Steve's Blog
Wednesday April 18, 2012

Hi everyone. Please excuse me for being a bit excitable these days, but after 25 years of Roguery I'm starting to get the feel for this music stuff!!

1. Rogue Folk Celebrates a Quarter of a Century! In style!

As we approach the 25th Anniversary of The Rogue Folk Club we have some amazing concerts for you, starting with our 6th Annual Festival Of Gypsy Jazz - April In Paris, which opens this Thursday April 19th with the Marc Atkinson Trio and special guest Daniel Lapp and runs for four nights at St. James Hall, with four spectacular concerts, featuring five hot Canadian bands, plus workshops in Swing Dance, and Gypsy Guitar and Fiddle Styles.

Next week we bring you The Good Lovelies, those charming young ladies from Ontario who sing so beautifully - and a bit cheekily! The week after that we present Quebec bluesman Michael Jerome Browne, with his array of National and acoustic guitars, African and American banjos, Cajun / Blues fiddle and a whole heap of Roots / Blues songs. Our Anniversary weekend kicks off with Jayme Stone, "the Yoyo Ma of the banjo" and his latest band of musical explorers bringing dance music from all over the planet. The Rogue Jubilee Jamboree on May 12th features a celebration of 100 years of Robert Johnson, Woody Guthrie and Bill Monroe; 50 years of music by Bob Dylan and The Beatles, and 25 years of Roguery with Steve Dawson and his band accompanying C.R. Avery, Jim Byrnes, and The Sojourners. And the following weekend the inimitable Canadian songsmith Fred Eaglesmith returns with a hot new CD and a fine new band!

Well, we happen to think 25 years at the cutting edge of folk and roots music out here in Lotusland is a pretty remarkable feat of endurance and a testament to the wonderful variety and quality of music to be found across this magnificent nation, as well as the formidable devotion of the volunteers and crew who continue to make this music available to you in a cosy, affordable venue with great sound. We hope you agree, and that you'll join in the celebrations!

2. Rogue Folk Review - new issue out now!

You can read all about these shows in the latest issue of The Rogue Folk Review, which has just been published. It is available now for download on our website. Many of you will receive a copy in the mail in the next day or two.

On the front cover is an article about the Silver Jubilee Concert, and also details of the discount scheme for April In Paris this year: the more concerts you attend at this year's festival, the cheaper they become!

Inside there are full details of the concerts and the bands at April In Paris. And beyond, up to and including Fred Eaglesmith on May 18th.

There are also details of Early Bird discounts for the Vancouver Folk Music Festival and how to save money by purchasing yours through The Rogue Folk Club! This is a service we offer our members every year, and is one of the many benefits of membership. Members also receive $4 off each of our concerts, and are able to purchase our Season Ticket bundles of 10, 20 or 30 tickets at a huge saving on the regular ticket price. Members also get to vote at our Annual General Meeting, which might not sound like a big deal to you, but it is of vital importance to us as we seek to demonstrate community support for our programs and to proclaim the democratic nature of the non-profit Society known as The Rogue Folk Club. The AGM takes place at 6pm on Saturday May 12th, immediately prior to the Jubilee Concert, so we encourage you to come down early, read the Annual report, vote in the election of the slate of Board candidates, and show your support.

3. April In Paris - Celebrate the Present with a fond glance into the Past, and some glorious music - made in Canada

That's all in the future. This week is all about celebrating the musical legacy of the pioneering guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli, who formed the Quintette du Hot Club de France in the late 1930s and defined a musical style - and indeed the definitive music of one of the world's greatest cities - when they took the roots of French dance music (Bal Musette), spiced it up with the ancient rhythms and soul of Roma music, and peppered it with the nascent sounds of Afro-American jazz - et, voila! Jazz Manouche / Gypsy Jazz was born! And it still thrives today, not only in Europe, but also here in Canada, and throughout North America, into Australia and even further afield.

Yet there is something uniquely exciting about Canadian gypsy jazz, especially here on the west coast, where stringband mayhem has become a by-word since those heady days when Pied Pumkin first blazed a trail for independent music in the early 1970s, and the west coast tradition continued with Bluegrass bands adopting Swing Dance instrumentation and songs, through bands like The Romaniacs, Spirit of the West, The Bills, Mad Pudding, Gypsalero and onwards to the wonderful bands appearing at April In Paris this week.

• Marc Atkinson Trio plus Daniel Lapp, Thursday April 19th, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
  
  Brilliant, innovative guitarist Atkinson brings his hot trio with special guest Daniel lapp on fiddle and trumpet to form a veritable Gypsy Dance Music Extravaganza
• Van Django CD launch, Friday April 20th, 8pm, St. James Hall
  
  Vancouver string quartet celebrates the release of its second CD, Waltz In The Shape Of A Tree. Incredible original compositions, breathtaking Django tunes, and awesome blends of The Classics with Classic Rock - Gypsy Jazz Style!
• Deanna Knight & The Hot Club of Mars plus Les Imposteures, Saturday April 21st, 8pm, St. James Hall
  
  With a new CD on the way, Vancouver's hottest jazz septet will heat up the dance floor and Deanna Knight will melt your heart - or at least your inhibitions, with her glorious vocal stylings. After Quebec's remarkable all-woman Gypsy Jazz combo Christine Tassan et les Imposteures have charmed and won you over with their scintillating originals and stunning instrumental and vocal panache.
• Denis Chang Manouche Quartet plus Les Imposteures (encore), Sunday April 22nd, 8pm, St. James Hall
  
  A double-bill of Gypsy Jazz from Quebec, with Les Imposteures exploring Django's world from a feminine perspective, and then the blindingly fast guitar work of Denis Chang and his hot band will leave you gasping for superlatives - and oxygen!

Each concert will be preceded by Swing Dance lessons at 7pm. Included in the ticket price!

We'd love to see you as we celebrate Django's music. Come on down and strut your stuff; join in the celebration! Dance! Laugh! Throw off the weight of this persistent winter (forget about hockey!) and celebrate one of Vancouver's newest and most enjoyable Rites of Spring at our April In Paris festival!

Tickets and information on our Concert Calendar or call 604-736-3022

A bientot
Steve