In Wiltshire and the surrounding areas we are slightly spoilt for having a great music venue in the Wiltshire Music Centre. All year round their program is packed with leading artists from numerous music fields such as Classical, Jazz, Folk and World Music. The auditorium has excellent acoustics and ensures that no matter what you see, you won’t miss a note.
I was very pleased to read that Evan Christopher’s Django à la Créole will be performing at the Wiltshire Music Centre on Friday 2 October. I first saw Evan Christopher and his group perform back in May 2014 at the Bath Fringe Festival; it was a miserable rain soaked evening but once under the festival tent, Evan and his fellow musicians put on a scintillating display of creole infused gypsy jazz that made everyone forget the weather outside. Django à la Créole is a love letter to the great music of Django Rheinhardt, but with innovative fusing of Creole influence, described as ‘an exhilarating melding of Django Reinhardt’s Hot Club guitar, the Crescent City’s famed Afro-Cuban ‘tinge’, the elegance of Duke Ellington and the visceral energy of Louis Armstrong’ (Wiltshire Music Centre).
The simple quartet format of clarinet, double bass, rhythm and lead guitars is a surprisingly full and rich sound, which only emphasises the great musicianship of the quartet. It is also very hard not to be mesmerised by Evan Christopher’s playing, so used are we to seeing the clarinet hidden away in the orchestra pit, contrasted to this stage-front showmanship that has virtuosity but also some really tender nuanced playing.
I highly recommend this upcoming performance, as well as the pre-concert talk which takes place at 6:30pm the same day. Tickets are available direct at Wiltshire Music Centre’s website.
Edward Bettella is a team member of the Piano Shop Bath