Hot Café are New Zealand’s leading exponents of European gypsy jazz.
Leigh Jackson - Guitar
Nick Granville - Guitar
George Packard - Bass
Nik Brown - Violin
A style of lyrical swing music made famous in Paris by Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt during the 1930’s, their band, The Quintette of the Hot Club of France, became hugely popular both before and after the Second World War, selling many records to thousands of devotees across Europe. Since then, this tuneful style of music has spread world-wide beyond Europe, with players and fans to be found from the USA to Japan.
The appeal to listeners is not only in the exciting rhythms and spectacular guitar and violin technique that drive the faster numbers, but also in the slower evocative melodies that characterise the romantic side of the genre. The blend of acoustic instruments - violin, guitars and upright bass - is a refreshing departure from loud amplified music.
Hot Café is a Wellington based band, whose playing is heard from intimate dinners, parties and weddings, to public concerts and festivals. The four members all have successful music careers.
