Night Town, the follow-up to Hot Club Of Detroit's acclaimed Mack Avenue self-titled debut, showcases the band's maturity, virtuosity, and musical growth. While HCOD remains true to their Gypsy Jazz roots - and continues to tip their collective hat to D'Jango Reinhardt - Night Town delves into a deeper and wider milieu, drawing inspiration from the clubs of New Orleans to the free wheeling architecture of Miles Davis. Featuring collaborative compositions, these five-time Detroit Music Award winners are poised to cast an even wider net in 2008
Though not an instant classic, Night Town, the sophomore album from Hot Club of Detroit, is pleasant from start to finish. The band continues in its homage to guitarist "Django" Reinhardt, but an element of the group's own style that wasn't apparent on the debut set emerges. Particularly, the acoustic guitar work of leader Evan Perri is impressive, as is the soprano and tenor sax work of recent addition Carl Cafagna. Also impressive is the diversity of song selections: Miles Davis' "Seven Steps to Heaven," Jelly Roll Morton's "Sweet Substitute," Reinhardt's "Speevy" and "Melodie au Crepuscule," and original compositions "Two Weeks," "Night Town," and "Swing 05." The set flows nicely, kicking off with the toe-tapper "I Want to Be Happy." From there, HCoD features accordionist Julien Labro on two French tunes: "J'Attendrai" and "Valse a Rosenthal." While Night Town maintains an undeniable Parisian café sound throughout, Cafagna adds a taste of modern jazz with his solo turns on "Coquette" and "Melodie au Crepuscule." The most interesting song on the set is "Two Weeks," wherein Cafagna and Labro engage in a call-and-response between their respective instruments. --Eric C.P. Martin
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Hot Sound!:
Hot Club of Detroit has a great sound that will get better with time. I predict Evan Perri will be a force to be reckoned with in the future. He's got the Django chops. Carl Cafagna's saxophone adds a loose but classy jazz swing to the group. Julien Labro's accordion adds the flourish. Paul Brady and Shannon Wade provide a solid foundation. I particularly like the sassy beat of Django's Monkey. Belleville and Nuages stood out on their self-titled previous CD. Dave Bennett's clarinet on Nuages was superb.... more info
The "lukewarm" club of detroit:
What can I say? I absolutely loved the first CD. The music was classic and the performances were extremely original and virtuostic. "Night town" is neither. The music is boring and even Julien Labro - one of the centerpieces - was disappointing. It is not, however, his fault. The key difference is that the other centerpiece - the clarinet (Dave Bennett) - is conspicuosly missing. If you listen again to the first CD, you'll see how almost all the music is essentially built around the sheer brilliance of... more info
Infectious.:
With its new arrangements, and some inspired choices of material, Hot Club of Detroit gives a new twist to the perennially popular sound of gypsy guitar star Django and his groups.
Led by fast-fingered Reinhardt disciple Evan Perri, the group includes accordionist Julien Labro, a native of Marseilles, soprano and tenor saxophonist Carl Cafagna, rhythm guitarist Paul Brady and bassist Shannon Wade.
This relatively young band finds its inspiration from the famous Quintette Du Hot Club du France... more info
Tracks:
I Want to Be Happy - Hot Club of Detroit, Caesar, Irving
J'Attendrai - Hot Club of Detroit, Oliveri, Dino
Valse a Rosenthal - Hot Club of Detroit, Reinhardt, Django
Seven Steps to Heaven - Hot Club of Detroit, Davis, Miles
Speevy - Hot Club of Detroit, Reinhardt, Django
Coquette - Hot Club of Detroit, Green, Johnny
Sweet Substitute - Hot Club of Detroit, Morton, Jelly Roll
Blues Up and Down - Hot Club of Detroit, Ammons, Gene
Pour Parler - Hot Club of Detroit, Leguidcoq, Patrick
Melodie au Crepuscule - Hot Club of Detroit, Reinhardt, Django
Two Weeks - Hot Club of Detroit, Perri, Evan
Tzigane - Hot Club of Detroit, Ravel, Maurice
Django's Monkey - Hot Club of Detroit, Reinhardt, Django
