazz and vintage swing.

Video link: Tu vuò fà l’americano (Swing from Paris)

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