For over 25 years, The Hot Club of San Francisco celebrates the music of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli’s pioneering Quintette du Hot Club de France with innovative arrangements of classic gypsy jazz tunes from 1930s Paris, contemporary songs,  and original compositions from the group’s superb lead guitarist, Paul Mehling and featuring the silken violin of twice GRAMMY Award-winning Evan Price.

More than just a walk down musical memory lane, the band continues to reinvent themselves with groundbreaking concept shows that are at once entertaining and enlightening. For the 2025-26 season the band again offers their popular show Cinema Vivant, and a groundbreaking and timely show called Vive la Liberté.

 Cinema Vivant is an evening of silent films accompanied live by the group’s original gypsy jazz scores. The show is a celebration of imagination, innovation and nostalgia that revives the lost French tradition of gypsy musicians playing beneath the stars, matching every movement on the screen with characteristic virtuosity, passion and humor.

The band’s newest show, Vive la Liberté, explores the ways in which Django Reinhardt and other jazz musicians resisted fascism during WWII. Music by Reinhardt and his contemporaries along with stories and imagery show the personal and political risk these artists assumed in the name of freedom.  Vive la Liberté combines the joy of music with important reflections on the role of music and art when the threat of fascism looms large.

“…a relaxed, swinging delight” – Downbeat

“This music is about a balance of excitement and beauty, and Hot Club of San Francisco has found the perfect balance.” – Jazzweek.com

“…one of the most cohesive and entertaining Gypsy swing bands in the United States” – San Francisco Chronicle

“…a dazzling display…” – Charleston Daily Mail

“Hot Club sizzles at Jazz in June” – Daily Nebraskan

“The Hot Club of San Francisco Sizzles” – San Jose Mercury News

“…There aren’t enough superlatives to describe their sound….”- All About Jazz

“…Intricate, scorching, and often brilliant solos.” – Acoustic Guitar

“Hot Club quintet simmers” – San Francisco Examiner

“The music of the Hot Club of San Francisco is engagingly wonderful, its member’s solos precise and jazzy.” – The Napa Valley Register

In their new show, “Vive la Liberté ,” the Hot Club of San Francisco explores the ways in which Django Reinhardt and other jazz musicians refused, resisted, and critiqued fascism during WWII. This program features arrangements of pieces by Reinhardt and his contemporaries and places them in their wartime context, highlighting the personal and political risk that these artists assumed in the name of freedom. Vive la Liberté  aims to both entertain audiences with dazzling musical performances and elicit reflections on the role of music and art when the threat of fascism looms large.

“Vive la Liberté,” explores the ways in which Django Reinhardt and other jazz musicians resisted fascism during WWII. Music by Reinhardt and his contemporaries, stories and imagery, show the personal and political risk these artists assumed in the name of freedom. Vive la combines the joy of music with important reflections on the role of music and art when the threat of fascism looms large.

The Hot Club of San Francisco presents: “Cinema Vivant”

Imagine yourself in the idyllic French countryside; the time is the 1930’s.  Sometime before dark, a gypsy caravan sets up camp in an unused field outside of town.  Locals are drawn to the scene, knowing that these visitors are always good for an evening’s entertainment.  This tribe has gotten their hands on a film projector which they’ve pointed at the side of a barn.  As the images flicker to life beneath the stars, gypsy musicians play their instruments, matching every movement on the screen with characteristic virtuosity, passion and humor. On this night, the very same scene may be repeated at a hundred such campsites scattered across Europe, each tribe with its own small collection of discarded films, perhaps never to be shown in a theater again.

Reviving this lost tradition, The Hot Club of San Francisco presents Cinema Vivant, an evening of silent films accompanied live by the group’s original gypsy jazz scores.

Many works of art can be seen as attempts to give life to an idea, a mood, or a fantasy.  While we can all look at lifeless objects and fantasize about their secret lives away from prying eyes, it is a true artist who can make that dream live and breathe for our enjoyment.  Bringing the familiar into the the realm of the fantastic is the theme of Cinema Vivant, a celebration of imagination and innovation.

Before World War I, European filmmaker Ladislaw Starewicz pioneered stop-action animation, creating a never-before-seen movie experience which can still be enjoyed today.  A gifted storyteller who used the new medium of animation to illuminate his fantastic imaginings of the secret lives of ordinary objects, Starewicz has become an obscure cult hero.  The two Starewicz films which are featured in Cinema Vivant—The Cameraman’s Revenge, a charming piece about the marital troubles of Beetles; and The Mascot, an adventure story about lost toys—are two of his most extraordinary efforts.  On the other side of the Atlantic, American Charlie Bowers patented techniques for combining animation with live action in the 1920’s.  There It Is, a recently rediscovered film by the eccentric and irrepressible Bowers which will round out the evening’s entertainment, is a whimsical comedy about a mysterious occurrence in need of Scotland Yard detectives.

The Hot Club of San Francisco is an ensemble of accomplished and versatile musicians celebrating the music of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli’s pioneering Quintette du Hot Club de France.  The ensemble borrows the all-string instrumentation of violin, bass and guitars from the original Hot Club, but breathes new life into the music with innovative arrangements of classic tunes and original compositions from the group’s superb lead guitarist, Paul Mehling.  Hearing the ensemble live, or on any of their twelve albums, carries the listener back to the 1930’s and the small, smoky jazz clubs of Paris or the refined lounges of the famous Hotel Ritz.  Often called gypsy jazz, the music of The Hot Club of San Francisco has entranced audiences around the globe for over 20 years.  Critics have hailed the group’s playing as “intricate, scorching and often brilliant…” (Acoustic Guitar).  From international music festivals to concert halls across North America, The Hot Club of San Francisco keeps this historic music fresh and alive.

Film Titles:

There It Is, Charlie Bowers (1928)
The Cameraman’s Revenge, Ladislaw Starewicz (1912)
The Mascot, Ladislaw Starewicz (1933)

Fire up your holidays with Hot Club Cool Yule, a swinging gypsy wagon trip to the North Pole featuring many of your favorites and some rarer seasonal gems. Performed by The Hot Club of San Francisco in their inimitable style, reminiscent of Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France, this dazzling holiday offering has something for everyone. Make this season bright with the flames of gypsy jazz!

“Instead of slavishly replicating Django’s every lick, the HCSF takes Gypsy jazz to new places, resulting in one of the most original, wittiest Christmas albums ever. ‘Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ becomes a tango, ‘Carol of the Bells’ is glued to Vince Guaraldi’s ‘Skating’. By guitarist Paul Mehling’s own admission, more than just the title of ‘Djingle Bells’ is twisted …just right.” – Dan Forte, Vintage Guitar Magazine