Portland Ovations Presents HOT CLUB OF SAN FRANCISCO, 11/16

Portland Ovations presents The Hot Club of San Francisco at Hannaford Hall, in USM's Abromson Center, Tuesday, November 16th at 7:30 p.m. The performance, entitled Silent Surrealism, combines silent surrealist films with live gypsy jazz music in a tradition stemming back to pre-WWII Europe.

Known the world over, The Hot Club of San Francisco plays the gypsy jazz music of guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli and the original Hot Club de France. Reinhardt, Grappelli and their quintet performed around Europe and had a successful career and notable fame prior to the outbreak of World War II.

Silent Surrealism takes the audience back in time when traveling musicians in Europe would project silent films on the side of a barn in the countryside and play original music that followed the activity and expressed the emotions exhibited in the film. The program at Hannaford Hall includes short silent films by Charley Bowers such as Now You Tell One and It's a Bird, as well as films by James Sibley Watson and Harold Shaw. The Hot Club accompanies these films with the distinctive gypsy jazz music made famous by Reinhardt and Grappelli. Reviving this lost tradition, Silent Surrealism transports the audience to all-but-forgotten realms of fancy and imagination.

Ovations Offstage is offering a free pre-performance lecture at Hannaford Hall, The Legacy of the Gypsy Jazz Guitarist. This lecture is scheduled from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and is presented by composer/performer Dan Sonenberg. Sonenberg discusses the story, music, and impact of legendary gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt in the 100th anniversary of his birth.

The presentation of The Hot Club of San Francisco is sponsored by Hannaford Supermarkets and made possible, in part, by media support from WMPG Community Radio.

Tickets are $36 for the general public, $32 for Ovations Members, and $10 for full-time students. Contact PortTix at 207.842.0800 or visit the window at 20 Myrtle Street in Portland for tickets. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.portlandovations.org. If supplies last, tickets will also be available in the Abromson Center lobby the night of the performance.