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Labro featured on The Sound of Applause

  • October 14, 2014October 14, 2014
  • by julien

Dee Perry chats with Emily Anthes author of Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts who speaks Friday night at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History for the Explorer Series. Plus we share the music of local country crooners Rachel & The Beatnik Playboys who play The Stocker Center in Elyria this weekend.

Dee also welcomes back accordion master Julien Labro to the Key Bank studio for a preview of his performance at Severance Hall for The Cleveland Orchestra’s Fridays@7 series.

Check the interview & performance here

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Labro’s Residency at Oberlin Conservatory of Music

  • October 13, 2014October 18, 2014
  • by julien

by Jarrett Hoffman

This past Thursday, October 9, Oberlin welcomed acclaimed jazz group Hot Club of Detroit for the first Performance and Improvisation (PI) guest recital of the year. Clonick Hall was packed for the occasion, all seats filled and its back wall lined with listeners. Three impressive student ensembles kicked off the evening, each of them featuring Hot Club of Detroit accordionist Julien Labro. Then, for the second half of the night, the group tore through a set full of stunning solos and duets, particularly from Labro and group founder and lead guitarist Evan Perri. Continue to the full article here

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Pablo Aslan Quintet rejuvenates the work of the great…

  • October 10, 2014October 14, 2014
  • by julien

By Sarah Ritzmann

Last Monday night, the Pablo Aslan Quintet performed in Brooks-Rogers Auditorium as part of the Ernest Brown World Music Series. The group, headed by Argentinian-born artist Pablo Aslan, delighted a diverse audience ranging from current students to faculty members to members of the local townsfolk with a lively tango-infused jazz. Aslan has performed and recorded with a number of prominent artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Shakira and the Philadelphia Orchestra, among many others. Aslan leads his quintet on the bass, accompanied by pianist Emilio Solla, drummer Eric Doob, Diego Urcola on trumpet and Julien Labro on the bandoneon.

…Labro also had a fantastic solo on the accordina, which is a handheld instrument that produces an even sweeter tone than the bandoneon. Labro entranced the crowd with a masterfully improvisational solo, his fingers moving seemingly at the speed of light to play frankly ridiculous sequences of notes without a single misstep. …

Full review here

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Review: San Jose Jazz Festival delivers serious fun

  • August 11, 2014October 14, 2014
  • by julien

By David Becker

Many other jazz festivals seem to encourage the musicians to act like brain surgeons, egging on their artistic sensibilities and treating the work as high art. Not the San Jose Jazz Festival, which just wound up its 25th annual blowout.

Hot Club of Detroit: At least something in the Motor City still works! One of the least doctrinaire of the many Django Reinhardt tribute bands circling the globe, this quartet takes a more pan-European approach to its mostly original songs, not least because the usual violin spot has been replaced by accordionist Julien Labro, who turned out to be the star of the show. Lead guitarist Paul Brady was no slouch, picking out evocative and incredibly nimble leads. But Labro’s solo turns were truly heroic. And when was the last time the words “jaw-dropping accordion solo” passed anyone’s lips at jazz show? Read the full review here

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Review: Labro/Vieaux @ The Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival

  • June 21, 2014October 14, 2014
  • by julien

By Mike Telin
June 3, 2014

The evolution of classical guitar music continued at 7:30 when guitarist Jason Vieaux was joined by his frequent collaborator Julien Labro on bandoneón, accordion and accordina. One always hopes the final concert of a festival will be something special that sends audiences home in anticipation of the next edition and Vieaux and Labro did not disappoint.

Given the two began their musical partnership with their 2011 celebrated recording on the Azica label titled The Music of Astor Piazzolla, it was fitting for them to begin their program with a work by the father of Tango Nuevo. Composed in 1986, Histore du Tango consists of four movements that describe the evolution of Tango. Vieaux and Labro performed the first, “Bordel 1900” and the fourth, “Concert d’Aujourd’hui”.

Originally scored for flute and guitar, the piece is often performed in various instrumental combinations (guitar and bandoneón for this performance) Now for my dirty little secret: I have always hated this piece. That was, until last Sunday night. In the hands of two accomplished musicians who are well-versed in both classical and jazz, Vieaux and Labro’s performance captured the essence of Tango Nuevo. As they would throughout the evening the dynamic duo performed from one musical mind – all unison technical passages, no matter how fast, were perfectly in sync. And they were obviously having a lot of fun during some extended improvisations. Keep reading the full review here

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The next accordion star: Julien Labro

  • May 14, 2014June 21, 2014
  • by julien

by Howard Reich
May 13, 2014

The accordion doesn’t get much respect in the United States – not since “The Lawrence Welk Show” and uncounted polka bands placed the instrument well outside the realm of chic.

Nevertheless, the glorious squeezebox holds a noble tradition in jazz, with artists such as Art Van Damme, Leon Sash, Guy Klucevsek, Richard Galliano and Astor Piazzolla (playing bandoneon) proving the instrument can convey lightning virtuosity and profound musicality as eloquently as any other.

The latest and most promising addition to this regal list is Julien Labro, whom Chicagoans have heard dispensing his wizardry in various club and concert halls but never quite the way he does in a surprisingly seductive new album, “From This Point Forward” (Azica). Playing with Chicago’s Spektral Quartet, which will celebrate the release with him Wednesday night at City Winery, Labro emerges as a triple threat: brilliant technician, poetic melodist and cunning arranger. Read the full article here.

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Labro’s seemingly nonchalant virtuosity…

  • July 28, 2013September 24, 2013
  • by julien

Review: Exuberant jazz from the Hot Club of Detroit

by Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune

There may be hope yet for the great city of Detroit.

If it can drive through bankruptcy proceedings the way one of its leading jazz ensembles powered through its first show Friday night at the Green Mill Jazz Club, there could be better times ahead….

But the Hot Club of Detroit pushes out at conventional definitions of gypsy jazz with edgy, original repertoire and an aggressive, hard-charging strategy for ensemble improvisation. Granted, the band’s rough-and-tumble character does not convey the elegance of Grappelli’s silken violin lines riding Reinhardt’s chugging guitar chords. Yet there are other pleasures to be derived from its decidedly brawnier style.

Read the full review here

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Review: The Hot Club of Detroit @ the Van…

  • February 10, 2013September 24, 2013
  • by julien

Review by J Hunter
Photographs by Rudy Lu

Some music just needs to be seen in a small space. For instance, even though Troy Savings Bank Music Hall was acoustically perfect for Hot Club of San Francisco, both the band and the music seemed “too small for the room” during their appearance last year. In comparison, Hot Club of Detroit’s show at the Van Dyck Restaurant & Lounge last Friday night (February 1) was not just perfectly wonderful – it was also perfectly scaled. Maybe the Van Dyck’s concert space is a loft instead of a basement, and it may also be a non-smoking environment, but a band and its sound has never seemed more at home.

Here is the full review

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JazzTimes Interviews Julien Labro: Accordion & the Hot Club…

  • December 26, 2012December 26, 2012
  • by julien

Gigi Brooks interviews accordionist and composer about his instrument of choice, the Hot Club of Detroit and the music of Django Reinhardt

Accordionist and composer Julien Labro and member of the band Hot Club of Detroit, spent some time talking with me about his life and music career and his rare choice of instrument—the accordion.

Labro shares the band’s desire to pay tribute to the late, great European jazz guitarist, Django Reinhardt in their latest release on Mack Avenue Records, Junction. The album also features the avant-garde sound of Ornette Coleman, blended with the acoustic grooves of Pat Metheny. The sound is bold and modern as he explains in our interview.

Follow the link for the full interview: Jazz Columns: Julien Labro: Accordion & the Hot Club Tradition – By Gigi Brooks — Jazz Articles.

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