The Hot Sardines is currently on tour promoting their new album French Fries and Champagne, join us on April 25 at The Orpheum Theatre as they will take the stage with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Vintage sounds are timeless, and The Hot Sardines are dedicated to reviving the music of the past and fostering a community through their unique musical concoction. The eight-piece ensembles ragtime piano playing combined with their horn arrangements and soulful vocals is the perfect hot jazz mix. Their upbeat swinging style makes you want to get up and dance and tap your feet along to the rhythm. Just check out this video of them!
French Fries and Champagne contains a mix of covers and originals reminiscent of New York speakeasies, Parisian cabarets, and New Orleans Jazz Halls. It charted on the top 10 of the Billboard Jazz Chart.
The Hot Sardines new album is an authentic portrayal of the band, containing high-culture baroque-esque elements in some songs, and up-tempo hot jazz elements in other songs that are reflective of their Brooklyn roots. The album conveys the message that it’s okay to have your French fries with champagne, as in this day and age, there is not as much of a border between high and low culture as there used to be, and to “just be yourself”. This will be demonstrated on April 25 as the Hot Sardines take the stage with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Though the band members are not fixed, and there may be different band members playing the show, the members that participated on French Fries and Champagne are bassist Evan Crane, trumpet player Jason Prover, drummer Alex Raderman, saxophone and clarinet Nick Myers, and trombone and cornet Mike Sailors.
My favourite track from their album is their rendition of “Petite Fleur” by Sidney Bechet. Elizabeth’s voice really shines when she sings in French. Her warm timbre is the perfect voice for vintage jazz. When I listen to her sing this song I am immediately transported to a Parisian speakeasy bar. Elizabeth’s voice could easily be the soundtrack to the next James Bond Film.
The Hot Sardines was formed when bandleader Evan Palazzo and lead singer Elizabeth Bougerol met in 2007 through a Craigslist ad about a jazz jam session. The lead singer is a London School of Economics graduate and travel writer who grew up in France, Canada and the Ivory Coast, and Evan is a New York City born and raised actor who studied theatre at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. The two bonded over their mutual musical inspirations such as Fats Waller and others. They began playing open-mic nights and small gigs, before eventually landing gigs at established venues like New York’s Lincoln Arts Centre. Talk about humble beginnings! The ensemble has come a long way from playing to small audiences at underground venues and we are thrilled to have the ensemble playing as part of our year round programming.
If you want see the Hot Sardines perform with the VSO, tickets are available now at coastaljazz.ca.
