Clearwater Hot Club To Appear at the Ironwood Theatre

IRONWOOD, MI - Thursday, September 10, 2009 - Hot Clubs are the rage today, with acoustic jazz groups playing clubs and concert settings from coast to coast. One of the best groups in America, The Clearwater Hot Club, will appear in concert at the historic Ironwood Theatre at 7:30 PM on Saturday, September 19.

Led by virtuoso guitarist Sam Miltich, Clearwater will be joined by outstanding jazz vocalist, Charmin Michelle and legendary saxophonist, Dave Karr. The group is dedicated to preserving and performing the music of the late, great gypsy jazz guitarist, Django Reinhardt, and violinist Stephane Grappelli. Clearwater plays a variety of musical styles, from jazz standards, to classical, to Eastern European tamburitza music, to Brazilian bossa nova.

Jazz historians consider The Quintette of the Hot Club of France, to be the greatest of all European Jazz bands. The group, led by Grappelli and Reinhardt, was born of informal jam sessions in Paris in 1933. They became very popular in Europe and went on to influence the Hot Clubs that exist today.

Sam Miltich began playing music at a young age; and at age 14 he began serious study of the guitar. A year later, after hearing Django Reinhardt's music in Woody Allen's movie "Sweet and Lowdown," knew he would dedicate his life to the music of Reinhardt and the art of the gypsy jazz guitar.

Miltich was among a stellar cast of international musicians on stage at Lincoln Center in New York City for a concert honoring Reinhardt. Miltich has toured Europe and Scandinavia, and with Clearwater Hot Club has toured throughout the United States, Canada and into Japan, including appearances at Django Fest Northwest and the 1st Annual Ginza International Jazz Festival in Tokyo, Japan.

Matthew Miltich plays string bass with son, Sam, in The Clearwater Hot Club. Matthew grew up listening to the swing music Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, and the tamburitza music of his Croatian heritage. In gypsy jazz he's discovered what seems to be the perfect blend of stringed instruments with jazz rhythms and melodies. He's a life-long resident of the Minnesota north woods.

Mark Kreitzer, rhythm guitarist with Clearwater, has won awards both as a multi-instrumentalist and as a songwriter. He has been on stages around the Midwest and the World for nearly four decades, including an appearance on A Prairie Home Companion. He teaches songwriting at a St. Paul, Minnesota high school and is an Adjunct Professor at Carleton College, teaching guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, dobro and bass.

Charmin Michelle and Dave Karr have each worked individually with Clearwater on a number of occasions. Together they will join the Hot Club on stage for the first time during the Ironwood appearance. "It's an evening I know an audience any age will enjoy," said Theatre production manager Kathy Skolasinski.

"Taste and understatement. Swing and savoir-faire. Grace and grooves. Intimacy and panache. Singer Charmin Michelle delivers all of the above and more." That is what the Minneapolis Star/Tribune had to say about the charismatic vocalist whose conversational style recalls the late Billie Holiday and other legendary ladies of jazz. Michelle has released four recordings; and since the mid-1980s he has toured throughout Europe, the Middle East and into Central America. Called a savvy songstress, she places her own imprint on melodies while always showing respect for those who first sang the songs.

Saxophonist Dave Karr has performed with some of the finest national jazz instrumentalists and vocalists. An accomplished musician and composer, Karr grew up in New York City listening to jazz greats Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, before moving to the Twin Cities where he has been contributing to the Minnesota musical community for over fifty years. Karr is the winner of a McKnight fellowship for performance excellence, leads his own jazz quartet, and has composed and arranged music for film, radio, and television. At the ripe, young age of 78, Karr claims to have "found the fountain of youth in the challenge of Jazz Improvisation."

Sam Miltich recently joined Dave Karr to record Darn That Dream a highly rated duet album featuring the 78 year-old jazz saxophone veteran. On this album, Sam's love of both the Kansas City style of jazz and be-bop pioneered by Charlie Parker is represented. His one-man rhythm section is a perfect foil to Dave's tenor saxophone. The sparse, intimate atmosphere of the duets emphasizes the collaboration at work in their musical relationship.

When the Theatre doors open at 6:30 PM prior to the performance, a wine bar will debut in the Theater Lobby. "We hope to create a classic Hot Club atmosphere in the Theatre," said Theatre Board member Tom Brown. In naming the new venture, the Theatre decided to recognize its own Gogebic Range Players director and sometime bartender, Chris Kelly. Kelly's Wine Bar harkens back to the traditional Irish pub that was popular on the Gogebic Range during the mining heyday.

Leading up to the performance, there will be a free showing of the Woody Allen movie Sweet and Lowdown on Wednesday, September 16 at 7:30 PM. Featuring the music of Django Reinhardt that inspired young Sam Miltich, the movie will provide some back story for Saturday's event.

Tickets for the performance, $16 in advance and $20 at the door, are available at Gasparick's Music and at the Ironwood Theatre office, two doors west of the Theatre at 109 East Aurora Street, Ironwood, Michigan. For information call 906-932-0618 or visit the website www.ironwoodtheatre.net.