3:00 PM, Doors at 2:30 PM
$22
“Ultrafaux breathes new life into jazz, while holding onto the sense of nostalgia that makes this genre so timeless and appealing in the first place.” – Sam Sessa, WTMD radio
Ultrafaux, a cutting-edge gypsy swing project from Baltimore, Maryland, is touring with violinist Evan Price from Hot Club of San Francisco and Turtle Island Quartet. This is a winning combination that will please fans of traditional Django jazz as well as avant-garde music lovers. Featuring incredible original music inspired by Django Reinhardt and be-bop swing, Ultrafaux is an acoustic powerhouse of two guitars and upright bass that has thrilled a wide variety of audiences since their first CD release in 2014.
Lead guitarists Michael Joseph Harris and Sami Arefin trade dazzling leads and harmonize together on rich gypsy-inspired melodies. The band often includes top guest artists from the gypsy jazz scene and recently performed at Festival Django Reinhardt in France as the highlight of a European tour. Lead guitarist and composer Michael Joseph Harris was recently named one of the top 10 artists in Baltimore by Baltimore Style Magazine. He has performed at the Kennedy Center, Django By The Sea, Charm City Django Jazz Festival, The French Embassy, Napa Valley Jazz Society, and Django-A-Gogo. Ultrafaux has toured throughout the United States, Europe, and Canada, and have been featured live on radio stations across the East Coast. The members of Ultrafaux serve as the core trio for Hot Club of Baltimore, a band specializing in the repertoire of Django Reinhardt. Harris is Artistic Director and founder of the Charm City Django Jazz Festival held annually in Baltimore at the Creative Alliance.
Evan Price is steadily gaining recognition as one of the world’s most confident voices in extra-classical string playing. A native of Detroit, his musical background includes some earnest dues-paying in a variety of genres. From square dance bands to string quartets, from jamming with blues bands to busking in Greektown, Evan’s youthful pursuits all informed his violin-playing and left him with a deep love of chamber music in all forms. As a young competitive fiddler he won his share of awards, having been named the U.S. Scottish Fiddling Champion, the Kentucky State Fiddle Champion, Canadian Junior Fiddle Champion, and Canadian Novelty Fiddling Champion. He also performed with some of the masters of fiddle lore—Stephane Grappelli, Johnny Frigo, Claude “Fiddler” Williams, Johnny Gimble, Buddy Spicher, and Vassar Clements—as well as a diverse array of pop icons from Stevie Wonder and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant to comedian, Steven Wright.
Since 1998, Evan has been proud to call himself a member of The Hot Club of San Francisco, perhaps the most venerable gypsy jazz band in the US. During his tenure, the group has thrilled audiences from Iceland to Mexico and across the United States, and has released seven CDs featuring Evan on violin.