Hot Club of San Francisco to Give Its First
Philly-Area Performance of "Gypsy Jazz" at BMC

Gypsy-jazz string quintet The Hot Club of San Francisco will open the 2007-08 Performing Arts Series at Goodhart Theater on Saturday, Sept. 15, at 8 p.m.

HCSF has been heralded as "intricate, scorching and often brilliant," in Acoustic Guitar magazine. In its first-ever Philadelphia-area performance the quintet will present "Silent Surrealism," a concert set to 15- to 20-minute clips from rarely seen silent films, including the slapstick "You Tell One," and the horror flick "The Fall of the House of Usher." 

Lead guitarist Paul Mehling describes gypsy jazz, the form made famous by Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli, as "sophisticated but with a sentimental quality. It has a real swing and the rhythms are often played at breakneck speeds."

"Silent Surrealism" recalls Paris between the wars when intimate clubs played host to the new arts of cinema and jazz.  During the 1930s guitarist Django Reinhardt's quintet perfected the style of gypsy jazz, which has enjoyed a revival in popularity recently.

To hear audio files of HCSF, go to www.hcsf.com.

Single tickets to the performance are $18; senior tickets $15; student tickets $10; children 12 and under $5. It is free for Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore students, faculty and staff.

Subscription packages offer discounts, mix-and-match ticket flexibility and priority seating. For tickets and season information, call the Office for the Arts at 610-526-5210 or visit www.brynmawr.edu/calendar/
performing_arts.shtml.

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