About the Music:
Hot Club Jazz, Gypsy Jazz, and Jazz Manouche are all terms that describe this style of music that mixes both American jazz standards from the 1920s-1940s and European gypsy folk music. It's a very unique style that many people in America have never heard. Honeysuckle Rose takes its inspiration and instrumentation from “Le Quintette du Hot Club de France†the famous group formed by French gyspy guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli in 1934, known for it’s drumless, guitar-driven swing, and romantic ambience.
Hiring the group:
Honeysuckle Rose enjoys performing for many events including or regular performances at The Aster Cafe in St. Anthony Main, but also weddings, company and private parties, etc. We are comfortable playing as a vocal or instrumental group in trio, quartet, or quintet configurations. Feel free to contact us for your event, we'd love to provide the music!
History:
The seeds of Honeysuckle Rose were sown in the 1990s, when David Stenshoel and Bruce Walters were both working at the Dowtown Minneapolis Public Library in the Collections Maintenance Department. Sharing an interest in jazz, they started jamming, David on violin, and Bruce on guitar, and before long, were asked to play at the "Tea" held for library retirees twice a year, once in the spring, and once in December. After doing that for a few years, they were joined by vocalist Rose Oyamot, who also worked in that department. When Bruce left the Library, David asked his old friend Michael Valentiner, with whom David had played music in the past, to play at the teas with David and Rose.The trio worked well, and decided to take it outside of the Library, naming themselves "Honeysuckle Rose", and playing at the grand opening of a West Bank coffeeshop called Mapps on Saturday, December 20, 2003. For about a year they played there from 6-9 on Friday nights for tips and beverages. In the summer of 2004, they were joined by a second guitarist, Dean Harrington, who had often jammed Django tunes with Michael.On Friday, October 29, 2004, they moved to Molly Quinn's Irish Pub on Lake Street, where they played for another year, until Molly Quinn's closed in November of 2005. In January of 2005 they met Holle Brian, who introduced herself after hearing the band at Mollie Quinn's. Holle played bass, and was interested in playing with the group.Now the quartet decided to record a CD. They booked time for August, 2005, at Wild Sound studio in Minneapolis. Before they got to record, Michael Valentiner quit playing guitar because of severe carpal tunnel pain, and back pain. Several tunes were recorded with Dean playing two tracks of guitar, and others featured Mark Kreitzer on rhythm guitar.In October of 2006, guitarist Dan Hansen joined the group. In March of 2007, the group started playing on Friday nights at the Aster Cafe.
