The Hot Club of San Francisco is one of many bands focusing on the legacy of
Django Reinhardt and
Stéphane Grappelli, co-leaders of
the Quintet of the Hot Club of France and innovators of swinging Gypsy jazz. But
the HCSF have never slavishly stuck to the repertoire of the band that inspired them, preferring to build upon it. Lead guitarist Paul Mehling is an impressive soloist in
Django's style without copying him, while
Evan Price (formerly with
the Turtle Island String Quartet) is a swinging violinist who has developed his own sound. After opening with a rarely performed
Reinhardt/
Grappelli instrumental, "R-26," much of this engagement recorded at Yoshi's features Isabelle Fontaine, a swinging yet never showy vocalist with an easygoing style.
Henri Salvador's "Syracuse" features Fontaine's soft vocal, beautifully accompanied by the band.
Cole Porter is one of Fontaine's favorite composers, so she chose several of his standards for this set. She includes the oft-omitted verse to "Just One of Those Things" and a playful "I Love Paris," in which
Price nearly steals the show with his imaginative violin solo. She even restores the luster to "C'est Si Bon," a song so often performed in a hackneyed manner that it wore out its welcome for a long time. Recommended. ~ Ken Dryden