FREE in-store concert with Gypsy Swing Band HARMONIOUS WAIL

Saturday , April 03, 2004
11:00 am
Location: Elderly Instruments
in-store performance (free)

Harmonious Wail was formed in 1987 after years of listening to the music of Gypsy guitar genius Django Reinhardt and experimenting with acoustic swing. The four-piece band has since established itself as a forerunner of an enticing style of swing fusion, and for nearly two decades the Madison, Wisconsin, group has blended the melodious sounds of the great jazz vocalists with the energy of Django-inspired Gypsy swing and new acoustic music; it's Gypsy swing with killer vocals.

In 1994, Elderly carried Harmonious Wail's then-new album Airborne with a "Hot Platter Review" describing the music: "So what kind of music is this, anyway?" wrote our buyer, who then commented, "Sure, they play guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and bass; but they're way too uptown to be folk or bluegrass....
Furthermore, they can sing....It's 'string swing.' They don't just rely on the old standards, either, but a generous helping of fresh, clever material of their own."

Dirty Linen, that trusted bastion of folk music, wrote that Harmonious Wail "plugs into their audience" and that "vocals are confident and right on target" with "contemporary chops and energy."

Stop in and enjoy the free concert at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 3, and check out their four CDs, each offering time-honored swing standards and contemporary originals. Also please note that all four members of the band are offering workshops Saturday afternoon. These 90-minute workshops are described below.

You can also catch Harmonious Wail Friday, April 2, at 8 p.m. at the Ten Pound Fiddle Coffeehouse located in the Unitarian Universalist Church on Grove Street in East Lansing.

Check out recordings we carry featuring Harmonious Wail