The Cope Street Parade blend the hot sounds of gypsy swing with elements of New Orleans traditional jazz to create a dance party you'll want to join.
The Sydney ensemble will head north to celebrate their new album, 'The Cope Street Parade: Volume Three', with a performance at OzManounche. Band leader Justin Fermino explains why the band enjoy playing to “Newtown hipsters” as much as they do “serenading the old ducks at country jazz clubs”.
Tell me a bit about The Cope Street Parade?
The Cope Street Parade was formed about six years ago when we lived on Cope St in Redfern, Sydney, hence the name. We are a bunch of mates who enjoy making music together. We would say that our music is Australian swing, but we borrow a lot from early jazz and gypsy-swing music.
What is the make-up of the band?
The band is a four piece: saxophone, two guitars and double bass. We all sing as well. The guitars used in the band are called manouche guitars. This type of guitar was made famous by the great gypsy-jazz guitarist, Django Reinhardt. These guitars are loud and percussive in nature (similar to a snare drum). This is why we have no drums in our band.
What was the Sydney jazz scene like when you were younger and finding your feet?
The scene was very different to what it is today. I feel that there are more opportunities to perform these days. I remember moving to Sydney and thinking that there are amazing musicians but it was often hard to find places to hear them play. We all studied jazz at the Conservatorium in Sydney and went on from there into the real world.
How important is it for you as a band to appeal to the mainstream, popular music scene?
I don't think we really concern ourselves with the mainstream. We try our best whenever we play to give whoever is listening our best possible performance.
This is the first record with such a big band as support; is that correct?
The Basement Big Band has been on our last three albums as a feature to complement the rest of the music on the album. Both bands are run by me, so I had the thought to adapt a few Cope Street tunes for the big band and they turned out pretty well, so I chucked them on the album.
What direction has the new album taken?
We are trying to concentrate on composition with some of our new material. Jazz treatment of songs can often lead to very generic and predictable arrangements and we try to avoid this. Also utilising the different textures the instruments are able to create alone and together has helped us shape the overall story and contour of the compositions.
What sort of crowd do you guys usually play to?
The great thing about this band is that we seem to have a pretty wide demographic. We get a kick playing to the Newtown hipsters as much as we do serenading the old ducks at country-jazz clubs. I think the positive response comes from performing honest and heartfelt music while at the same time keeping the crowd involved. If someone wants to hear a particular song we'll indulge them if we can.
The Cope Street Parade Tour Dates
Sat 21 Nov - Hickinbotham Of Dromana (Victoria)
Sun 22 Nov - MONA (Hobart) 1-4pm; The Winston (North Hobart) 6-9pm
Mon 23 nov - Adventure Bay Hall (Bruny Island)
Tue 24 Nov - Launceston Jazz Club (Launceston)
Wed 25 Nov - The Wharf Hotel (Wynard)
Thu 26 Nov - The Wharf Hotel (Wynard)
Fri 27 Nov - Sixty Jazz club (Hobart)
Sun 29 Nov - OzManouche Festival, Brisbane Jazz Club (Brisbane)
Thu 3 Dec - 63 First Avenue (Sawtell)
Fri 4 Dec - No. 5 Church Street (Bellingen)
Sat 5 Dec - Kincumber Hotel (Central Coast)
Sat 12 Dec - Album Launch, Camelot Lounge (Sydney)
