Les Gwan Jupons plays the exotic and romantic Caribbean music of nearly a century ago, while Sweetfoot & the Island Machine bring us up-to-date, for a marvelous night of tropical dance music.

 

Les Gwan Jupons play vintage Caribbean party music from the French, Spanish and English-speaking Caribbean: biguine from Martinique, calypso from Trinidad, cumbia from Colombia, son and bolero from Cuba, even roots reggae from Jamaica. With an acoustic sound driven by upright bass, guitar and drum set, and a horn section inspired by dancehall biguine bands from the French West Indies in the 1930s and ‘40s, the band features some of the Bay Area's most grooving musicians playing some of the most joyful repertoire on earth! Making its Ashkenaz debut, Les Gwan Jupons features bassist Lisa Mezzacappa, guitarist John Finkbeiner, drummer-percussionist John Hanes, clarinetist Cory Wright and Rob Ewing on trombone. The band evolved from co-leaders Mezzacappa (well-known as a composer and improviser in the avant-garde realm) and Finkbeiner sharing a love for the older Caribbean dance forms. Mezzacappa says, “We have both had a longstanding love of this music and wanted to figure out how to make these old recordings come alive with some of the more eclectic jazz musicians we play with in town. We have both led and played in dub (Guerrilla Hi-Fi), roots reggae (Joseph's Bones) and ska (Franco Nero) bands to together for years.” Les Gwan Jupons goes farther back to the roots of those styles.