Gypsophilia was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

band from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. The band is composed of Ross Burns, Alec Frith, Nick Wilkinson (guitars), Gina Burgess (violin), Adam Fine (double bass), Matt Myer (trumpet), and Sageev Oore (piano, keyboards, accordion, melodica). Gypsophilia has released four albums to date,

Minor Hope ''Minor Hope'' is a jazz album by Canadian band Gypsophilia, recorded in January 2007 and released in May 2007. The album is Gypsophilia's first, and was recorded in front of a live audience over two nights at The Sonic Temple recording studio in ...

Sa-ba-da-OW! ''Sa-ba-da-OW!'' is a jazz album by Canadian band Gypsophilia, recorded in 2008 and released in June 2009. The album is Gypsophilia's second, and was recorded live off the floor at Echo Chamber Audio recording studio in Halifax, Nova Scotia. ...

(2009), Constellation (2011) and Nightswimming (2015) plus a b-sides compilation Horska (2013). On June 9, 2017 the band announced that they would be retiring after 13 years following their summer tour across Canada and a few final farewell performances in Halifax.

Musical style

Gypsophilia was initially inspired by the music of French jazz guitarist

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

, but soon found its own distinctive sound through unique original compositions and the melding of the band members' varied backgrounds and influences. While "

gypsy jazz Gypsy jazz (also known as gypsy swing, jazz manouche or hot club-style jazz) is a style of small-group jazz originating from the Romani guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt (1910–53), in conjunction with the French swing violinist Stéphane G ...

" remains a major component of the music, Gypsophilia has incorporated elements of

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

, klezmer, funk, classical music,

hard bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...

and

post bop Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries ** An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service ** Iraqi Post, I ...

, and its soloists avoid the heavily-clichéd improvisational style found in most contemporary "gypsy jazz". The band's repertoire ranges from energetic swinging dance music to more sophisticated jazz, from highly improvised to

through-composed In music theory of musical form, through-composed music is a continuous, non- sectional, and non- repetitive piece of music. The term is typically used to describe songs, but can also apply to instrumental music. While most musical forms such as t ...

pieces, but often combines these elements, striving to incorporate challenging modern

harmonies In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

and

melodies A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combinati ...

in the context of an accessible, swinging beat.

Debut album

Gypsophilia's first CD ''Minor Hope'' was released on May 19, 2007. Recorded live over two nights at The Sonic Temple recording studio in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the album's thirteen original compositions demonstrate the range of influences that inform Gypsophilia's sound. For example, the long-form HIV Jump (D. Oore) mixes classical music with classic jazz and

fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

. Nicole's Song (N. Wilkinson) builds from a contemplative ballad through a somewhat baroque bridge to a dynamic suspended climax. Sebo Psoriatic Psongs (D. Oore) begins as a dissonant

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

blues and ends with ‘70s

Roland Kirk Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

-inspired blues-funk. Kfeetz kfotz (קפיץ קפוץ) (D. Oore) is an uptempo klezmer romp. Vulnerable (D. Oore) is a fragile and highly-textured triple-metre ballad. Minor Hope (D. Oore) builds on the Django Reinhardt standard " Minor Swing" with new melody and harmony, and a solo double bass cadenza.

Critical and audience response

Gypsophilia's music has been enthusiastically received, and most of the band's performances have sold out quickly. In addition to finding a fanbase among jazz listening audiences, Gypsophilia has become popular among the indie scene in Canada, perhaps due to the music's high energy and wild stage antics at their live shows. ''Minor Hope'' has also been critically well-received, earning nominations for Nova Scotia Music Awards (Group Recording of the Year, Jazz Recording of the Year) and an

East Coast Music Award The East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada. Its mission is to develop, advance and celebrate East Coast Canadian mus ...

(Jazz Recording of the Year).

Awards and nominations

East Coast Music Awards (ECMA) The East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada. Its mission is to develop, advance and celebrate East Coast Canadian mus ...

* 2013 - World Recording of the Year - "Constellation" (won) * 2013 - Album of the Year 2013 - "Constellation" (produced by Howard Bilerman) (nomination) * 2013 - Fan's Choice Entertainer of the Year 2013 (nomination) * 2012 - Jazz Recording of the Year - "Constellation" (won) * 2011 - Instrumental Recording of the Year - "Sa-ba-da-OW!" (won) * 2010 - Jazz Recording of the Year - "Sa-ba-da-OW!" (won) * 2007 - Jazz Recording of the Year - "Minor Hope" (nomination) *

Canadian Folk Music Awards The Canadian Folk Music Awards are an annual music awards ceremony presenting awards in a variety of categories for achievements in both traditional and contemporary folk music, and other roots music genres, by Canadian musicians. The awards progr ...

* 2013 - Instrumental Group of the Year 2013 - "Constellation" (nomination) * Nova Scotia Music Awards (NSMW) * 2013 - Best Group Recording (of any genre) - "Constellation" (nomination) * 2013 - Best Jazz Recording - "Constellation" (won) * 2010 - Jazz/Electro-acoustic Group of the Year - "Sa-ba-da-OW!" (won) * 2010 - Album of the Year - "Sa-ba-da-OW!" (nomination) * 2010 - Group Recording of the Year - Sa-ba-da-OW!" (nomination) * 2008 - Group Recording of the Year - "Minor Hope" (nomination)

References

External links

Gypsophilia.org
archived official site {{Authority control Musical groups established in 2004 Canadian jazz ensembles Musical groups from Halifax, Nova Scotia 2004 establishments in Nova Scotia