Denis Chang Manouche Quartet, Christine Tassan et les Imposteures
Denis Chang Manouche Quartet
2012
PM
MEL LEHAN HALL AT ST. JAMES i
3214 West 10th Ave, Kitsilano
Accessible 
All ages
This event has already taken place.
He plays faster than his shadow.
As many know, that is also the case for many European Manouche gypsies [...]. Denis,
however, who is also equally at ease at Bebop and other jazz styles is somewhat of a
Django cosmopolite. As such, he has assimilated both yesterday and today's artforms.
- Jazz Podium, Germany
Greatly influenced by the music of Django Reinhardt, Montreal's guitarist Denis Chang's formative years were spent alongside the greatest Jazz Manouche guitarists such as Fapy Lafertin, Ritary Gaguenetti, Paulus Schäfer, Rindo Winterstein and Emmanuel Kassimo to name just these few. This young guitarist quickly developed his own style inspired by various styles of music. Among his biggest influences are Bach, Chopin, George Benson and Michael Jackson. Denis Chang begins his latest album Deeper Than You Think with a bit of humor: "Allons-y mes amis," intones an announcer, before adding "let's rock this studio--oh yeah!" Chang and company then surprise by kicking off the album with a musical Jimi Hendrix quote before launching into a fiery Flèche d'Or whose creamy, over-driven tones signal that this is a modern day jazz manouche. With saxophonist Ben Henriques, bassist Paul Vandyk, and rhythm guitarist Ivan Garzon joining Chang, the quartet is a tight, grooving unit. Chang is also well-known for his own series of popular instructional DVDs.
Denis Chang's appearance at April In Paris is made possible by the generous support of
The result is simply breath taking, love at
first sight!
- Le Soleil de Québec
It is a real treat to listen to the interactive enthusiasm of
these Impostors, who don't hesitate to inspire laughter at every turn of each song...
- Django Station (France)
As they did last year, Christine Tassan et les Imposteures will present two quite different sets of music with distinctly different themes. Last year they presented Songs and European swings, with songs in French, Italian and Rom. Including swings of Django Reinhardt, some instrumental pieces, Gypsy jazz and Tsiganes standards. On the folowing day their theme was Songs and North-American swings, with songs (originals and interpretations) from Québec, in French and in English including jazz standards from North-America. Who knows what they will come up with this time? We do know that it will all be wildly entertaining and utterly charming!