Right off the bat on February 1, the Jazz Club at the Arts Alliance brings you a fabulous international mélange of styles and influences that spans the globe yet makes its home in San Francisco. Barrio Manouche—from the Spanish word for, essentially, “neighborhood,” and a name by which certain clans of the Romany Gypsy people identify themselves, is a collection of extremely accomplished instrumentalists who hail from around the world. The music is modern but ancient, drawing heavily as it does from the Romany Gypsy tradition, with its guitars and violins, exotic melodies and emphasis on improvisation.
When one hears the phrase “Gypsy Jazz,” one thinks first of the great gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt and his famous collaborator, violinist Stephane Grapelli. And these two were, of course, heavily influenced by the music then coming from America, most notably the immortal Louis Armstrong. Their mixture of Django’s Gypsy roots and Stephane’s European classical training blended with the “Hot Jazz” sounds from the U.S.A. became what is now known as “Gypsy jazz.”
But Barrio Manouche does not stop there. Jazz evolved constantly through the following decades, ranging through be-bop to the cool approach of Miles Davis, the intense spiritual searching of John Coltrane, the avant-garde explorations of Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp and others. Guitarists like Al DiMeola and Paco de Lucia took the guitar itself to new heights as well, emphasizing the flamenco tradition and styles on their journey to new ground. Barrio Manouche weaves all these threads together into a fresh tapestry that is really quite stunning. Is it jazz? Is it Gypsy jazz? Is it World Music? The answer, of course, is “YES!”
On Saturday, Feb. 10, it’s the Blues Session featuring resident house-band, The Blue Lights, playing an evolving mix of blues, funk, jazz, and Latin and jazz styles.
February 15, Americana Night brings Nor Cal’s own The T Sisters. Based in Oakland, these three sisters cover a lot of bases with their music. Their website calls their genre “Sister folk” and makes a great pun about “sibling harmony”—but the label “folk” doesn’t do them justice. Yes, they are folky, and boy, are they ever “harmonious.” And the songwriting is sometimes straight outta Appalachia, back porches on a Sunday evening and voices raised together, dreaming of a ticket to Nashville. But the writing doesn’t stay put in Appalachia or in Nashville; at times, it veers into doo-wop and R&B, and other times it careens straight into Alternative Rock and all-points-in-between. Tight musicianship backing them up makes for ground upon which the T Sisters cavort and frolic. Their vocal blend is heartbreakingly beautiful, and when they decide to display their vocal gymnastic ability, the effect is exciting and uplifting but always supports the song itself.
Arts Alliance shows start at 7:30 p.m., tickets at the door, at the Arts Alliance, or online at cloverdaleartsalliance.org.
Cloverdale Ale Company is still the best place in town to get a local craft micro-brew on tap and some great live music. On February. 3, it’s solo blues artist Mark McDonald, bringing his take on the blues genre with his original songs, slide guitar and harmonica, and gritty, tuneful vocals.
On February 10, it’s Blue Jazz Combo, featuring local legend Bruce Halbohm, as well known for his unique hand-crafted guitarjos and guitars, as for his vocal stylings that seem just as rooted in honky-tonk country as they are in the jazz standards song book. With a smoking hot band backing him, including another local legend, Greg Hester on piano, this promises to be a swingin’, boot-scootin’ good time. And lastly, on February 17, it’s … well, three lawyers and a judge walk into a bar … sounds like Court N’ Disaster! They’re a band made up literally of trial lawyers and a judge, playing good ol’ country and blues honky-tonk music with tons of good humor and loads of vocal harmonies, not to mention some hot guitar pickin’! All shows from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Support live music in Cloverdale. Remember, they call it “playing” music but it ain’t nothing but hard work, years of it, and having an appreciative, supportive audience is what makes it all worth it.
Paul Schneider lives and writes plays music in Cloverdale and other Sonoma County venues. He can be reached at
ps************@gm***.com
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