Joseph Silvers is the founder of the Hot Club of Raleigh, a jazz manouche band based in the City of Oaks. The group has performed at Watts & Ward and Young Hearts Distilling, among other establishments in the Triangle and beyond.
On this episode, Joseph shares the story of when Jean-Jacques “Babik” Reinhardt, son of Django Reinhardt, performed with the Hot Club of North Carolina during a U.S. tour from France with the François Vola Group.
François Vola, a French guitarist and composer, is the godson of Louis Vola, the bassist in Django Reinhardt’s original Quintette du Hot Club de France. François once lived in North Carolina before returning to France in the late nineties.
Griffin saw the François Vola Group with Babik play in Hickory and invited them to perform with his group. They accepted the invitation, performing at the Paisley Pineapple (now Natty Greene’s) in Greensboro for the Hot Club of North Carolina’s Monday night gig.
For further reading, check out this 1997 review by the Washington Post on Vola and Reinhardt’s album “Old World New World.”
Early years
Joseph was born in Greensboro and grew up in rural Madison (Rockingham County, North Carolina) among tobacco farms.
At five years old, Joseph’s grandfather gave him a three-quarter-size acoustic guitar from a thrift store, and he’s been playing ever since.
Joseph began learning the bass, and later the guitar, when he was eleven years old from Rex Griffin, founder of the Hot Club of North Carolina. Quickly advancing under Griffin’s mentorship, the musician picked up a Washburn guitar (also gifted by his grandfather), beginning his jazz manouche journey.
When Joseph was fifteen, Griffin booked him for his first gig at Madison Dry Goods and Country Store on Murphy Street downtown. Just a year later, he was regularly subbing for Griffin’s rhythm guitarist in the Hot Club of North Carolina for their weekly gig at Tate Street Coffee House in Greensboro.
While with the group, Joseph performed with Frank Vignola in the summer of 2009 for a tour that included stops in Greensboro, Raleigh, and Madison.
Griffin passed in 2021.
Forming the Hot Club of Raleigh
After serving as a full-time band member for several years, Joseph established the Hot Club of Raleigh in 2018.
The original members included Joseph, Steven Ray (who passed in 2018; may he rest in peace), Matt York on woodwinds, and Andy Powell on bass. The group now comprises Joseph and Andy, Devin Frazier on guitar, and previous Six Count guest Dexter Moses on woodwinds.
You can also find Joseph playing with Gallus Mag, a noise rock band, as well as with Hunter MacDermut at Lanza’s Cafe, Carrboro, on the last Sunday of each month. The duo will play next on November 26.
Joseph holds a bachelor’s from North Carolina State University and a master’s from the University of Illinois, with both degrees in electrical engineering.
If you’re interested in playing at a weekly jazz manouche jam, get in touch with organizer Richard Badu.
Music credits
This episode features the songs “Limehouse Blues” and “Troublant Bolero” by the Hot Club of Raleigh.
This season features the songs “Forged in Rhythm” and “Callous & Kind” by Keenan McKenzie & The Riffers (2017), used by Six Count with permission from the artist.
How to listen
You can find Six Count on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other listening app! The series also airs on taintradio.org, an online jazz radio station based in North Carolina, on Sundays at 6:00 p.m. and Fridays at 8:00 p.m. EST.
Support the show
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