The Hot Club Of Philadelphia Joins Bucks County Playhouse Concert Series

The Hot Club of Philadelphia will bring their unique acoustic sound to the Bucks County Playhouse stage when they present two concerts as part of the theater's Spring Concert Series, on Friday, April 23 and Saturday, April 24 at 8 pm. Tickets are $40 and are available at www.buckscountyplayhouse.org or by calling 215-862-2121.

Founded in 2011 by guitarist Barry Wahrhaftig, The Hot Club of Philadelphia is an exciting acoustic ensemble dedicated to playing 'Gypsy Jazz' - the musical genre pioneered by the legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt and Violinist Stephane Grappelli and their Hot Club of France Quintet in the 30's & 40's.

With the use of acoustic guitars, bass and violin, rather than horns and drums, the quintet added some French and Gypsy sounds and created a blend of music that is popular and accessible. The HCPhilly mixes the original style of these genre-breakers along with their own modern influences.

The band will be joined at the Playhouse by popular multi-lingual vocalist Phyllis Chapell. Chapell is featured on the band's current release 'Gypsy - Americana,' which is a mixture of Euro and American folk material, including 'Hard Times by Stephan Foster, 'Ashokan Farewell' by Jay Ungar, Blue Drag and 'Melody au Crepuscle by Django Reinhardt, along with some Klezmer & standards by Edith Piaf & Blossom Dearie.

The CD was chosen as WRTI 90.1's Jazz 'Album of The Week' in January of this year.

The group has performed throughout the region-The Kimmel Center's PIFA Festival, The World Café Live, Sellersville Theater, WHYY-NPR, Musikfest, The Philadelphia Folk Festival, The Barnes Foundation and The Phila Museum of Art, to name a few. The band released its first CD, 'Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams,' in 2010 followed by Gypsy Routes in 2015, and 'Gypsy - Americana' in 2020, followed by their current CD 'Gypsy - Americana,' 2020. The soundtracks of films like 'Chocolat' and Woody Allen's hit 'Midnight in Paris,' feature the hot sounds of Gypsy Jazz. The band's website is www.HotClubPhilly.com.

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