For Immediate Release:Contact: David Kuehn, Executive DirectorCotuit Center for the ArtsPhone: (508) 428-0669Email: David@cotuitcenterforthearts.orgWebsite: ArtsOnTheCape.org

Rhythm Future Quartet at Cotuit Center for the Arts

Cotuit Center for the Arts presents the Rhythm Future Quartet, on Saturday, April 4, at 7:30 PM.

The Rhythm Future Quartet performs dynamic and fiery arrangements of traditional gypsy jazz, gypsy jazz-influenced jazz standards and world music, and original compositions. Violinist Jason Anick and guitarist Olli Soikkeli, the front men and lead soloists for the group, are each virtuoso players in their own right.

Anick has been praised as “easily one of the best jazz violinists of his generation,” and a composer whose “compositional voice is as distinctive as his virtuoso playing.” The Wall Street Journal described Soikkeli as “a riveting Finnish guitarist who combines astonishing dexterity and speed with pure soul in a way that places him among the worthiest current day successors to the legacy of the great Django.”

Gypsy jazz was developed by Romani guitarist and composer Jean “Django” Reinhardt in France in the 1930s and ‘40s. It combines a dark, chromatic gypsy flavor with swing articulation, with rhythm guitar taking the place of drums.

Anick and Soikkeli give gypsy jazz their own interpretation. “What inspires us is the acoustic instrumentation, the energy, the rhythmic drive, and the sound,” said Anick. “We play traditional gypsy jazz, as well as some foot-tapping, very danceable swing music, Latin music, and our own contemporary gypsy jazz style.”

Among the pieces on the band’s self-titled debut album they will perform are Anick’s arrangements of George Gershwin’s “Summertime,” introduced with a bassline from Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” Cole Porter’s “Night and Day,” and Charlie Parker’s “Ornithology.”

The quartet is named after a Django Reinhardt tune, “Rhythm Futur.” “It was one of his more quirky and harmonically interesting pieces, very wild and outside of what was going on,” said Anick. But the name also relates to the youth of the players—Anick is 29, Soikkeli, is 23, and rhythm guitar player Max O’Rouke is 18—and the way they are pushing the style of the music into the future, much as Django himself did.

“We bring a fresh, youthful spirit, drawing on inspirations from around the world, giving the music a wider audience,” said Anick.

Anick was introduced to gypsy jazz early on by his father, a big fan of Reinhardt and jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli, who often played with him.

“We really enjoyed playing the music together, him on the guitar, me on the violin,” said Anick. “He took me to see Grappelli when I was 11, and I got to meet him. I just fell in love with the music.”

Soikkeli came to gypsy jazz a little differently. “I started guitar when I was 12, playing rock and roll and heavy metal,” he said. Then, when he was 14 or 15, a teacher introduced him to Django Reinhardt and gypsy jazz. “What I liked about heavy metal was the fast playing,” said Soikkeli, “but these guys played even faster.”

Anick and Soikkeli met at a gypsy music camp in Northampton called Django in June, where they both taught. Anick, who grew up in Marlboro, had been going to the camp for years, first as a participant, and later as a teacher. “It was a really deep exposure to this type of music,” said Anick. “I got to hear and play with a lot of European players, and, gypsy jazz being a European tradition, there are a lot of amazing players over there.”

Soikkeli, who was living in his native Finland at the time, was one of those amazing players. They hit it off immediately and began playing together. “Olli was in Finland, so it was a little tricky, but he began to come to the US more and more, and we formed the Rhythm Future Quartet.”

Last June, shortly after the band’s well-received debut performance at Cotuit Center for the Arts, Soikkeli moved to New York and the band has really taken off since then.

“We’ve been playing a lot this past year,” said Anick, “and are excited about showing the Cotuit audience how much we have evolved as a band. We’ve added a lot of original material and arrangements, and it’s a really great show.”

Rhythm guitarist Max O’Rourke a top young up-and-coming gypsy jazz players. At the age of 18, he’s already performed with some top players, including the Gonzalo Dergera Quartet. John Jorgensen, He is currently a student at Berklee College of Music.

Upright bassist Greg Loughman started playing electric bass at 15. He studied electric and upright bass in college and quickly became one of the top freelance jazz bassists in the Midwest. Now based in Boston, he has performed Curtis Fuller, JoAnne Brackeen, Mark Murphy, and others and has toured internationally. He is on the faculty of the University of Maine, Bates College, and Bowdoin College.

Tickets are $25, $22 for seniors, and $20 for members. Premium tables with wine are available. Cotuit Center for the Arts is at 4404 Route 28 in Cotuit. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit artsonthecape.org or call 508-428-0669.

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What: Rhythm Future Quartet

Where: Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Route 28, Cotuit

When: Saturday, April 4, 7:30 PM

Admission:$25, $22 for seniors, and $20 for members

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