One Leg Up, from Asheville, NC, plays a mixture of gypsy jazz, Latin, swing, and
modern jazz. They have been performing together since 2003. One Leg Up became the house band at the Cafe Soleli in Asheville in late 2003. During their eighteen months engagement at the Café, the group gathered an enthusiastic fan base of music lovers, dancers and fellow musicians, and developed their tight, rhythmic acoustic style of jazz that is ready for any concert hall, festival stage or swing dance.
The musicians are John Stineman (guitar & vocal), Jim Tanner (guitar), Daniel
Coolik (mandolin, guitar, & electric mandolin), Mike Guzalak (clarinet, tenor
saxophone, percussion, & vocal), Cary Fridley (bass & vocal), and Steve Trismen (violin).
They released their first album Gypsy Blue in 2004. About their first record,
Vintage Guitar Magazine wrote, “One Leg Up plays Gypsy jazz with conviction... the solos come fast and furious from their two solo guitarists, mandolinist, violinist, and clarinetist.”
Also in 2004, they accompanied Spanish gypsy jazz guitarist Pere Soto while he toured the United States.
In May of 2005, they did a concert/book show with Michael Dregni, author of the new acclaimed biography ‘Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend.’
Also, in that year, their version of ‘Tico Tico’ was included on WNCW-FM’s Crowd Around the Mic Volume 9, which is a compilation of the best music that was recorded live in the studio of WNCW in that year.
Their second record, Pere Lachaise, released on Bastille Day of 2006 finds One Leg Up moving into new directions. This album contains elements from their first, such as a few Django Reinhardt compositions and some jazz tunes from the Tin Pan Alley days. This new album welcomes the addition of Cary Fridley on bass and vocals, some electric guitar and mandolin work, and fresh modern arrangements of old standards.
One Leg Up continues to work within the gypsy jazz instrumentation and framework while bringing different styles of jazz, Latin, and original music into their identity. They continue to perform through out the Southeast at festivals, concerts,clubs, dance events, and any place where the caravan stops.



""One Leg Up is a ticket back in time to 1930s Paris and the glory years of
Django Reinhardt. Listening to their music, you can taste the red wine, relish
the glamour of the City of Lights, and feel the deep vibe of Gypsy jazz. Vas-y!
Vas-y!"" Micheal Dregni author of’ Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy
Legend’

”One Leg Up's originality also stems from the group being ""collective stars.""
Like an astute big band, One Leg Up's musicians are equally luminescent. At any
moment, a violin, mandolin, or clarinet would take center stage, creating a
stir usually reserved for a newly arrived brew. Also, the twin guitars of John
Stineman and Jim Tanner revamped those bygone Django chords first strummed in pre-WWII Parisian clubs. And they can sing. Bassist Cary Fridley's voice
crisply cut through the mental fog created by the fresh beer, and guitarist
Stineman delicately rendered the ode of patient love in ""Exactly Like You."" My
only complaint was having to leave.” Hunter Pope Mountain Xpress: Review
of One Leg Up at the French Broad Brewery Tasting Room, March 8, 2006

”For the Django fanatics, there's not a finer gypsy jazz band than One Leg Up.” Hunter Pope Mountain Xpress, Jun 7, 2006

	Tchavolo Swing Gypsy swing		World
	Them There Eyes		Jazz

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