GYPSY WRANGLERS
Swinging, bluesing and jazzing, the Gypsy Wranglers create a musical cattle drive from Paris, Texas, to Paris, France. Like Camembert cheese on a sourdough biscuit, their music is a special blend of New Orleans Jazz, Western Swing, Ragtime , Benny Goodman, Django and French Musette. A Gypsy Wranglers performance will take you to a New York nightclub of 1938, a Paris sidewalk café and a Texas roadhouse, all within a half hour
The music, drawing from the traditions of such jazz greats as Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, Bob Wills and Benny Goodman, is performed on fiddle, guitar, accordion, trombone, bass and drums, with appearances by blues harp, chromatic harmonica and mandolin.
The Gypsy Wranglers have entertained audiences at festivals, concerts, weddings, fairs, schools, radio and cruises throughout New England, as well as Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. Readers of the Valley Advocate, the arts weekly of the Connecticut River Valley, selected the Gypsy Wranglers as their favorite swing band in the annual GRAND BAND SLAM for six years in a row and the Advocate has retired their number from competition, hoisting their jersey’s to the rafters.
Their three recordings, Step It Up & Go, St. Tropez Cowboy and Ain’t Nobody Here But Us, have received acclaim in local and national music reviews.
In the tradition of the jazz bands of New Orleans, the Gypsy Wranglers perform regular free public concerts, appearing most Sunday mornings from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Black Sheep Deli in Amherst, Massachusetts.
The Gypsy Wranglers:
Doug Tanner: violin, chromatic harmonica, vocals
Terry “T-Bone” Nagel: trombone, mandolin, vocals
Craig Hollingsworth: accordion, vocals
Terry Reed: guitar, blues harp, vocals
Lynn Lovell: bass, background vocals, chicken imitations
Rico Spence: drums, background vocals
call: (413) 367-2651 or (978) 544-2067
email:
visit: www.gypsywranglers.com
GYPSY WRANGLERS
“Don’t bother finding a category for it – it belongs to its own…They have fun and so will you!”
Jazz Improv Magazine
“Our audiences were delighted by their combination of high spirits and terrific musicianship, both at the concert stages and the dance stage. They brought swing and edge and color to our festival and a large charge of sheer fun.”
R.D. Eno, Program Chair, Champlain Valley Folk Festival
“Lots of people can play swing, but these guys bring it alive with engaging improvisation and constant changes of instrumentation.”
Valley Advocate
“Fabulous!”
Johnny Memphis - WRSI - The River 93.9
“The best music I ever heard at a wedding!”
John Dion
“These folks do it up right.”
Meathook Williams
“…. part Gypsy, part cowboy, and on the whole a way cool hybrid.” V Mag
“Like Camembert cheese on a sourdough biscuit.”
call: (413) 367-2651 or (978) 544-2067
email:
visit: www.gypsywranglers.com
Anonymous
Are you guys a swing band?
Well, yes, but…..
We play swing and the music of the many cultures that became American swing: dance music from the 20’s and 30’s (more or less) that originated in New Orleans, Chicago, New York, San Antonio, Paris, Buenos Aires, Caracas.…. Our set lists vary with the venue and the audience. Here is a set of tunes from the Sunset Concert Series we played at the Summit House, an historic Victorian inn perched at the top of the Holyoke Mountain Range.
1. Belleville – Written by the stellar Gypsy guitarist and originator of Gypsy Jazz, Django Reinhardt.
2. Old Chunk of Coal – a great country song by Billy Joe Shaver.
3. Hi-Flyer Stomp – theme song of the Texas Hi-Flyers, ca. 1933.
4. Stop Pretending – Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys used to play this song.
5. Dinah – a traditional jazz song: Louis Armstrong recorded it.
6. Valse de Niglos – a French Gypsy waltz.
7. St. Tropez Cowboy – written by our own T-Bone Nagel, this song celebrates the cowboy wannabees of the French Riviera.
8. Jive at Five – swing by Count Basie.
9. El Choclo – tango from Argentina.
10. When the Sun Goes Down – country blues.
11. Flying Home – classic swing by Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton, and we really SWING it!
Notable performances include:
• Carrefour Mondial de l’Accordeon, Montmagny, Quebec
• Kimberley Int'l Accordion Championships, Kimberley BC
• Champlain Valley Folk Festival, Burlington VT
• Summerfest, New Bedford MA
• Green River Festival, Greenfield MA
• Solarfest, Poultney VT
• Iron Horse, Northampton MA
• Ironwood Stage and Grill, Calgary AB
• Western & Swing Week - Ashokan, NY
• Quinnetucket II Cruise, Northfield MA
• North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival, Orange MA
~ a musical cattle drive from Paris, Texas to Paris, France ~