Who or what is GAUCHO?
Without a lengthy explanation, they are a wonderful small band — their main allegiance is to the music of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelly, but they aren’t Gypsy drones, running up and down the fretboard in defiance of melody and common sense. Usually they have two guitars (solo and rhythm), an accordion, string bass, and friends.
Here’s a sample — GAUCHO performing AFTER YOU’VE GONE — Rob Reich on accordion, Ari Munkres on string bass, Dave Ricketts and Michael Groh on guitars, with our own Tamar Korn:
San Franciscans are already used to having GAUCHO in their midst, and the first time I heard some version of this group was in 2005 on a visit to that city — I believe at Amnesia.
But for those New Yorkers who aren’t flying westward any time soon, GAUCHO has come to us. Here are the dates (on short notice, for which I apologize):
Monday, October 3:
Pete’s Candy Store, 10 pm
709 Lorimer St, Brooklyn
Wednesday, October 5
Radegast Hall and Biergarten, 8 pm
113 N 3rd St, Brooklyn
Thursday, October 6
Downhouse Lounge, 9 pm
250 Ave X, Brooklyn
Saturday, October 8
Zebulon 8 pm
258 Wythe Ave
GAUCHO is slightly smaller than usual (you know, weight restrictions on airline travel). The Brooklyn version is Dave Ricketts (guitar); Rob Reich (accordion);
Ari Munkres (bass); Yair Evnine (cello, guitar).
And who knows who might want to sit in? Miss Korn, her ethereal self, lives in Brooklyn. GAUCHO swings mightily and tenderly, and they are worth seeing. I guarantee it.
JAZZ LIVES 