CENTERblog

Lost in Gypsy Jazz

by Charlotte Titus - University of Alaska Anchorage

On the night of November 13^th, the audience in the Discovery Theatre saw a performance by a group of three musicians who could have been dubbed ‘Nimble Fingers.’ They instead call themselves The Lost Fingers but regardless of the name, their fingers were busy that night moving through every possible note that can be coaxed from a string instrument.

Byron Mikaloff, Alex Morissette and Christian Roberge brought a style known as Gypsy Jazz to Anchorage music enthusiasts as they played through the two sets of the night. Mikaloff and Roberge took turns running through the fast pace of this style of music, displaying their mastery of the guitar, while Morissette was equally impressive on the upright bass, adding the deep jazz notes to the swinging tunes.

Throughout the night, Mikaloff entertained the audience between songs with stories of the group’s beginnings and successes. The audience learned how the group got its unique name as well as other stories of their beginnings. The Lost Fingers refers to Gypsy Jazz inventor Django Reinhardt’s tragic loss of the use of both the 3^rd and 4^th fingers of his left hand.

Originally a duo comprised of Roberge and Mikaloff, they performed an eclectic mix of styles when they first began playing together. Then, as Mikaloff told it, one night Roberge was riffing on Touch Me by Samantha Fox for his long time friend and inspiration struck. Both men being followers of Reinhardt, they began to focus their talent on this style. They eventually took popular 80’s songs, added a Gypsy Jazz beat and a completely new sound was born.

The Canadian group first gained national recognition with the album Lost in The 80’s, which resulted from their experiment of mixing Gypsy Jazz and popular tunes. On the album, they take songs familiar to American popular music lovers, such as Pump Up The Jam, Poker Face, Tainted Love, Straight Up and Part-Time Lover, speed them up and add a Gypsy Jazz style.

In addition to their impressive talents with string instruments, the vocals on the 80’s songs were strangely reminiscent of the original performers’ versions. Roberge, who sang lead on most of the songs, had an impressive range and beautiful voice, as was apparent when he sang songs in French popular in Canada. When singing songs from the 80’s album, his voice took on the inflection and range of the song’s originator, including hitting the high pitch emotive outbursts of Michael Jackson on their Gypsy Jazz version of Billie Jean. While performing the song, Mikaloff encouraged any audience member who felt inspired to join them on the stage and imitate the famous Michael Jackson moonwalk. Halfway through the song, someone gamely took him up on the offer and the audience went wild with encouragement, cheering for the sheer joy of joining in the obvious fun The Lost Fingers encouraged in everyone that night.

The Lost Fingers

Anchorage Concert Association

Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 7:30pm

Discovery Theatre