Imperial Hot Club - Crowd Pleasing Gypsy Jazz

The Imperial Hot Club performed Tuesday, August 4th, at One Longfellow Square, in Portland Maine. Being fans of the gypsy jazz style of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, we attended with much anticipation. Off to a slightly wobbly start, the band soon gathered steam and were underway with a very fine rendition of Fats Waller’s, “Honeysuckle Rose”.

Zach Ovington was sleek and cool on violin and possessed a flexible, fine voice. He incorporated a bit of wry contortionism by sometimes sawing the bow under a lifted leg. Later, he loosened the bow parts altogether, slid the entire violin between the two parts and sawed on all four strings at once.

Mike Arciero, on guitar, possessed a handsomely craggy face reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln. He emanated athleticism, elasticity and feeling in his playing. His rhythms, relaxed virtuosity and steady calm established him as the heartbeat of the ensemble.

Kris Day, wearing shorts and sneakers, seemed to be euphorically and symbiotically engrafted to his standup bass. He contributed gorilla-chest pounding, rafter-rattling thwackings and pluckings, like a musical chiropractor doing adjustments up and down the spine of his bass, or a Maine bear cub slithering up and down a musical pine tree. Unfortunately, he was placed at the back of the combo and it was hard to see him.

Marc Chillemi, on trumpet, played with intensity and energy, peppering the evening with scats, cats, rat-tat-tats, hoots, moans, blasts and whispers, using the mutes arrayed before him like saucepans to a chef. The addition of trumpet among the strings gave balance and pizzazz to the music. His versatility smoked of proficiency in Salsa, Afro-Cuban and other jazz styles.

We heard great interpretations of “Don’t mean a thing if it aint got that swing”, “Crazy Rhythm”, “Lulu’s Swing”, “Lady Be Good”, “Sweet Georgia Brown” “Swing 48”, other Duke Ellington or Django Reinhardt compositions, as well as familiar standards.

Featured guest artists, Ed Pearlman, on violin, and Jack Brown, on rhythm guitar, added warmth, depth and strength to the second set. Anecdotes, song titles and introductions were a bit hard to hear. I wish we had heard more stories such as Zach’s comments about his hero, 1920s violinist, Joe Venuti, from whom he’d gotten the playing-all-four-strings-at-once trick.

For the trifle of a five dollar ticket we witnessed great talent and had fun worth a whole lot more.

For more information about the great music at One Longfellow Square, visit, http://onelongfellowsquare.com.