Gypsy jazz group to appear in Danville

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

DANVILLE -- Gypsy jazz group Bleu Django will be the next featured performer at the "Keys, Strings & Other Things" live music series.

The show will be held on Friday, Oct. 1, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church in Danville. While the show is held in a church building, it is in no way intended to promote any particular religious point of view.

Bleu Django celebrates swing in the style of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappeli. The group is composed of Bob Foster, Carolyn Dutton, Daryl Jones and Hunt Wiley.

Foster's musical interests began as a teenager listening to vinyl recordings of Chet Atkins. Later he became personal friends with Atkins and often traveled with him on the road. Foster has performed on the main stage at the 22nd Annual Chet Atkins Appreciation Society in Nashville, Tenn., and has been seen on local, regional and international TV. He is the author and publisher of "The SuperChord Guitar System" with endorsements from several world-renowned guitarists.

Lead guitarist Jones has played in several bluegrass bands and won numerous flatpicking contests throughout the Midwest. In 2003 Jones picked up a gypsy jazz style guitar and began learning the music of Django Reinhardt. Other jazz influences include the guitar styles of Howard Roberts and Wes Montgomery. In addition to Bleu Django, Jones also plays in two bluegrass bands, Birch Creek and the Disco Mountain Boys.

Violinist Dutton received her degree in music and played with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. She was a professional musician in New York City for 30 years and has toured the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway with various bands. She returned to her native Indiana in 1999 to study jazz at Indiana University and has since performed and recorded with many of Indiana's most prominent bands and musicians.

Wiley (bass) comes from a long line of accomplished musicians. His father, Jack, was a freelance cellist in New York and recorded with Charlie Mingus. Wiley studied violin and piano for several years before gravitating to jazz bass. When not performing with Bleu Django, he enjoys jamming with his two sons, primarily on piano, in styles ranging from funk to Latin to jazz standards.

The church is located at 95 N. Jefferson St. one block north of the county courthouse and just behind the Mayberry Cafe. Admission is $10 with children 16 and under admitted for $5. To learn more about Bleu Django, visit their website at http://www.myspace.com/bleudjango.

For questions about the "Keys, Strings & Other Things" series, contact Sam Carman at scarman@tds.net or phone 317-892-4239.

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