About

Hot Club of Saratoga, upstate New York Saratoga/Capital Regions's premier gypsy swing ensemble, plays a repertoire that reflects the spirit and style originated by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli in The Quintet of the Hot Club of France most prominent in the 1930’s and kept alive through a long line of gypsy jazz artists since that time. Most of the tunes we play were either written by, or recorded by, Django at some time in his all too brief musical life.

Though Django is most closely associated with the quintet and with Stephane Grappelli on violin providing the other solo texture, he recorded in various other configurations. He often recorded with a clarinetist in place of Grappelli and his violin, as well as other instrumentals, with big bands, and with on some occasions with small combos with drums as he began to explore amplification and more bebop stylings.

The instrumentation of the full quintet of the Hot Club of Saratoga, solo and rhythm guitars, string bass, violin, and clarinet/sax, allows us to explore this style throughout the range of its roots. Since forming in early 2013, Hot Club of Saratoga has brought the hot swing sound to coffee houses, restaurants, bars, clubs, swing dances, festivals, weddings, and numerous private parties. If you’re looking for gypsy swing true to its origins while subtly expanding the genre, music that just makes you smile and move, give us a listen.

The core and original members of Hot Club of Saratoga are shown below though you may see us in different configurations and sometimes with different players as we expand and evolve the ensemble.

Hot Club of Saratoga Core Members

The unique rhythm style providing both chordal backup and percussive drive called “la pompe”, “the pump”, is maintained under the soloists by Chuck Kish on rhythm guitar. Chuck comes to gypsy jazz from a background of rock organ, folk music with guitar and some dulcimer, and most recently jazz guitar. His "formal training" is restricted to accordion lessons as a kid and guitar lessons at various times in later years after being self taught since college days. In addition to playing, Chuck dabbles in instrument building having built a couple of guitars, including the one he plays in HCS, as well as a hammered dulcimer, numerous mountain dulcimers and kalimbas.

Tucker Callander, a native of the Capital Region, has been performing in the area since he was 10 years old with various groups, including the Empire State Youth Orchestra, Glens Falls Symphony, and Schenectady Symphony. He has had the opportunity to perform in Europe on several occasions, including serving as the principal 2nd violinist in the Conservatoire de Strasbourg Symphony Orchestra while studying abroad.

Tucker attended Syracuse University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance and served as the concertmaster his senior year. Go Cuse! After graduating, he began branching out of the classical world and exploring a variety of genres, from bluegrass to jazz to rock. Tucker prides himself on being a versatile musician, being able to sight read music or use his ear and adapt to whatever the situation calls for. He has played in front of sold out crowds at the Times Union Center and at music festivals such as Country Fest. He currently plays in several groups including Hot Club of Saratoga, Jim Gaudet and the Railroad Boys, the Silver Arrow Band, and the 9 and ¾ Ensemble.

Jonathan Greene is an active jazz, world and classical multi-instrumentalist. Most recently, Jonathan had the honor of playing with groups that opened up for Jay Leno at Proctors as well as Marcus Roberts and Anat Cohen at the Troy Music Hall. He has also subbed on clarinet for the Albany and Glens Falls Symphony orchestras. Jonathan's YouTube page now has over 1.35 million views.

Please note that these are our core band members and we make every effort to play with all our core members whenever possible. However, like most bands, we must sometimes substitute players or play in different configurations due to conflicts with regular members other projects and other demands for their talents. Regardless of the players in the night's lineup, you're guaranteed the same high energy gypsy swing.

Visiting Artist Residency

As many of you have noticed, our Hot Club family continues to grow as you see the core of the ensemble playing with different talented musicians. Indeed, as we evolve, we move more toward the “club” part of the name, what might be called the Hot Club of Saratoga Collective. You will continue to see the familiar faces of our core members above and the many talented players you often see with us. In addition to that, we are now inviting guest artists to join Hot CLub of Saratoga for a residency for a couple of weeks or months at a time. We are excited to welcome some outstanding players from the greater gypsy jazz community that we would otherwise rarely if ever get to play with! And you would otherwise likely not have the opportunity to hear.

Please help us welcome these talented visiting artists and don't miss a chance to come out to hear them.
During each of their stays, they will most likely be on every Hot Club gig.

Ivan Peña: Lead Guitar
October 17-November 9
Ivan is a guitarist from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has spent years traveling throughout France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium gigging and studying music from icons like Fapy Lafertin, Angelo Debarre, Christophe Lartilleux, Tcha Limberger, and Serge Krief. He has been a member of and toured with Hot Club of Detroit, as well as performing with Rhythm Future Quartet and others.

Sara L'Abriola: Lead Guitar
December 6-23
Born in 1998 in Garrison, New York, Sara L'Abriola started playing guitar at age eight. While originally immersed in classical guitar training and technique, at thirteen she discovered a love for Django Reinhardt's music and has pursued the style ever since. Under the instruction of renown guitarist, Stephane Wrembel, she began transcribing Django Reinhardt's solos and developing the technique.

After finishing high school, Sara moved to New York City and began playing Reinhardt's style of music full-time. At eighteen years old, she made her Carnegie Hall debut, sharing the stage with Stephane Wrembel, Stochelo Rosenberg, and Al Di Meola as part of the Django A Gogo festival. Sara also won 2018's SAGA Young Musicians Award, accepting it and performing at Djangofest Northwest on Whidbey Island. Sara was recently featured at the 2018 Stockholm Django Festival. She has also studied Indian classical music under the late sitar maestro, Roop Verma. Sara currently resides in New York, New York.

Ken Allday Lead Guitar
December 29-January 28
Ken is travelling from Louisville, Kentucky, to spend First Night and January with us, including our show at Caffe Lena on January 27. In Louisville he plays with Swing 39 as well as other projects. We've know him for several years from Django in June and jamming together when Swing 39 swung by Saratoga on their way to perform at the Django By The Sea Festival. For the past couple of years he has taught at Django in June where he was among the most highly rated teachers this past year and has performed alongside Tcha Limberger, Denis Chang, Adrien Moignard and Ben Powell, among others.

You'll often find us with one of these bassists.