Gypsophilia’s fresh face

Nick Wilkinson raises his hand to block fellow guitar player
Ross Burns’ beard, and squints. The Gypsophilia boys are picturing what
they’d look like with moustaches, only.

The new aesthetic is inspired by trumpet player Matt Myer, who
shaved his beard to showcase his moustache. Now the three other bearded
members have a dilemma: to shave or not to shave.

Deliberation ensues, including Wilkinson pondering whether his hair
is thick enough to support the look, and guitar player Alec Frith
considering styling his moustache “a la conquistador,” is similar to
their music-making process: One person throws out an idea, the other
members go off on a tangent of inspiration, creating the structure of a
song, or here, the makings of a new look.

The seven-piece gypsy jazz band of late-20 somethings (save for
Sageev Oore, who is somewhere between 35 and 37) are releasing their
sophomore album, Sa-Ba-Da-OW!.

The band started five years ago, when Wilkinson, a fan of gypsy-jazz
father Django Reinhardt, posted a message on Craigslist seeking a
guitar player to jam with. Frith responded and the rest is
incestuous-Halifax-music-scene history. He invited some musicians he’d
played with before to join: bass player Adam Fine and saxophone player
Dani Oore (who also plays in a klesmer band with keyboard player Sageev
Oore, who joined the band a year later), as well as Burns, who Frith
plays with in reggae band Verbal Warnin’ (as does Myer, who joined the
band three years later).

When they landed a spot in the 2004 Atlantic Jazz Festival, the
musicians pulled together a set, invited classically trained violinist
Gina Burgess to play, and thought up a name for their band. The show
was a success, and Gypsophilia quickly became known for live
performances involving retro costumes and inducing dance parties.

Sa-Ba-Da-OW!—Myer came up the name to capture the language
musicians speak to each other in—focuses more on showcasing their
diverse musical talents than staying within the confines of gypsy
jazz.

What would Django think?

“Django’s into progressing,” says Frith, who sports a goatee-like
beard and moustache combo. “There’s something stagnant about just
focusing on trying to nail a genre. We’re not denying ourselves other
inspirations, which I think is more honest.”

Dani Oore, who composed over half the songs on their first album
Minor Hope, left for Europe while they wrote and recorded the
second album. Myer’s trumpet is a new addition to the band’s sound;
Fine trades his acoustic double-bass for an electric bass on a couple
of tracks, and Sageev plays synths rather than a standard keyboard.

The album was recorded over three days at Echo Chamber studio with
sound engineer Charles Austin, whereas the first album was recorded
live in front of an audience. Though the band still played each track
on Sa-Ba-Da-OW! during recording as they would in a show to
capture live energy, they were free to take more chances knowing they
could edit tracks. It’s a tighter, more percussive and diverse
sound.

Most of the 12 tracks start basic and build, switching some
combination of rhythms, tempos or genres. “A-Oha” begins with a simple
bass line that quickly turns into a klesmer hook, peppered with
Brazilian tambourine shakes. The trumpet sings out loud, and a piano
solo slows things down mid-way, placing you at a Parisian cafe before
thrusting you back to your cousin’s Bat Mitzvah for the refrain. “You
Make Time” layers jazzy trumpet, violin and guitar over a reggae-like
groove. There’s no ego in this gypsy band. Instruments co-mingle like
people linking arms in a dance circle, occasionally pushing someone to
the centre before rejoining the group.

The moustache conversation has permeated plans for their CD release
party at FRED, their last show before leaving on a tour of
coast-to-coast Canadian jazz festivals. Burns suggests they draw
moustaches on people’s hands. Myer proposes a best moustache contest
and Frith describes the prize: a moustache comb with a FRED-emblazoned
logo.

“I like that,” says Burns. “We’ll get lawyers on how to divvy up the
profits.” And just like that, a new idea is born.

Gypsophilia CD release, June 19 and 20 at FRED, 2606
Agricola, 9pm, $11adv/$15 door.

This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2009.