Any gypsy jazz players in or around Charlotte, NC?

Greg_in_Prt

I recently moved here from Portland, Oregon, last year and would love to contact any gypsy jazz players in the vicinity. Guitar, violin, bass, whatever. I know that Ashville has an active scene, but it's 2 1/2 hour drive. Be great to find something closer. I love my Dupont D hole, but have hardly touched it. Mostly playing my Martin D-28.

Bregora

Hey Greg, I live in Columbia SC, and have played gypsy jazz for over 30 years. Also have tons of guitars:) my nam or Sasha Strunjas ( there is stuff on YouTube with various quality :). My phone number is 859-391-3513. My stepdaughter lives in Charlotte .

bbwood_98

@Greg_in_Prt contact @scot (Scott Wise) - one of the US O.G. Gypsy jazz fans and musicians; he is a wealth of knowledge & will know who is playing the music in the area!

Cheers,

B.

pdg

A bit tangential, but there is a superb professional Russian Gypsy 7-string guitarist in Charlotte -- Vadim Kolpakov:

https://www.thebash.com/acoustic/vkguitar

Buco

@Bregora nice to see you here. If I may share a little anecdote, as we're from the same hometown; as kids, we used to refer to complex jazz chords as "strunjaš chords".

joeheisler

Hello Greg!

Thank you so much for posting this.

You moved from PDX, I’m recently back after decades in Seattle, a dedicated student of 20’s & 30’s standards, with a special reverence for gypsy jazz. 

I took a couple lessons with Rick Leppanen of Pearl Django while I was out there, what a great guy! Check out Jazz Night School’s website if you get a chance, a fantastic community I miss dearly. It would be great to get some kindred spirits together around Charlotte!

Please give me a call, text, email, anytime, at your convenience I’d love to speak and hopefully get together soon.

Joe Heisler, double bass, Charlotte cell 206-272-0129 email joeheisler@aol.com

I look forward to speaking with you! 

Joe

Forgive the grim picture! 

jtbbrannon

Hello,

I am here in south Charlotte and would be very interested in meeting up for a jam. I play guitar and have been playing gypsy jazz for years, @scot and I used to meet up for jams but it has been a while since we last met up.

Greg_in_Prt

Very cool, Jim (or John or Jack or Joe. -- I only have your first name's initial. I moved to Charlotte from Portland, Oregon last October and have been hoping to find some gj players. Seems they're few and far between around here. I've chatted with Scot Wise, also with Joe Heisler, a bass player and another fairly recent transplant from the west coast (Seattle). He mentioned that he's joined sometimes by a guitar player in the area who's learning the style.

I live in Indian Land, so not terribly far from south Charlotte. My daughter and family live in the Quail Hollow area, so I get up that way regularly.

So let's organize a jam. I'll be out of town until the last week of September. But after that, I'm open. I'll volunteer to host a jam, if that would work for everyone, but it is a bit of a drive from south Charlotte. I live alone.

Greg McCarty

503-679-7420

jtbbrannon

Hello, yes it is Jim! That sounds great, I’ll message you and we can set something up.

MikeK

Hi Greg:

My friend Drew Preston is planning to move to Charlotte at the end of the year. He's a great guy and a talented GJ violinist and mandolin player who has played with me on quite a few gigs in Asheville. I can pass along your info to him if you wish. Also, I'm playing with a gypsy jazz quartet (One Leg Up) on Sunday in Charlotte at the Matthews Alive festival. Come by if you can!

Greg_in_Prt

Hi Mike. Thanks for contacting me. I look forward to meeting Drew down the road. Please do pass my info to him.

I'm about to leave for a couple of weeks on the west coast, but will try to get up to Matthews this Sunday.

Greg