One Leg Up

One Leg Up plays Gypsy jazz with conviction. On the sextet's debut Gypsy Blue (Minor Swing Records), the solos come fast and furious from their two solo guitarists, mandolinist, and clarinetist. This adds up to an interesting and varied voice from the devoted band on covers of Django melodies, American jazz standards, and hot Latin pieces such as a rollicking "Tico Tico." - MD - Vintage Guitar Magazine, August 2005, Vol. 19 No. 10

For John Stineman, something happened when he heard the music of legendary Gypsy French guitarist Django Reinhardt.

“I thought it was the most incredible thing I had ever heard,” says Stineman, lead and rhythm guitarist and band founder for Asheville’s own Gypsy-jazz and swing band, One Leg Up. “I decided then that I better find out what Django was all about. I became really dedicated to studying Django and his music. It really moved me.”

Reinhardt’s happy-go-lucky style of gypsy jazz swing, as well as his vagabond existence, have influenced and intrigued countless other musicians the world over. Stineman has also done some traveling, moving to Asheville from Gainesville, Fla., where he started One Leg Up with guitarist Jim Tanner.

“(Jim and I) played together once and hit it off pretty well,” Stineman recalls, “then we added Mike Guzalak on clarinet and Daniel Coolik on mandolin, and had ourselves a band.” Rounding out the signature sound of One Leg Up is Cary Fridley on upright bass, and Steve Trisman, who sits in periodically on violin.

One Leg Up has established itself as the weekly house band at the Café Soleil, performing their infectious mix of improvisational jazz swing to bigger and bigger crowds every Saturday night. Their Friday night show at the Grey Eagle celebrates the release of the group’s new CD, “Gypsy Blue (Minor Swing Records).” Like Stineman, each member of the band has a passion for early jazz and a healthy sense of adoration for Reinhardt for his contributions to the jazz world.

“I got into Django’s music as a teenager when I first started playing guitar,” says Coolik. “It’s been a great opportunity to learn from all these older guys, like Django, who were constantly evolving musically.”

“His technique and his ideas were far ahead of anybody else’s,” says Stineman. “Django did things with the unamplified acoustic guitar that no one else had ever done.”

“Gypsy Blue” is a reverent tribute to the great Reinhardt, as well as European jazz and swing bands and composers from the early 20th century. The recording plants its feet firmly in French and European traditional jazz music, yet with enough of a carefree, whimsical nature to appeal to the romantic gypsy in any of us. The arrangements crackle to life, accentuated by the lively musicianship from each of these talented players.

“I think we made a very honest recording,” says Stineman. “It’s very much a representation of what we do live.”
- Asheville Citizen Times