NOVEMBER 12, 2009 ISSUE
One Leg Up Performs at Peabody’s Charity Wine Expo Saturday
One Leg Up, a gypsy jazz band based in Asheville, will provide the ambience for the Peabody’s Charity Wine Expo this Saturday, November 14. Photo submittedThose who attended Peabody’s Charity Wine Expo last year heard Asheville-based One Leg Up perform, and attendees of “the social event of the year” this Saturday will receive another, even better dose of the group’s gypsy jazz.
“We weren’t in full strength…we were missing our fiddle player last year,” said Mike Guzalak. “The music will be even better this year.”
One Leg Up features John Stineman on guitar and vocals, Jim Tanner on guitar, Guzalak on clarinet, saxophone and vocals, Steve Trismen on violin and vocals and Zack Page on upright bass.
Peabody’s Charity Wine Expo takes place this Saturday, November 14, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center in Boone. The event costs $45 per person and features more than 200 varieties of wine and dishes from 14 local restaurants to sample.
Guzalak encourages attendees to show off their swing-dancing prowess.
“We love to see folks dance,” he said.
The acoustic swing, gypsy jazz style of music is “based upon a substyle of jazz started by Django Reinhardt in the 1930s-40s,” Guzalak said.
Reinhardt, “a true gypsy,” was illiterate and lived in France. He was “a genius on the guitar,” Guzalak said, adding that after he discovered Louis Armstrong-era American jazz and started covering big bands, he produced a distinctive style of his own.
“I’ve played all different styles [but] I like this one the best,” Guzalak said, adding that it is his favorite style of music because it is so lively, danceable, fun and challenging.
He also likes that, at different times, each musician takes the lead and does a solo improvisation, he said.
Additionally, Guzalak gets to sing “some of those old-fashioned, I call them crooning, songs,” he said. “We’re playing the style of music my parents grew up with and danced to. It’s a nice connection to the older generation.”
The music involves a lot of chord changes, most is uptempo and it is not an easy style to play, Guzalak added.
The audience, however, enjoys “easy listening” and, because of the instrumentation, elegant background music that is perfect for events such as the wine expo, Guzalak said. One Leg Up also plays at concerts, festivals and weddings parties, and, in addition to jazz, covers some world music, including various Latin styles, he said.
The bandmates hail from various parts of the country. Stineman and Tanner, both from Gainsville, Fla., had met each other while living in Florida, but neither knew that the other had moved to Asheville until they reconnected there, Guzalak said.
Trismen, originally from the Northeast, lived in Boulder, Colo., for years prior to moving to Asheville, and Guzalak is from upstate New York, he said.
Page, whose brother Andy Page teaches guitar at ASU, is from North Carolina.
Trismen and Page were musically trained in school, and Stineman, Tanner and Guzalak were all self-taught musicians, he said.
Tickets to the wine expo can be purchased in person at Peabody’s, located at 1104 Highway 105 Bypass in Boone, or by credit card over the phone, in which case, the tickets will be available at the will call box on the day of the event. To purchase tickets or for more information, call 828-264-9476.
For more information about One Leg Up, click to www.onelegupjazz.com.
Community Interest
News & Notes
Events
Arts & Entertainment
