Pearl Django
Pearl Django is an American gypsy jazz combo that has been at home in Seattle for many years and stands out in its style in North America. The name pays homage to Django Reinhardt .
Band history
The two guitarists Neil Andersson and Dudley Hill played together as a blues duo since the late 1980s. In the early 1990s they decided to start an acoustic swing combo. They were united in their admiration for the exceptional musician Django Reinhardt. Together with bassist David "Pope" Firman, they founded the band Pearl Django in 1994 in the port city of Tacoma , 50 km southwest of Seattle. The singer Shelley D. Park joined in early 1995 on the occasion of a performance in Vancouver. In 1995 the quartet released their first album, Le Jazz Hot . The second album New Metropolitan Swing was released two years later with violinist Michael Gray, who joined in 1996 . Firman left the band in 1998 and was replaced by bassist Rick Leppanen. The third CD Mystery Pacific was created in 1999 with this line-up . Next, the band took on a tribute album for Stéphane Grappelli , the 2000 CD Avalon . This fifth album was included in the list All Things Considered in 2001 of the National Public Radio . Since then, at the latest, the band has no longer lacked invitations to festivals and club concerts.
The center of the band shifted to Seattle. Between 2002 and 2007, four more albums followed. In the meantime, Dudley Hill died in January 2005. Neil Andersson presented a solo album with Malibu manouche in 2007, but withdrew from the band project. Of the band members from the early years, only the violinist Michael Gray and bassist Leppanen remained. Accordionist David Lange and guitarists Troy Chapman and Ryan Hoffman joined the team. Fifteen years after the first album, two albums by Pearl Django were released in 2010 , a new studio album, Système D , and a best of compilation from 1995–1999 under the title Hotel New Yorker . The eleventh album was released in 2012 under the proud name Eleven ; the twelfth, Time Flies , 2015 in the 21st year of the band's existence.
They have played all over North America, but also in Europe. Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli are still held in high regard by them, even if they make Americanized swing music. They are an integral part of the DjangoFest Northwest festivals that take place in San Francisco , County Los Angeles, and Mill Valley , California. They also appeared at the Festival de Jazz Django Reinhardt in Samois-sur-Seine , France, which has been held annually since 1968 .
The band played together with the guitar virtuoso Martin Taylor and with Bucky Pizzarelli . On her twelfth album, Time Flies (2015), all tracks are her own compositions (except for one Bossa Nova title).
Discographic Notes
- 2015 - Time Flies
- 2012 - Eleven
- 2010 - Système D
- 2010 - Hotel New Yorker Modern (Compilation 1995–1999)
- 2007 - Modern times
- 2005 - Chasing shadows
- 2003 - Swing 48
- 2002 - Under Paris skies
- 2000 - Avalon
- 1999 - Mystery Pacific
- 1997 - New Metropolitan Swing
- 1995 - Le Jazz Hot
Solo albums
- 2007 - Malibu manouche (Neil Andersson)
- 1999 - Souvenirs (Michael Gray & Pearl Django )
Web links
- Website of Pearl Django (English)
- Pearl Django at All Music Guide (English)
- Pearl Django at KPLU News for Seattle and the Northwest
supporting documents
- ^ Band biography , in the All Music Guide
- ↑ Seattle Times: Dudley Hill, who started popular band Pearl Django, dies at 56 01/20/2005 ( Memento of September 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ DjangoFest Northwest
- ↑ Martin Taylor With Pearl Django: Gypsy Jazz , National Public Radio January 13, 2011, accessed September 13, 2015
- ↑ Pearl Django profile at KPLU . KPLU News for Seattle and the Northwest. Archived from the original on October 20, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ↑ Pearl Django, 'Time Flies' (Modern Hot) ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Reviewed April 24, 2015 in the Seattle Times , accessed September 30, 2015
