Juan Manuel, let’s start with the band’s story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
This is all Alex’s (Zapata, guitar) fault. Him and Ivan (Alvarado, guitar) had been in a rock band for several years. A handful of years after that band broke up, Alex was curious about learning songs in the style of Django Reinhardt and he kept after Ivan (who had just about quit music altogether) for about a year to join him so that they could learn together.
I met them about a year after that, so they already had a small repertoire they would play together at Ivan’s place. I was completely new to playing the style (although I, too, was already a fan of Django) and hadn’t been involved in music since moving to Houston in late 2010, but started catching up slowly learning the tunes they played. They started performing as Bayou City Swing in February of 2016 with friends such as Armando Lasa and Morris Moon sitting in on guitars and Thanushka Bandara on bass (Alex also played bass on one show). By the summer, I knew enough tunes so I officially debuted with the band. We met James Masanotti (violin) around that time through a mutual friend.
We had a couple of bassists (Chris Stevens, Victor Hernandez) whom we met by jamming at patios (Avant Garden and Bohemeo’s, respectively). As per usual, bassists are in high demand and these two gentlemen were already working on other musical projects; so we snatched Kevin Ray to join our band before anyone else claimed him. It’s been the five of us for over a year.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s been a relatively smooth road because our primary driver is our love for this style of music. I believe this is evident to the people that follow us. A recurring comment people have made to me when they approach me after a performance is that our show transports them. This is true for me as well – I don’t know if it takes me back to pre-war Paris, precisely, but it’s an atemporal feeling when you get in the groove and see people dancing with abandon.
You might be suffering through bad sound (it can be quite difficult to amplify so many acoustic instruments at the same time in a noisy venue) but seeing the audience enjoying themselves motivates you to play through the inconvenience.
Alright – please tell us about Bayou City Swing – what should we know?
We are a group of musicians playing in a style that is commonly referred to as “gypsy jazz” or “jazz manouche.”
Our lineup is based on ‘Le Quintette du Hot Club de France’ as founded by Django Reinhardt and featuring Stephane Grapelli. We have performed at several venues around town, including The Continental Club, Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston (MATCH), Fitzgerald’s, Cafeza, Bohemeo’s; as well as a few local festivals and private events. We’ll play anything from baptisms and bat mitzvahs to divorces and funerals… we haven’t played any of those events yet, but we will if you call us – we have played a quinceañera, after all.
Besides music venues, coffee shops, festivals and the like; you may well catch us playing at a park or patio/beer garden near you. We love playing out when the weather is nice (more for our instruments than for us).
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
We practice a lot! Us guitarists have traveled to a few events that specialize in master classes for the genre. We practice with the full band every week and at least a couple of us will get together more often than that to work on new songs and arrangements.
We aim to improve as individual musicians and as an ensemble and understand that this is only achievable through hard work. The fact that we love what we do is a big plus.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bayoucityswing.
com - Phone: 8327157861
- Email: bayoucityswing@gmail.
com - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/bayoucityswing/ - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/bayoucityswing/
Image Credit:
Rock Latino Alternativo Houston, Alexs Hernandez, Pin Lim
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