The Ashokan Center will present an evening of fine live gypsy jazz by two of the idiom’s leading modern practitioners, violinist Tim Kliphius and guitarist Jimmy Grant, on June 12.
Pioneered in pre-World War II-era France by Romani guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli and their group the Quintette du Hot Club de France (the Quintet of the Hot Club of France), gypsy jazz (also called manouche jazz) is a string instrument-based jazz genre that, as its name indicates, blends the freewheeling European gypsy folk styles with the American hot jazz and swing of the 1920s and 1930s. Exotic and earthy, it’s great for dancing as well as just listening—especially when virtuosos like Kliphius and Grant are playing it.
Kliphuis, who hails from Holland, is a master of the violin and a wizard of sound. Using classical, gypsy jazz and folk he has created a unique style that is making waves in concert halls across the globe. From Los Angeles, Grant grew up with bluegrass, folk, Celtic, and classical and soon gravitated towards the music of Django Reinhardt, studying with acclaimed jazz guitarists Jim Nichols and Howard Alden. Together, they alternate moments of dazzling interplay with melancholy and sheer exhilaration, in an inspired conversational journey that is different every night.
Tim Kliphius and Jimmy Grant will perform at the Ashokan Center in Olivebridge on June 12 at 8pm. Tickets are $25.
This article appears in May 2022.
