The album title, Cinema Swing, takes its name from the famed, tiny Cinema Bar located on Sepulveda Blvd. in Culver City, just south of Los Angeles, a place this writer frequented often on trips to L.A. In fact, one night included watching the Lakers at the bar with keyboardist/vocalist Carl Byron. That was a rare weekday night with no live music. As it turns out, the Cinema Bar began hosting the gypsy jazz of the Hot Club of Los Angeles on Monday nights beginning in 2011. This is not a live album but is intended to capture that vibe. It’s the second studio recording for this rather unique gypsy jazz band that Jackson Browne has dubbed “an L.A. treasure.” Browne, who sits in with them occasionally, lent Byron the use of his Baldwin grand at his Groove Master studio in Santa Monica for the piano parts on the album
The band formed in 2011 and includes a coterie of L.A.-based musicians that have well established resumes in several genres. They have performed with artists such as David Grisman, Bill Frisell, Rita Coolidge, and Debbie Harry to name just a few. Byron used to play in, among other bands, The Sin City All-Stars, a group loosely modeled on the country-rock of Gram Parsons. They often backed Americana artists in both Los Angeles and Nashville. The Hot Club of Los Angeles plays more serious fare as a jazz ensemble that does eclectic arrangements of gypsy jazz instrumentals, vocals sung in French, Roma, and Russian, some straight-ahead jazz, a unique blend of film music selections, and gypsy jazz originals composed by Byron and bassist Paul Eckman. The other band members are Jake Bluenote (guitar, vocal), Josh Workman (guitar), and Jim Doyle who is both the drummer and producer.
There are six standards of classic gypsy jazz; Django’s “Douce Ambience” and “Nuages” (sung in French by Byron), manouche classics “Swing Gitan” and “Noto Swing,” traditional Russian song (“Dark Eyes” as the English translation), and the standard “After You’ve Gone.” Eckman and Byron contributed three new originals each, that mesh with the spirit of the classic tunes.
Byron, on accordion and piano, composed the opening title track in homage to Django’s most famous piece, “Minor Swing.” Not only does it reference the Cinema Bar but also Songs from the Cinema, the film and music-themed all-star 2017 and 2018 Artists for Peace and Justice benefits where the band performed with Browne and other stars from music, film, and television. “Cynthia” is an Eckman penned waltz based on an image of a man in a country French café singing perhaps about lost love. As, with many, this tune spotlights lyrical dialogues between guitars, accordion, and piano. Byron’s “Bossa Sepulveda,” honoring the street name, fuses gypsy jazz with Latin stylings. Eckman’s “Sylvain” moves toward straight-ahead jazz with post-bop lines while Byron melds the musette and waltz influence of Django on “Valse Angeles,’ a standout track. Eckman’s “Drinking Song” is gypsy jazz homage to Kurt Weill sprinkled with other influences to create a rousing romp, its melody, according to Eckman, the type that could be heard in a rowdy bar.
The album has dazzling guitar and keyboard solos and interplay with refined subtle energy that keeps the listener totally engaged. Byron sums it up well, “We’re not your parent’s (or grandparent’s) gypsy jazz band. We range far and wide stylistically, while still honoring Django’s legacy. It’s also fun music that will brighten your day, put a smile on your face and a spring in your step.” This is clean, refreshing music – gypsy jazz made new again.
