Electronic Press Kit

Ameranouche

Written by Patrick Law, The Wire Magazine

Sept 19th, 2007

Ameranouche songs featured on the silver screen

Something about the gypsy jazz sound of Ameranouche caught the eye of actor-director Kevin Wheatley. Wheatley was surfing MySpace pages in search of music to feature on the soundtrack of his new National Lampoon film, “Beachparty at the Threshold of Hell,” when he came across the local jazz trio. He knew he’d found something special.

He was looking for a certain style of music that reflected American roots—something that was not your standard, typical thing," said Ameranouche guitarist Ryan Flaherty. “Our music is a little different, and I think that turned him on to it.”

The film is a post-apocalyptic political comedy and sci-fi thriller. Wheatley sent Ameranouche an email telling the band about the film and why he thought its music would be perfect. “The film is considered ‘young and hip,’ but the soundtrack is an eclectic mix inspired by truly American music from the 1910s through the 1940s,” Wheatley wrote in the email. “We have used classic American music sounds stemming from the Appalachian Mountains all the way to Hawaii. My hope is to wet the appetites of young America to take interest in the amazing roots of American music. Obviously, it’s extremely important to me that several styles of jazz are represented, and I thought your music is perfect.”

Wheatley asked band members Richard Sheppard (lead guitar and vocals), Xar Adelberg (upright bass and vocals) and Flaherty (rhythm guitar and vocals) to send him a CD of their music. “We were skeptical, but we sent it anyway,” Flaherty said. Through the course of several email exchanges and telephone conversations, Wheatley offered to buy the rights to three Ameranouche songs. The band members’ skepticism continued; they didn’t want to get their hopes up, in case the deal fell through. That was about three months ago, according to Flaherty.

The fact that we could just put up this MySpace page and, out of the millions of MySpace pages, the fact that he found us and found our music is so much fun and very humbling," Flaherty said.

Based in southern New Hampshire, Ameranouche has been together for three years. The band has toured extensively throughout New England and has played shows in the southeastern United States, as well as festivals out west. Flaherty identifies the band as an acoustic gypsy jazz trio with an upbeat style that draws from the innovative music of guitar legend Django Reinhardt. “People really seem to love it,” Flaherty said. Ameranouche composes most of its own songs, which include traces of jazz, swing, gypsy and Latin influence. The band is currently at work on its second album.

Two Ameranouche songs will be featured in the “Beachparty” trailer, and a total of three will appear in the film, according to Flaherty. Sheppard composed all three songs—"Homage," “L’Encureuil Rouge (M’a Les Noix)” and “Spike’s Blues”—all of which are on the band’s debut album, “Homage a Manouche.”

The film was completed two years ago and has made the rounds on the independent film circuit, but Ameranouche was not added to the soundtrack until comedy syndicate National Lampoon, Inc., picked up the film a few months ago. National Lampoon, the network behind such comedy classics as “Animal House,” “Vacation,” “European Vacation” and “Christmas Vacation,” will release “Beachparty at the Threshold of Hell”—complete with its new soundtrack—on Oct. 19.

In the film, only a few survivors remain in post-apocalyptic America, one of whom is Tex Kennedy, a direct descendent of JFK. Along with a pair of former Secret Service robots, Kennedy must reach and reclaim the country’s last functional radio tower in order to unite fellow survivors and retake America. “From the trailer, it looks really hilarious,” Flaherty said. When National Lampoon picked up the film several months ago, the filmmakers decided to scratch some of the previous soundtrack and create some new sounds for the movie.

The band members from Ameranouche are excited their music could be included in that new soundtrack, which also includes music by New Orleans group Preservation Hall Jazz Band. “Hopefully this will widen our window to get our music out to more people,” Flaherty said. "

For more information, visit www.ameranouche.com or www.thresholdofhell.com.

by Lisa Slade

Attitude can be tiring, especially when it comes to self-righteous musicians who are convinced that, in their own special way, they’re saving the world by playing music.

Gypsy Jazz trio Ameranouche is, thankfully, nothing like that. There’s no pretension, and zero vanity. “I’m very blessed, period.” says lead singer and guitarist Richard Sheppard. “Getting to play with Ryan [Flaherty, rhythm guitarist] and Xar [Adelberg, standup bassist] is an amazing thing. They’re both highly dedicated, creative and really nice people.”

Ameranouche plays what is commonly called gypsy jazz, or swing jazz, a style that has its origins with Django Reinhardt in the 1930s. It’s a looser and less structured version of the style of jazz most of us are familiar with. It’s most often performed strictly from memory, no music reading necessary, and Reinhardt didn’t know how to read music at all. But that’s not to say it’s any less complex than traditional jazz. Sheppard says, “I would say that gypsy jazz is acoustic jazz. It’s very energetic and highly athletic in its nature, but it’s not so dense that it makes you want to take a break from it. It’s very accessible music, and it seems to appeal to a large demographic.”

Sheppard also appreciates the group’s varied fan base. “I’m so grateful to the people who are coming out to support this music. I feel like it’s bigger than us, and we’re just trying to be ambassadors to this music we love very much, and that we have a very deep connection to,” Sheppard says. And all kinds of people seem to like it, with Sheppard citing metal, folk, bluegrass, and classical music fans as examples of people who enjoy this kind of thing. “It’s about bringing people together who wouldn’t otherwise be brought together,” he says, “We like it to be a sort of family event, in the sense that we’re reconnecting with people at the shows.”

The music from Ameranouche’s debut album, Homage à Manouche- -with the Manouche referring to the French sect of gypsy jazz, only one of the varieties that Ameranouche draws inspiration from-pays homage to the gypsy tradition, but it also showcases this band’s skills nicely. Sheppard’s guitarwork is lightning fast, sounding almost like virtuosic bluegrass playing, reminiscent of Reinhardt himself. It is energetic music, but never overpowering. It’s upbeat, and friendly sounding, the kind of music you might expect to hear from a group of talented friends playing at someone’s house. There’s no ego involved, only a frenetic lead guitar and a little steadiness coming from the rhythm guitarist, who’s always bringing the music back from whatever depths it wanders into. Most of the songs are Ameranouche originals, but there are also three traditional gypsy songs on the album.

Though Ameranouche has been together for over three years, some of the members have come and gone. Standup bassist Xar Adelberg has only been with the group for a few months. “Xar has brought a positive thing. She’s a woman and she’s paying standup bass, which is a very strong thing for a woman to be doing, especial with this very boisterous, testosterone-based music. I think it’s a really healthy thing, and it shows you don’t have to be a big muscular guy to do this music,” Sheppard says.

Ameranouche’s music may be a reflection of the past, but it’s also clearly looking towards the future. The band is now working on putting together its own record label, called Red Squirrel Records. “We want high-quality acoustic music,” says Sheppard. It’s planning on one band that plays bluegrass, a violinist, and maybe another acoustic jazz band, as well as others down the road. It is also in the process of recording another album, and filming a series of music videos for its website, one of which will be shot by Christian Lange at the World Grotto during its upcoming show. The band plans to put the videos up for its fans to enjoy the energy of a live Ameranouche show, even if they can’t attend.

Even with all Ameranouche is tackling, Sheppard is still clear that this is what he loves doing, and he’ll continue as long as someone’s there to listen. “We’re just regular working stiffs. This is what we do, like carpenters or anyone else. I call it skilled labor, but I can’t call it work,” says Sheppard.

Not entirely sure that you would know gypsy jazz if it smacked you in the face? Well, it’s a good thing that Ameranouche will be stopping at the Sun Music Hall in Floyd on Friday to give you a crash course. The New Hampshire-based band recently released its first official collection of recorded music, a self-titled album that features its trademark speedy sound, thickly steeped in the style of gypsy jazz great Django Reinhardt and the tradition of Jazz Manouche. Rhythm guitarist Ryan Flaherty, contra bassist Benjamin Wood and lead guitarist Richard “Shepp” Sheppard make the complex music form seem deceptively simple as they race over tracks like “La Gitane” and “The Red Wing Tango.” Both Sheppard, who has worked with artists such as Hot Tuna and Taj Mahal, and Wood cultivated an appreciation for gypsy jazz while studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Flaherty was hooked after hearing the music during a visit to Prague, Czech Republic. After making their personal rounds about the country, the three met by chance in New Hampshire and began to carve out their own creative niche in the music industry. They are now one of the most respected gypsy jazz bands in the country. Ameranouche kicked off its “Great South Tour of ’06” in North Carolina, and the band will be heading back home later in the summer to start work on its next album. Sheppard took time out from relaxing pre-tour at his parents’ home in South Jersey to chat about the past, present and future plans for Ameranouche. How are you feeling about the upcoming tour? Richard Sheppard: So far the truck’s running, everyone seems to be playing pretty well, we’re having a good time, and the music is wonderful, it’s enlivening for us all. We just love to play with each other. We get a chance to meet people and stay with people and turn people on to this music. What exactly is “gypsy jazz”? How would you describe it, and how is it different from blues and traditional jazz? RS: What’s really unique about this music is the rhythmic pulse, the liveliness of it, in the sense that it’s very recognizable and bouncy, but it’s very different in another respect. It’s very improvised and very in-the-moment; it has a distinction in the style. That’s really the thing that makes the music sound the way it does, kind of like the alluring thing. The rhythm section is what makes this music move and have a very distinct character. This music is decidedly European, but yet it’s very American as well. It’s a wonderful combo of Europe and America. It’s very good to see positive connections between Europe and America. We do very much so need to maintain that positive, spiritual bond. Tell me more about your other influences. RS: I’ve always been a great admirer of Django [Reinhardt], but I also like Beethoven tremendously, I enjoy the paintings of Monet, and sort of relate that to this whole music. I also like the writing of John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway, and relate it a lot to the form and composition of the music. What attracted you to gypsy jazz in the first place? What was your first experience with it, and what draws you to it more than other types of music? RS: I used to ride with my dad in the truck and we used to listen to AM radio, listening to country western music, and there was also this wonderful guitar playing, and this playing, a lot of it was influenced by Django. I always loved the feel and the style of this music, and the deeper I got into it, I noticed a more personal and very deep connection to things I can’t really explain. The music is like rhythmic laughter, that’s what’s so wonderful. It’s very positive and nice that way. How did your education at Berklee translate to gypsy jazz? RS: It translates wonderfully. The nomenclature is very inclusive and able to translate well to many realms, so it allows me to communicate with other folk, people who are in the audiences who are not necessarily musicians, you can talk to them and try to communicate with them. It basically allows more clarity to happen. What would you say to entice someone unfamiliar with Ameranouche to come to your show in Floyd? RS: I’d say that they would enjoy music that is at once both mysterious and extremely familiar, and swinging. We’re a very swinging group, we like to swing. I mean that in the musical sensibility. We’ll be performing songs from our CD, and songs from Django and other modern masters like Stochelo. We enjoy music, enjoy life, enjoy fellowship with one another. If folks come out to the show, and they like good music, I think that they’d be pleased. And I think they’d have a good time. What are your future plans beyond the tour? RS: We’ll record another album in the fall. The main thing is to try and work this music without it being commonplace. We’re trying to work with different avenues that allow us to stretch composition. But the most important thing is that I want us all to be friends, and make music together, and investigate music. Whatever’s gonna happen is gonna happen. My biggest thing is I want be healthy, and be a good friend, and be a good guitar player to the group, and kind of do my job in the group. All I can hope for is good health, good music and “Latcho Drom,” which means “pleasant journey” in Romany [language of the gypsies in Europe]. We love to play together, we love to make this music, we love that when it happens, it just makes us very happy. We’re just regular guys, we’re working men, we’re not stars. We make music, that’s what we produce.

For those of you who haven’t been fortunate enough to know of one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century, Django Reinhardt, Saturday, Oct. 20, is your lucky day. The nationally acclaimed Gypsy jazz trio, Ameranouche, are coming to Stumpo’s Italian Grille and Restaurant in Somers Point, thanks to the Somers Point Jazz Society. Ameranouche invites jazz lovers into the gypsy realm of jazz, most prevalent and popular in the 1940s. The group specializes in Reinhardt covers and inspired pieces, but also will be performing a fair share of their original acoustic jazz and folk musical creations.

Don Underwood, vice president of the Somers Point Jazz Society, is an expert on all things jazz and knows Ameranouche will wow any jazz lover.

People in jazz or people who like jazz, know Reinhardt is a well-known name," Underwood says. “This act is a throwback to the ’40s in a sense – people can expect three very talented musicians performing a type of music that is a big part of the jazz history.”

Ameranouche are no strangers to playing bigger venues, so coming to small town Somers Point for an evening of incredible and unique jazz music is truly a gift.

It is rare for Ameranouche to play such a small venue," says Underwood, “The band leader, Richard Sheppard, is a native to Millville, so he does have ties to the South Jersey area, which is nice.” Ameranouche have played the Djangofest Northwest and Southwest festivals, three sold out concerts at the Chocolate Church in Maine, the Mill Pond Center of the Arts in New Hampshire, a sold out show at the Boat House Theater in New York and many more.

This (performance) could be billed as first-class entertainment combined with educational value," Underwood says. “They’ll be doing a lot of playing, but they’ll also be doing some talking about the life of Django Reinhardt and his place in music history.”

Specialty: Acoustic jazz and folk music reminiscent of the Gypsy jazz era with a concentration on the music of jazz legend Django Reinhardt.

New To Setlist: Not only does Ameranouche pay homage to Reinhardt, they also will be playing original jazz pieces.

Roster: Richard Sheppard: guitar; Ryan Flaherty: guitar; and Xar Adelberg: bass

Why They’re Cool: Jazz music holds a strong foundation in every genre of music, and they keep true to the jazz roots of the 1940s.

Originals: Their debut album, “Homage A Manouche,” holds plenty of innovative jazz pieces, three of which will be featured in National Lampoon’s soundtrack for “Beach Party on the Threshold of Hell.”

Claim To Fame: Headlining both Djangofests in North America as well as being featured on NHPR’s “The Front Porch.”

Go See Them: 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, at Stumpo’s Italian Grille and Restaurant, Maryland and Sunny avenues, Somers Point. Tickets are $10 for Jazz Society members; $20 for non-members. Call (60… or go to www.spjazz.org.

Web Site: www.ameranouche.com

- Story by Rebecca Grites; photo provided by Ameranouche

New Hampshire’s own Ameranouche!!!, has created an album of incredibly inspiring, and very interesting music. The tunes that make up “Homage A Manouche” are smooth, tasteful, and absolutely swinging. They claim it’s in the spirit of Django Reinhardt, and why not? He’s the original, and the master of gypsy jazz.

Richard “Shepp” Sheppard has composed an arsenal of his own original compositions, while tossing in a couple of cover tunes for good measure (Reinhardt does, in fact, show up). Controlling the mind-blowing lead duties, Sheppard is backed by Ryan Flaherty on rhythm guitar, and Benjamin Wood on the steady, grooving contrabass (or, bull fiddle as they call it). The latter two met and studied at Berklee College of Music.

Sheppard is an aggressor on the guitar, really taking it to its limits. Many of the tunes showcase his ability to make that guitar talk. He forcibly makes the strings resonate, and then he dances across the entirety of the fret board in order to get Ameranouche’s gypsy jazz sound. You can tell he’s had many years of practice. Not to mention, he has taken his talents afar performing with such legendary musicians as Taj Mahal and Hot Tuna, among others.

… Ameranouche Homage A Manouche Self Released

Cd Review, By Jon Nolan, The Wire Magazine, Oct 4th, 2006

There are plenty of genres of music that can be faked, but Gypsy Jazz is not one of them. The style was made famous by the amazing Django Reinhardt in the early to mid 1900s, and the speedy runs and quick change comps on the guitar that characterize the music (nevermind the other players’ chops) usually separate the pros from the shmoes in about two measures. Happily, Ameranouche falls into the former category. The trio’s debut CD, “Homage A Manouche,” is a superbly played collection of original compositions and Gypsy Jazz standards that clearly sets them apart as monster players.

Richard “Shepp” Sheppard is the group’s leader, lead guitarist and co-producer and executive producer of the CD. Wearing many hats doesn’t seem to have taken any of his focus away from the fretboard. His fingers dart around the strings faster then hummingbird wings on “La Gitane,” the album’s lead track and one of the CD’s three covers. Contrabassist Benjamin Wood and Rhythm Guitarist Ryan Flaherty keep up with ease despite the songs tumbling lilt. It would be perfect for a chase scene in a movie.

Along those lines, the original “L’Encureuil Rouge” musically documents the adventures of the Red Squirrels that get into Sheppard’s house every winter and “tear things up,” resulting in a struggle to see the furry little guests to the door. Like the best classical music, it’s a wonderful example of music painting pictures without words, and it’s hilarious.

Reinhardt’s “Place De Broukere” jumps in the hands of these capable players, and the slow galloping “Stockholm” would make the master proud. The originals stand side by side with the older songs and hold thier own, while managing to take things in a slightly different direction from time to time. Latin rhythms and influence infuse Sheppard’s “All in the Way You Smile” and “Maih Maul,” while songs like “Spike’s Blues” and “Homage” wonderfully chop out a classic staccato gypsy style. -Jon Nolan

(The Wire Magazine is one of The Seacoasts leading entertainment guides.)

Let me take you to a place where people congregate to share music and love. A place where laughter is the only drug and an enormous sense of unity is the tie that binds. Welcome to gypsy country, where family, friends, and old traditions ring clearly through the distant smoggy city air, shedding some much-needed light on a sometimes dreary and gloomy reality.

Laughter and joy are the two words that I would use to describe the music," said Richard Sheppard, solo guitarist for the band known as Ameranouche!!!, a word derived from jazz Manouche, which means gypsy jazz.

Well, we’re American, so I decided to change the wording up, and I actually have asked some really renowned jazz Manouche musicians what they thought about what I did with the name, and they thought it was great," said Sheppard.

Fans of Django Reinhardt, a pioneer of jazz Manouche, the band brings this unique and obscure musical experience to the masses with an eclectic combination of Reinhardt, Latin and bebop.

This quick-paced, engrossing and intriguing music is the avenue this Southern New Hampshire ensemble has followed.

Along with Ryan Flaherty on rhythm guitar and Ben Wood on contra bass, Ameranouche!!! has just released its first recording called Homage a Manouche, and will be at Brew’d Awakenings in Lowell Saturday night.

I play a Dell Arte Favino model guitar, and the design of the Dell Arte guitars comes from French and European influence, and are made to play acoustic and jazz music. The bracing design is different, and they have steel strings with a copper core, which is then wound with silver to give it that ringing sound," Sheppard explains.

Ryan plays a Selmer Sweet Chorus model guitar, also a Dell Arte, and Ben plays what he likes to call his ‘bull fiddle.’ Ryan and Ben really are the backbone of the band. They lay the foundation for what I do, which really isn’t necessarily ‘soloing’ in the traditional sense; it just means that I play the lead instrument. They provide the backbone of the group. What they do is so subtly complex that people might not even realize it when they’re listening, but without the rhythm guitar and bass, that would be like taking the drummer out of the equation for a regular band. The drummer can make or break the band, and without these guys, there wouldn’t be anything." But the most important element of this music is the happiness, joy, and feeling of connectivity that spreads to those who listen to and live gypsy jazz.

I get a real visceral reaction sometimes, like they’re not sure what they think at first, but they listen and they seem to enjoy what we’re doing," Sheppard says.

There are these gypsy festivals where hundreds of people come together, friends and family, and it’s all about having that sense of community and joy together, and really laughing together. That’s the gypsy lifestyle."

Join Ameranouche!!! Saturday as they transport you to a simpler time and place, where music and kinship go hand in hand.

I just love this music so much. It’s got such a connective grace. It represents the best of us."

It’s hard to talk about Ameranouche, a hot gypsy jazz trio, without mentioning one of gypsy jazz’s greatest musicians, Django Reinhardt.

Ameranouche’s members say Reinhardt is their top influence.

Django was doing some things with the guitar that, to this day, still shocks many guitar players. There’s this artistic intimacy present. It’s his musicianship and the way that he put things together that’s just really wonderful," said Richard Sheppard, known as “Shepp” with Ameranouche.

Reinhardt (1910-1953) was one of the first European jazz players to bring new applications to an improvisatory stage. Born to a gypsy family, Reinhardt’s first instrument was a violin. In later years, he switched to the banjo and then the guitar. He is most known for his dexterous fretboard technique, which defined a new genre of jazz guitarists.

Because of the underpinning on Django, Ameranouche is very guitar-driven. There are three string instruments so it’s guitar-oriented music. Gypsy jazz works on a universal level. It’s very strong and powerful. The heart beats in a 3/4 time, like a waltz, and that same timing is a strong part of this music," Sheppard said.

Ameranouche features Sheppard on guitar, Ryan Flaherty on rhythm guitar and Benjamin Wood on upright bass. Ameranouche is an upbeat, all-acoustic act presenting their own original material as well as covering some jazz standards.

Although Sheppard describes the music as “pure and unabated, rhythmic laughter,” it’s the elements of the fast arrangements and the original creations that make it Gypsy jazz, while also including tastes of Latin, Parisian, swing and Spanish rhythms.

Ameranouche is a nationally touring act, with recent performances including Djangofest Northwest in Washington, a celebration of the music of Reinhardt.

An important factor in Ameranouche’s gypsy jazz focus, according to Sheppard, is the communal nature of the music. Sheppard said the music is about bringing people together, under a common tent, with music as a universal language to be shared.

It’s not uncommon for Ameranouche to have guest musicians join them in a set. As a matter of fact, Sheppard said they encourage it and hope that more people will give the music a listen.

Our music is just like everyone else’s music. Of course it sounds different, but it’s still the same intent. Everyone’s trying to put out their own creative output. Ours just happens to sound like this," Sheppard said.

It’s rare in music to be able to trace an entire genre’s roots back to one individual. In the case of gypsy jazz, it all goes back to the legendary Django Reinhardt, the Belgian guitarist who melded traditional gypsy music with the hot jazz popular in the 1930s. His aggressive, densely rhythmic guitar attack has had influence on countless musicians over the years, gypsy or not.

Guitarist Richard Sheppard, one-third of the New Hampshire and Maine trio Ameranouche, exists in that tradition, stretching from Reinhardt up through the few (but highly talented) gypsy jazz musicians operating today. The group, which is scheduled to perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, at the Alamo Theatre in Bucksport, plays classic guitar-based gypsy jazz — fast, exciting and just a bit mischievous. Just like Sheppard himself.

It’s intensely intricate guitar stuff. It’s incredibly fast, high speed, high energy," said Xar Adelberg, upright bass player for Ameranouche, who makes her home in Augusta. “That’s how he is. He loves it. He’s in high gear most of the time. He attacks it holistically. He loves performing and rehearsing and everything about it.”

Sheppard, a New Jersey native who lives in New Hampshire, has been playing gypsy guitar for more than 20 years and wanted to start a full band in 2004. As fortune had it, he hooked up with Ryan Flaherty, another gypsy guitarist who ended up moving from Illinois to New Hampshire to join forces with Sheppard. Folks like Flaherty and Sheppard have to stick together. There aren’t a lot of them around.

They met online. Shep played to him over the phone," said Adelberg. “That was it. It’s proof that some good can come from the Internet.”

A year later, a Craigslist post enticed Adelberg, then a freshly graduated music student from the University of Maine at Augusta’s prestigious jazz program, to join up with the pair. Within days, she was in the band and underwent a crash course in gypsy music.

Before I knew what was happening, it was already happening. The first challenge was that I’d never heard of gypsy jazz, so I had to figure it all out," said Adelberg, 26. “Shep and Ryan know it inside out, so they taught me. I basically bought every Django Reinhardt CD and listened to all of it. I was totally immersed in it.”

Gypsy jazz differs from other forms of jazz in that it’s a style that has passed on mainly through families and friends. Very little gypsy music is ever written down.

In the gypsy tradition, everything’s done by word of mouth," said Adelberg. “In gypsy families, everyone gets together and everyone would play and memorize it all. [Sheppard and Flaherty] really wanted me to memorize everything. It was a real challenge. Plus, it’s so different from other styles of upright bass. It’s unique in that you generally play less notes. It’s a different density. It’s very interesting.”

Ameranouche has toured the East Coast as much as possible, though the group mainly sticks to New England. The name is building due to their reportedly incendiary live shows. As Adelberg said, Sheppard has a whole lot of energy to expend on stage. And it comes with the territory. When you’re playing music that’s meant to make people dance and party, it helps to kick it up a notch.

As far as I can tell, it’s one of the most accessible kinds of jazz usually," she observed. “Kids love it. Pretty much anyone who stops long enough to give it a listen loves it. It’s so uncommon in jazz nowadays. We always get a really good reaction. We have people who follow us around when we’re in the area. They want to get into it. It’s a good feeling to spread that, and the tradition.”

Not to be forgotten was our own Jack Soref, who sat in for a number of tunes before heading off down the street to host the gypsy jam session at Atwoods Tavern. Jack teamed with Ryan on tight rhythmical accompaniments and did some nice solos. How he hung in there was inspiring to me! He had to depart midway through the concert. The last tune of the evening was Les Yeux Noirs (Dark Eyes), with Richard pulling out all of Django’s tricks and some of his own, for a satisfying end to a great show.

Later at Atwoods as Jack, Tim Weed, Sven Larson, and I were jamming, Shep, Ryan, and Xar stopped by to visit—even though they had a long drive ahead of them back home. Shep and Ryan sat in and treated us to some more fine tunes. Throughout the evening I was struck by this group’s energy and friendliness. I wish them the best in their upcoming tours.

-Rob Saunders

These days, great music is all around us and available to us instantly; all we need to do is click a link on a webpage, and we can listen to virtuosity on demand – it’s easy to get a little blasé about it. That’s why it’s so important to experience live music first hand. Only in a live setting can one fully appreciate the incredible accomplishment of a musician in the middle of an inspired performance.

The Ameranouche Trio provided just such an inspired performance on January 24th, in Bucksport, Maine, at the Alamo Theatre. To have been a part of that audience was to have witnessed incredible musicianship and passion for craft. It’s not often that I find myself in a state of disbelief regarding what my ears, and my eyes, are presenting to my mind.

This trio consists of Richard Sheppard on lead acoustic guitar, Ryan Flaherty on (mainly) rhythm acoustic guitar, and Xar Adelberg on bass. They perform a well-proportioned mix of standard covers and great original tunes in the gypsy jazz guitar tradition made famous by Django Reinhardt. The fire and sparks come from Sheppard, whose fingers move with blinding speed across the fret board and the sound board of his guitar, producing perfectly-pitched, rapid-fire licks and runs up and down the neck.

The band kicked off the show with “Just One of Those Things” by Cole Porter, and the riffs and melodies coming off Sheppard’s guitar entertained the ear, through their brightness and joy; but also, Sheppard’s hands entertain the eye and the mind. Watching him execute these notes on his instrument is truly a wonder to behold.

Ryan Flaherty is a great example a “supporting performer”. In this sense, I don’t mean to suggest that his contribution is secondary to Sheppard’s; Sheppard creates his amazing lead parts by riffing off the expertly maintained rhythms and changes in tempo that Flaherty lays down like a machine. But Flaherty is a machine with a soul that is filled with romance and high spirits. I watched his supple wrist drive his right hand into a blur, as he strummed the complex backing guitar part, and changed tempo mid-bar, and he did it as easily as if he were merely breathing.

Xar Adelberg is a young woman with a double bass who stands in the background between these two firebrand guitarists, out of the limelight. The primary role that the lead and rhythm guitar parts play in this type of gypsy jazz music leads one to assume that a supporting instrumentalist such as a bassist would be merely trying to keep up. This is not the role that Xar has taken on in this trio. Her lyrical bass lines appear assertively in the mix, as they should, and stitch the lead and rhythm guitar parts together into whole cloth. To watch her hands move expertly and nimbly across her instrument’s four large strings at such a rapid pace, is also to suspend belief in what a person can do with their body if they are driven to it by a passion for art.

These three astounding musicians are constantly watching each other as they play, but they do not focus on each other’s hands. Instead, they are constantly locking onto each other’s eyes, for insight into plans for the next passage, the next riff. It’s like a high-stakes game of poker, and each player has a royal straight flush. They challenge each other and cajole each other, but ultimately, they support each other in creating amazing music.

Ameranouche continued their set with a Django Reinhardt tune, the title of which translates to “Song at Sunset”. This song was much less frantic, more romantic, and showcased more subtlety and finesse on the part of both guitarists. There was lots of interplay between the two guitar lines, a conversation between two old friends as they watch the sun sink below the horizon at the end of a long, satisfying summer day.

They also played their original tune, “Redwing Tango”, which, Sheppard explained, is titled in honor of the red winged blackbird, which is his favorite harbinger of springtime. The traditional tango beat and harmonies emerged only occasionally from the intricate lead lines and the backing rhythm beat, but the tune is an emotional and vibrant contribution to the dance genre.

The crowd was nicely primed for the Ameranouche Trio by Jay Peterson and his son Bjorn, who opened the show. The Petersons are local musicians who are well known for their fun and well-performed shows in the area, and also on WERU radio. Jay is an experienced and accomplished guitarist who injects a lot of humor and wit into his playing; Bjorn plays a mean fiddle, especially considering his tender age, and his body language and enthusiasm on stage reveal a real depth of feeling for the music.

Jay and Bjorn joined Ameranouche for a finale encore; Richard Sheppard was playing his guitar alongside young Bjorn, and he was using eye contact and small verbal encouragements to try and get the young fiddler to really cut loose and play with abandon. Bjorn was holding back; it was obvious that he didn’t’ want to upstage the more accomplished Sheppard, but in the last thirty seconds of the piece, Sheppard triumphed. Bjorn took the bait and laid out a string of fiddle phrasing that he stole from somewhere in the ether. It was thrilling to watch that small piece of the young man’s musical education unfold before our eyes!

Over The Bridge Productions (in the persons of Shawn and Molly Mercer) presents acoustic, roots, and folk music once each month or so at the Alamo Theater in Bucksport. The events have a family and community feeling to them, with young children present, music in the lobby, friendly patrons, and a relaxed atmosphere. John Dillendock of WERU radio is the Master of Ceremonies, and makes everyone welcome. The Alamo is an intimate, comfortable, well-maintained facility that is a pleasure to visit.

Watch for the Ameranouche Trio when they play in your area, they are definitely worth catching. Their CD may be purchased at their website at: http://www.ameranouche.com/