amazing trio from michigan

dennis

i discovered this band on myspace, these guys swing hard and the cellist is absolutely incredible!

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu ... d=55071650

trumbology

Cool stuff.

Ted, do you know if Summers, Delaney & Sharp recorded anything in a studio, or if live tapes exist?

EDIT: I see that they did record an album:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sds

Cheers,

Neil

trumbology

I went over to CD Baby to check out Royal Garden Trio and Summers, Delaney & Sharp (their live album is still available). They fit in with my minor fetish for "underground" swing (see the "Skip Peterson & the Niglos" thread here <http://www.djangobooks.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=648>)

I have to say I like all three records.

The Royal Garden Trio has an instrumentation that is unusual and to me it works. It's typically either 1.) tenor guitar/lead guitar/cello or 2.) guitar/clarinet/cello (Tom Bogardus doubles on tenor guitar and clarinet).

On the second album, they bring in several guest musicians (piano, cornet, bass, etc) depending on the needs of the arrangement. And the arrangements are definitely part of the appeal to me, though Brian Delaney is a tasty lead guitar player in this group (he handled rhythm in SD&S). It's not flawless--there is a competent but kind of bland vocal on "Slow Boat to China"--but mostly it's very well executed and engaging. Listen for yourself though; it's probably a little too mellow for a lot of folks in the Gypsy Jazz world.

The Summers, Delaney and Sharp live album is straight-up Gypsy Jazz; lead guitar (Joe Summers) rhythm guitar (Delaney) and bass (Dave Sharp) play through 10 tunes familiar to about anyone into Django music. The feel is, and I mean this as a complement, ragged-but-right. I'd say half the album is good, and half is very good. My faves are the versions of 'Are You in the Mood' and Douce Ambiance (which they bury halfway into the record). Some of the arrangements are straight off the QHCF records (without violin of course), and some are personalized. I wouldn't recommend this over the Dave Biller album (another American Django-influenced swing musician roughly comparable to Summers and Delaney), but I would definitely recommend it over lots of other self-produced Django Jazz records available on CD Baby.

One that I haven't bought yet but that did sound good in the sample tracks was by the Hot Club of New Orleans. I believe they too use some clarinet, and aren't hewing strictly to Gypsy Jazz aesthetics. Anyway, if you've got more indy-swing favorites, please add them to that Skip Peterson thread mentioned above.

Cheers,

Neil

campfire

My band Impromptu, played with them along with the Hot Club of Detroit, at this years Djangofest in Detroit. (Thanks, Evan) Anyway, the Royal Garden Trio just swung their butts off!!! The tenor guitarist doubled on clarinet, and the cellist was just a swingin' lexicon of authentic Pops-like phrases. Thoroughly enjoyable, and a hard act to follow! Really nice guys, playing swing music on a really high level. If you haven't, do yourself a favor and check 'em out.

Larry Camp

sockeye

I recently bought both of the CDs on CDBaby. They're great!!

John