"We started out as a Django Reinhardt tribute band. That was our launching point," says Adam Fine, Gypsophilia's double bassist since 2004. "We had a strong Eastern European and Balkan influence, but now we have elements of different kinds of things."
Gypsy jazz sextet Gyposophilia releases its fourth full-length, Night Swimming this week, celebrating with three shows at The Company House. Each show captures the various modes and styles of Gypsophilia. "Our band is definitely a mishmash more than anything else," says Fine. "Like, I play in a klezmer band, and Bend the River. Or we'll bring in Brazilian sounds because of Ross [Burns'] capoeira connection. We throw a bunch of things together and then it all works out."
Gypsophilia's creative fluidity as a group comes from years of playing together and honing their various influences: "The record actually sounds like we think we sound," says Fine. He says Night Swimming, recorded at New Scotland Yard and produced by electronic artist Joshua Van Tassel, took the band in new directions: "There's a lot more reverb and it's a lot more electronically altered than our past records, rather than live off the floor. We wanted something darker."
The result is the band's most cinematic work to date. The album's nine tracks transform musical concepts like gypsy jazz and ragtime into rich, fresh, distinct and satisfying vignettes. "It feels like scenes in a film," explains Fine. "But it's like a film with all of the scenes made by a bunch of different directors who are all telling different stories. It evokes visuals more than our last records, but what those visuals are is up to the audience."
Gypsophilia album release shows
Saturday, June 6 at 7:30 and 11pm
Sunday, June 7 at 3pm (all ages)
The Company House, 2202 Gottingen Street
$5-$20
www.gypsophilia.org