PUTNEY — Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music present acoustic swing and alt gypsy jazz quartet Caravan of Thieves, plus indie-folk-rock duo The Dupont Brothers, at Next Stage on Saturday, May 20, at 7:30 pm.
For the past nine years, according to a news release, Caravan of Thieves has roamed the North American continent, “recruiting a family of avid thrill seekers at their high-energy shows.” Driving gypsy jazz rhythms, acoustic guitars, upright bass, and violin lay the foundation for “mesmerizing vocal harmonies and fantastic stories. It's theatrical and humorous. It's musical and intense. It entertains, dazzles, and defies classification.”
In the spring of 2008, vocal harmonizing, acoustic guitar playing husband and wife songwriting duo Fuzz and Carrie Sangiovanni invited violinist Ben Dean and double bassist Brian Anderson to join the band.
To accompany their debut full-length CD of dramatic and satirical tales, Bouquet, they built an interactive stage set of percussive junk, and the quartet took their newly animated show on the road.
They successfully connected folk, pop, rock and jazz audiences of all ages and shared stages with artists such as Emmylou Harris, Dan Hicks, Nanci Griffith, The Decembrists, Ricky Skaggs, Tom Tom Club, Iron and Wine, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Tony Trischka, John Hammond, John Jorgenson, and many others.
Caravan of Thieves released a live CD, Mischief Night, in 2010 to capture their continuously evolving show and the response and energy that they had been receiving from audiences far and wide.
In between their 2011 spring tour legs and stockpiling an ever-growing collection of sonic scrap metal, the group recorded the fan-funded CD, The Funhouse.
The quartet's latest CD, Kiss Kiss, features the dark humor and sarcastic social commentary of Caravan of Thieves' previous albums, with an added emphasis on love and all the beauty and danger it brings.