Hot Club of Saratoga to Play it Cool at Jazz on Jay, August 3rd

The hot Hot Club of Saratoga won the 2022 Eddies Award as Jazz Artist of the Year and played the main stage at the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival that same year.

Jazz on Jay artists often reach back to the Great American Songbook, but the Hot Club of Saratoga specializes in 1930s European jazz.

They model their sound on the zippy, intricate swing guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli invented with their Quintet of the Hot Club of France; a high-stepping energetic style called gypsy jazz. It swings hard and is fun for listening and dancing.

Formed in 2013, the Hot Club of Saratoga includes five core players and periodic substitutes from among more than a dozen area players skilled in this well loved-style.

Rhythm guitarist Chuck Kish plays driving percussive chords with plenty of push – a technique called “the pump;” he also builds instruments.

Clarinetist Jonathan Greene plays both jazz and classical styles; he’s opened for jazz masters Marcus Roberts (piano) and Anat Cohen (clarinet) at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and comic Jay Leno at Proctors; and has played as a substitute with the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra.

Acoustic bassist Dylan Perillo started as a guitarist but switched to bass at SUNY Schenectady and now leads his own Dylan Perillo Orchestra jazz big band in addition keeping the beat with the Hot Club of Saratoga.

Violinist Tucker Callander earned his degree in classical violin performance at Syracuse University, then branched out into both jazz and bluegrass.

Guitarist Brad Brose played swing dances across America before playing with gypsy jazz groups in Paris.

They’ve released two albums – “Just Horsin’ Around” and “Swingin’ With Hot Club of Saratoga” – and their active repertoire includes hundreds of vintage and contemporary songs.

All Jazz on Jay concerts are free through support from the New York State Council on the Arts, Schenectady County, the Upstate Coalition for a Fairgame, the Schenectady Foundation and the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation. www.nippertown.com is the series media sponsor.

Show time is noon at the Jay Street Marketplace. Rain site: Robb Alley at Proctors adjacent to Apostrophe.