Quintet of the Hot Club of France – After You’ve Gone

The Quintet of the Hot Club of France

The Quintet of the Hot Club of France was a string jazz group made up of three guitars, a violin, and a bass.  It was originally formed in 1934 after a series of informal backstage jam sessions. The quintet was a unique jazz group because it was made up of an interesting combination of instruments and it invented a style of jazz known as “gypsy jazz” or “hot jazz.”  Over the years the quintet went through many different rhythm guitarists and bass players but the two main players (Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli) remained the same.  From 1934 until the beginning of the war in 1939 the quintet made hundreds of recordings and toured Europe many times.  The quintet was disbanded in 1939.  In 1946 Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt teamed up together again and formed another quintet.  This post-war quintet lasted from 1946 until 1948.

Here is a recording of the jazz standard “After You’ve Gone” performed by the Quintet of the Hot Club of France.  The singer in the recording is Freddy Taylor.