Gypsy ‘jazz’ sounds in Guayaquil with Sepia Jazz Trío

Two wooden guitars and a double bass they would seem like an insufficient combination compared to the current parameters of music production. But in the hands of These three Guayaquil musicians these instruments are capable of filling an entire room with rhythm and cheer on your attendees, who, at the very least, when listening to the music begin to move their heads or hands to keep up with the rhythm.

Inside a game of the universe, perhaps guided by the same improvisational spirit of the jazz, Carlos Hernandez, Jack Franco and Luis Alberto Illescas They got together in may of this year (without having rehearsed before) to be part of a video recording for a French singer, and complemented each other in such a way that the production went viral on YouTube and it already has almost 300,000 views.

No plans yet to form a trio, they just decided to get back together to play one more time, and so on over and over again until (they realized they were having such a good time) they decided to be baptized as Sepia Jazz Trio, a name that is inspired by the tone of old photographs and that also evokes nostalgia.

“The first bride who hired us to play at her wedding wrote to us on Instagram (sepiajazztrio) and told us that I didn’t want that ‘jazz of elevator’. He said, ‘I want what you guys do, that jazz from Woody Allen movies’“, remember Hernández, guitarist of the group. And since then it’s a way of explaining the style they play.

To put it formally, they specialize in the gypsy jazz (jazz Gypsy) or also known as jazz Manouche, due to the birthplace of its greatest exponent, Django Reinhardt (1910-1953). For further reference, you can also think about the time of The great Gatsby (Scott Fitzgerald), in Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) and in the work of the Rosenberg Trio.

Hernández states that putting this type of music on stage is an act of rebellion in the face of the harsh circumstances that the world is going through today; and, during the minutes that each song lasts, take refuge in that past that inevitably reminds of a happier time.

“It was a much more sincere kind of music”, adds Illescas, who is in charge of the double bass. “Being analog and without major production, or the programs that exist now and all the sound engineers, it was basically a single take: what sounded at that moment was the record that remained”.

Following that style, they also consider each of their presentations as unrepeatable, because in each session different dynamics may arise between them. Also, they add a short explanation of each song before playing it. The talking and interacting with the public is an essential part of their shows. “When they connect with us, we play so much better and it doesn’t matter if there are five people or a full auditorium ”.

So far they have been regularly featured in Casal Català (Urdesa) and La Suculenta (downtown Guayaquil), and were also invited to Quito to participate in the X Festival Django Ecuador, with guests from other countries, such as Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Colombia.

They are no strangers to jazz vocal. They have invited, for example, Vivianna Gomez already Camila Perez to sing along with them; and has recently accompanied them Cristina Hernandez.

“It surprises me, because we are two guitars and a double bass, we don’t have a saxophone that could stand out in a solo, but the musical environment fills up. And for me the chemistry of this group is summed up in a song by Duke Ellington that it’s called It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing. And that’s basically what it is, “he concludes. Jack, also a guitarist and the youngest of the trio, aged 18.

By 2022 they do not rule out organizing a show on a bigger stage and inviting an orchestra, very much in the style of Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller. Do you sign up to travel to the past?