Sitting in Restaurant Salaam eating a beef kebob, the music flowing through the speakers may be reminiscent of a gypsy band.
However, the music could be the restaurant owner’s own recording.
When not overseeing his duties as owner of Salaam, Mark Burhans serves as the violinist for Coolville Hot Club, a gypsy jazz band.
Coolville Hot Club will be playing at 8 p.m Saturday at Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery, 24 W. Union St., for the release of their new self-titled record.
Their gypsy jazz style is a form of jazz played on stringed instruments as opposed to the typical horns one would hear in a conventional jazz band.
“Gypsy players playing around the campfire hear American Jazz as the latest thing coming out of the United States and Paris; they said we’ll do it our way,” Burhans said. “And gypsy jazz is the name they gave it.”
Django Reinhardt is the French artist that pioneered this style of jazz on guitar and is covered by Coolville Hot Club on its record.
The band also covers songs such as “Dear Prudence” by The Beatles, adding its own jazz twist to the song.
Burhans said the music has broad appeal across generations who want to listen to something softer.
“It’s kind of easy going, it’s not like folk singers singing their hearts out, and (you) have to listen to what they are saying, and it’s not like abrasive and loud like rock and roll where it’s going to interfere with conversation,” Burhans said. “I think it’s really relaxed, and that’s why it has broad appeal.”
Emily Singer, assistant director for operations for the center for international business education and development at OU and the lead singer of the band, said this style of music was very prevalent in her life growing up.
Singer, who is the daughter of Burhans, said her dad had a significant influence on her love for the jazz style.
But recordings are much different from the live music, Singer said, adding that the trick with recording music is to not make it sound too scripted.
“That’s one of the things I like most about playing jazz,” Singer said. “I’ll mess around with the melodies... It’s the way I like to be creative.”
She added that the band maintains a good rapport on stage and works well together to stay in line, even while performing solos.
The show will have a $2 cover charge, and snacks are included. Additionally, Coolville Hot Club will be selling its CD for a reduced price of $15.
wh092010@ohiou.edu
