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Bleu Django debuts at People's Brewing Company for our Tuesday night series! Don't miss this amazing Indiana quartet who are some of the best pickers Indiana has to offer!

Doors 5pm | Music 6pm | $10 | 21+

Bleu Django is an acoustic gypsy jazz/swing combo. Its instrumentation (violin, guitars, bass) and repertoire pay tribute to a unique musical group created in Paris, France, over 80 years ago—the Quintette du Hot Club de France.

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxMRtiF_NXg

$10 cover

In 1932 a couple of Frenchmen who were enthusiasts of American jazz established an organization dedicated to the promotion of traditional jazz and swing in Paris. It was called the Hot Club de France and its founders’ intention was to introduce Europeans to the “hot jazz” that was being performed in America during the 20s and 30s by such legends as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman.

In 1934, to further its goals, the club formulated the first jazz combo in Europe—the Quintette du Hot Club de France. Its members included Stephane Grappelli, considered by many today as the dean of jazz violinists, and gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt whose unique style and extraordinary technique have baffled and amazed jazz musicians and afficionados for decades.

From the mid-1930s to the early 1940s the quintet recorded and performed traditional swing tunes and original compositions throughout Europe to much acclaim. Of all the styles of jazz music to emerge in the 20th century, none was more passionate, more exhilaratingly up-tempo, or more steeped in an outsider tradition than gypsy jazz. It was a combination of Louis Armstrong’s trumpet, the romantic sound of Romany violin, and the fire of flamenco guitar. In Europe the Hot Club was the most popular group of its era.

During the past two decades, gypsy jazz has experienced a Renaissance throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. There are “hot clubs” in almost every major American city including New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and Austin. Additionally, the gypsy jazz style and instrumentation has become the musical background for everything “French” on films and TV. Indiana’s contribution to this resurgence is Bleu Django, formed to introduce this wonderful pre-bop style to the local music scene.