Concert series gets off to a sharp start with Hot Club of Saratoga

By: Abigail Nawrot

Staff writer

Hot Club of Saratoga, a familiar treat, returned to kick off a series of musical concerts in the Bulmer Telecommunications Center Auditorium on Thursday, Sept. 19.

Coordinator of Cultural Affairs, Maria Zemantauski, introduced the acoustic band as they prepared to start off with a fun song written by their main inspiration, Django Reinhardt. 

According to Zemantauski, the upbeat gypsy jazz ensemble was so frequently requested that she’s had to decline requests.

The ensemble went acoustic for the event. For the performance, they each took turns improvising solos in the gypsy jazz style.

“This was my first time listening to gypsy jazz, and it was really nice— especially to watch,” said Caroline Lydon, an individual studies major. “I loved the singing [and] I definitely wish there was more of it.” 

The band consists of clarinet player Jonathan Greene, bassist and vocalist Dylan Perrillo, violinist Tucker Callander, rhythm guitarist Chuck Kish and guest lead guitarist Michael Joseph Harris.

Perrillo’s singing was featured in a few of the groups’ choice songs. Kish and Callander also joined in unison to form a chorus.

As stated by Perillo, it’s nice when there’s no plugging-in of the instruments that needs to happen. 

“Somebody can just come in, sit down [and] start playing,” he said. “Sometimes hooking up cables can be a deterrent to play, and this is a very communal type of music.” 

A concert attendee, who declined to give her name, said she got chills when she heard Perillo sing. 

“I really felt like I was being sung to,” she said. “Jazz is just so romantic and personal; this is what I came here for.” 

Hot Club of Saratoga has been around since 2012, and time has done nothing but good things for this tight-knit band’s bond.

“To be able to play together, and sit back with this group, to just get into a groove, keep it moving, and swinging, that’s a very special thing,” Kish said. “Listening to these soloists, hearing them play these amazing things,” he continued. “Musically, [gypsy jazz] just hooks you. It’s epic, fun music.”

Gypsy jazz can be accredited to Romani-French musician Django Reindhardt, who many consider the father of the genre. 

“We say ‘music saves’ figuratively, but for Django, that was literally the case,” Kish explained. 

Django started playing on the streets and teamed up with Stéphane Grappelli, a violinist. They formed a group and took on the name of their sponsor, “Hot Club”.

“What really made the original Hot Club special was that it was a string band,” Kish said.

Gypsy jazz is played by an entourage of string instruments. However, Hot Club of Saratoga, evidenced by the presence of Greene’s woodwind instrument, have more instrument diversity. 

“Jonathan here stumbled upon us, [Greene] joined us and we just really liked how it turned out,” said Kish. “It felt special [and] some purists might argue with us, but we love the sound.” 

Beyond having a clarinet player, Hot Club of Saratoga has also explored some other musical methods with their “Musician-in-Residence” program. 

Following the absence of a lead guitarist, they came up with the idea about a year ago of inviting connections from the gypsy jazz community to temporarily gig with them.

“That’s the beauty of these things,” Kish said. “When we play, almost everyone out there is smiling, having a good time. It’s about sharing.” 

The Cultural Affairs office has another jazz performance scheduled, this time by Shiri Zorn and George Muscatello. The one-hour event will take place Thursday, Oct. 3, at noon in the Bulmer Telecommunications Center Auditorium.