“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!”
~ Michael Dregni, author of “Django: the Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend”
Based in Asheville, One Leg Up performs a vibrant mixture of upbeat Gypsy Jazz, Latin, Swing and original jazz compositions and is a favorite of club, concert and festival stages throughout the southeastern United States.
Consisting of John Stineman (guitar, vocals), Jim Tanner (guitar), Zack Page (bass), Mike Guzalak (clarinet, sax) and Steve Trismen (violin, vocals), One Leg Up was formed in 2003 as a “String Swing” band in the style of famed French Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt.
I asked John what it is about their style that most appeals to audiences. “Gypsy Jazz has become much more popular in the U.S. and Canada over the past 10 years, not so much revived as discovered. Listeners often equate it with something they’re familiar with. We’ve all heard it in its true form to some degree. While not prevalent, it’s present in movies, television, many commercials and on radio.”
And what appeals to the musicians? “The tastes of a maturing generation of capable musicians and the accessibility of recordings and instructional material have led to more non-Europeans delving into it – and acoustic often musicians gravitate to Gypsy Jazz. The virtuosity and timbre of the format resembles American roots and presents the challenge of learning a new genre.”
“If you Google “one leg up,” part of the results you’ll see include a NYC sexy swingers club with the same name! One Leg Up swings in a much different way, but it’s sexy nonetheless! The collective prowess each player brings to the hot club sounds they draw from, takes one back to a Parisian time when romance and sex were synonymous.”
~ Vocalist Peggy Ratusz
“The band began at The Café Soleil in Asheville and we performed there weekly for a-year-and-a-half. One Leg Up has a long history of working at The Biltmore and Grove Park Inn. We’ve been at the Savannah Jazz Festival, Franklin Jazz Festival, SC Jazz Festival, LEAF, Bele Chere and numerous smaller festivals and civic concerts. There’s great support for Gypsy Jazz in Asheville. That doesn’t appear to be representative of everywhere else, but it’s a little different here.”
Propelled by their excellent self-produced debut recording “Gypsy Blue,” One Leg Up soon won critical acclaim for their “hot club” prowess and was tapped to back up award-winning Spanish guitarist Pere Soto on some of his 2005 U.S. tour dates. Also in 2005, One Leg Up performed at a concert and book show with Michael Dregni, author of Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend.
“One Leg Up plays Gypsy jazz with conviction. On the sextet’s debut “Gypsy Blue” (Minor Swing Records), the solos come fast and furious from their two solo guitarists, violinist, and clarinetist. This adds up to an interesting and varied voice from the devoted band on covers of Djamelodies, American jazz standards, and hot Latin pieces such as a rollicking “Tico Tico.”
~ MD, Vintage Guitar Magazine, August 2005
Over the years, One Leg Up has broadened its repertoire to include fresh arrangements of Django classics, vocal harmonies, original compositions, and innovative adaptations of classic jazz numbers in the French “hot club” and American “big band” styles. Now more than just a Django band, their latest recording “Pere La Chaise” is a music mix that is danceable and accessible and continues to attract a growing, varied, and enthusiastic fan base with music that always swings.
“We all LOVE One Leg Up for their irrepressible and seamless sound. I’m a huge fan of them individually, and particularly Zack Page – his marvelous work deeply affects every group he honors with his presence.”
~ Vocalist Heather Masterton
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