Paris, France (2005 – present)
It all started with a double bass pla… Read Full Bio ↴Paris, France (2005 – present)
It all started with a double bass player, a guitarist and a violinist; all highly talented musicians who are really into swing, Django addicts who enjoy tinkering with electro. Their project swayed a singer, a clarinettist, a trombonist who doubles up on percussion and a guitarist who also acts as DJ. With their “Zazou” look (inspired by Parisian paleo-punks from the 1940s), they serve up festive, frantic music, an improbable futuristic and melodious Charleston fit for the dance floor. Caravan Palace is to swing what the Gotan Project is to tango.
It so often starts out like that: a gang of mates who’ve kicked around together for the past ten years and who each get into music off their own bat. In this case, it was Hugues on the violin, Arnaud on guitar and Carlos on the double bass. A shared craze for manouche jazz (gypsy-style jazz), played in its natural setting, bars. Relatively serious composition, with a Zeitgeist twist: DIY electro, house, dub and hip-hop.
What triggered it all was an order placed by a film production company: a soundtrack for silent porn films dating from the beginning of the 20th century! They trotted out all their talents. Our three heroes played the end result to some friendly listeners, the feedback persuaded them to drop their individual projects and come up with a repertory of their own. Because there was no question for them of reworking Django or giving swing a face-lift! If they were going to forge their own path, it had to be something completely fresh.
This was back in 2005: it would take them an entire year. At which point they met Loïc Barrouk, manager of the Café de la Danse, who was really keen on the project. He got them into the studio (recording with session musicians), and then got them some gigs. For that, they needed some reliable fellow travellers, so they surfed MySpace. Two months later, the troops had been mustered: Chapi (clarinet), Toustou (who plays trombone and beat synthing), Aurélien (alternating as guitarist and DJ) and, last but not least, petulant vocalist Colotis Zoé, every bit as sweet’n’saucy as her signature song “Jolie coquine”! Among the three pioneers, Hugues, the crazy one, has revealed a talent for frenzied scat, Arnaud and Carlos double up their instruments thanks to programming. All together, they composed a new repertory. The Caravan took off.
Caravan Palace’s secret is a supersonic buzz on the Internet (free promo) and a year on the road with hard-hitting concerts, even before they released their record. A prime example was their performance at the 2007 Django Reinhardt Jazz Festival, in Samois, where they wowed an audience who had never heard of them. Veterans from the classic manouche jazz scene were left speechless. The excellent Caravan Palace musicians, who are of course “gadjos” (non-gypsies), have breathed fresh air into the timeless swing scene without coming across as preachers. As well as listeners with curious ears, the Caravan also has its own following, a horde of fans totally into the electro vibe, who turn up at each of their concerts. Caravan Palace’s reputation has rippled beyond the frontiers too, with Europe eager to check them out.
The album has at last been set for release in October 2008, on the Wagram label. With Caravan Palace, the future of swing looks set to swing.
It all started with a double bass pla… Read Full Bio ↴Paris, France (2005 – present)
It all started with a double bass player, a guitarist and a violinist; all highly talented musicians who are really into swing, Django addicts who enjoy tinkering with electro. Their project swayed a singer, a clarinettist, a trombonist who doubles up on percussion and a guitarist who also acts as DJ. With their “Zazou” look (inspired by Parisian paleo-punks from the 1940s), they serve up festive, frantic music, an improbable futuristic and melodious Charleston fit for the dance floor. Caravan Palace is to swing what the Gotan Project is to tango.
It so often starts out like that: a gang of mates who’ve kicked around together for the past ten years and who each get into music off their own bat. In this case, it was Hugues on the violin, Arnaud on guitar and Carlos on the double bass. A shared craze for manouche jazz (gypsy-style jazz), played in its natural setting, bars. Relatively serious composition, with a Zeitgeist twist: DIY electro, house, dub and hip-hop.
What triggered it all was an order placed by a film production company: a soundtrack for silent porn films dating from the beginning of the 20th century! They trotted out all their talents. Our three heroes played the end result to some friendly listeners, the feedback persuaded them to drop their individual projects and come up with a repertory of their own. Because there was no question for them of reworking Django or giving swing a face-lift! If they were going to forge their own path, it had to be something completely fresh.
This was back in 2005: it would take them an entire year. At which point they met Loïc Barrouk, manager of the Café de la Danse, who was really keen on the project. He got them into the studio (recording with session musicians), and then got them some gigs. For that, they needed some reliable fellow travellers, so they surfed MySpace. Two months later, the troops had been mustered: Chapi (clarinet), Toustou (who plays trombone and beat synthing), Aurélien (alternating as guitarist and DJ) and, last but not least, petulant vocalist Colotis Zoé, every bit as sweet’n’saucy as her signature song “Jolie coquine”! Among the three pioneers, Hugues, the crazy one, has revealed a talent for frenzied scat, Arnaud and Carlos double up their instruments thanks to programming. All together, they composed a new repertory. The Caravan took off.
Caravan Palace’s secret is a supersonic buzz on the Internet (free promo) and a year on the road with hard-hitting concerts, even before they released their record. A prime example was their performance at the 2007 Django Reinhardt Jazz Festival, in Samois, where they wowed an audience who had never heard of them. Veterans from the classic manouche jazz scene were left speechless. The excellent Caravan Palace musicians, who are of course “gadjos” (non-gypsies), have breathed fresh air into the timeless swing scene without coming across as preachers. As well as listeners with curious ears, the Caravan also has its own following, a horde of fans totally into the electro vibe, who turn up at each of their concerts. Caravan Palace’s reputation has rippled beyond the frontiers too, with Europe eager to check them out.
The album has at last been set for release in October 2008, on the Wagram label. With Caravan Palace, the future of swing looks set to swing.
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@_theryanchap
Why can I see Holmes and Watson (the movie versions) fighting through a bar full of drunken thugs? For some reason it has that semi-serious/semi-comical vibe to it.
I can imagine the whole room going quiet, just as Holmes' downs a shot of whiskey and places his glass down on the bar.
"What?" he asks, looking about at them slightly confused. "Something I said?"
"Damn it, Holmes!" Watson snips, just as a fist impacts him in the back of he neck.
Fighting Ensues...
@soraos21
A bunch of young kobolds are gathered around an elder, waiting for the story perched upon the tip of her tongue. Drinks are being passed around as idle chatter quiets down.
"I remember the Red Master's final moments," she says, "as I was there to witness them. He gazed deep into a sapphire several times my size, cut to perfection by the dwarves he'd conquered ages before we served him. As he gazed into its many facets his eyes began to shimmer, and in the depths of his gaze I saw a tale he'd kept close to his heart for uncounted centuries." All eyes were focused upon the elder, occasionally flitting to the dull ruby scale she wore as a necklace.
"He was flying one day, carefree and frolicking in his youth, when a sapphire dragon flew past him at high speeds over the plains. With a burst of pride he surged forwards and so began a race unlike any other. They flew side by side, neither one willing to allow the other to gain the lead. Over plains, savannah, and foothills they soared before plunging into the depths of a cave. With barely enough light to see by, both swerved betwixt grand stalagmites and ancient pillars carved by dark elf hands. Here the Master fell back and beheld a dark elf drider thrust her hands skyward just in time for her decorative bracelets to be caught by the sapphire one's tail spines." Chuckles ripple softly amidst the kobolds as the image of a surprised drider clinging to a flying dragon's tail surfaces in their minds. But the elder's tale is not yet over.
"Soon after this the dark elven pillars gave way to natural ones and the light grew brighter. Ahead was an opening, but it was much smaller than the one both dragons had flown in from. The Master grew worried, for though he wished to win he did not want to due to an injury to his competition. He braced himself for the crunch of bone against stone and waited. But the sounds never came, as the hole was due to vines that had grown over the cave's mouth. The Master watched as the sapphire dragon folded their wings and burst through the hole like an arrow freshly loosed. When he came out immediately after, the sapphire one was silhouetted against the noon sun, the drider having been flung off their tail at high speeds and spinning to the ground far below." Here the elder pauses for a drink, then continues her tale.
"The scales, young and fresh, glimmered like the jewel the master was gazing into, casting all below the dragon in a shimmering blue like light reflecting off of water. Then, as if knowing they were being watched, the sapphire dragon used their wings to push forward into a dive before curling them against their body. They fell hard and fast, spreading their wings and curling into forward flight and shooting past the Master like a ballistae bolt. They were too fast for the Master to keep up, and he eventually caught up with the sapphire one who was sitting at the entrance to a cave much smaller than the one thy had flown through. With his head hung low, the Master conceded defeat and offered himself to his erstwhile opponent.
"Little did he know that the sapphire one, impressed with his flying skills, was overjoyed with him. The sapphire one accepted the Master's offering and took him as her husband." The gathering of kobolds gasp in surprise at this turn of events and listen to the rest of the story with glee.
"What I saw next in the Master's eyes were moments of joy, time he spent with his mate. The times they'd flown together just because they could, kingdoms they'd conquered, treasures they'd amassed, and the children they'd birthed and sent out into the world. As these images flashed across his eyes, the heat in his chest dwindled down to nothing, and the light in the eye I could see faded away. His grasp on the giant sapphire slackened and his mighty claw sank to the ground, and with one last smoke-filled breath... He died." The elder wiped the back of a shaking paw across her eyes as many in the audience whimpered and sniffled.
"As I turned to gather my things, something moved in the corner of my eye. I looked and beheld an image reflected in the sapphire's surface. An image of two dragons walking side by side towards the cave's entrance, one as blue as the gem itself and beautiful beyond compare and the other a brilliant ruby red. As I looked closer I saw that their tails were entwined with each other, and that the Master was far younger in the reflection."
@theoverseer393
im imagining a baby dragon sits in a cage, being sold in a marketplace, when the cage falls and it's set free, and it proceeds to fly around, unintentionally causing chaos escaping and maybe breathing fireballs occasionally
@codeiasnotdead2945
Someone needs to make somthin like that... I can draw but I have no animations skill so... not it!!
@moiseslopez3078
And trying to Steal jewelry from the persons, flapping its winds like a chicken to stabilize
@penitentestudios1492
So like a music video
@BLARGEO
And this music playing the background chef's kiss
@ShineTermiten
That's creative
@matthieuwojcik6609
I work as a florist.
Sometimes, during the preparation of big floral events ( Valentine's day, Mother's day, Christmas etc ) I put this music alongside other Caravan Palace titles for my (numerous ) co-workers and I.
Damn, the general happy mess, all those people, all those flowers, with that music. It's quite something.
@EariosRandomness
For some reason, I'm imagining a bar fight to this that gets progressively more ridiculous until, at the end, the galaxy blows up.
@shiftyandromeda5046
Well, it's not quite that crazy, but it sounds like you're looking for the Lone Digger music video.
@lewserrr
EariosRandomness niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice