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The Hot Club of San Francisco has never shied away from putting their own stamp on the Gypsy jazz sound created by Manouche guitar legend Django Reinhardt and French violin maestro Stephane Grappelli in 1930s Paris. Guitarist Paul "Pazzo" Mehling, a leading force in North America's Hot Club movement since it's inception in the late 1980s, has long made a point of featuring original tunes along with Reinhardt standards and imaginative Djangofied interpretations of songs by the likes of Lennon and McCartney. But the HCSF's 15th album, Original Gadjo, captures the creative ferment of the whole group, not just that of it's fearless leader. Slated for release Sept. 13, 2024, it's a project that finds the venerable combo revivified after a pandemic-induced hiatus, hitting on all creative cylinders.

"From the beginning our mission statement was not just to preserve this music, but to pursue the intriguing question, 'What would Django do if he were still alive?'" Mehling says. "And after 35 years of chasing that sound, this album embraces our identities as gadjos, aka outsiders and Americans who were drawn to Django's sound but were not born to it."

While the album features original tunes contributed by an impressive cast of current and former members of the HCSF, Mehling is still the quintet's defining compositional voice, with ebullient pieces like "Dainty" and "Praise D. Lloyd, " a churchy piece that will inspire many an "amen!" Some 35 years into the group's reign as the nation's longest-running Hot Club ensemble, the HCSF continues to expand the possibilities of Djangology.