PRJC Holiday Gypsy Jazz Special Concert: The Hot Club of Baltimore

Prepare for an afternoon of dangerously hot jazz!

PRJC's 2026 year end concert takes a bold turn with the Hot Club of Baltimore.

Prepare for an afternoon of dangerously hot jazz as the Potomac River Jazz Club welcomes the renowned Hot Club of Baltimore for its year end concert. Hot Club performs inspired arrangements of the Django Reinhardt repertoire, blending his Gypsy jazz styling with traditional jazz classics. Toss in some French waltzes for good measure. Hot Club has three full length albums under its musical belt and has performed at major venues throughout the region and beyond. Band founder and leader Michael Joseph Harris put together Hot Club after recognizing the Django brand about 15 years ago. He’s the group’s leader, guitarist, and composer of original selections. Michael also founded the Charm City jazz Fest, the only annual jazz festival in Baltimore since 2016.

The ensemble boasts a variety of configurations including an instrumental trio of two guitars and upright bass, a classic quintet with violin, a late 40's instrumentation adding piano, drums, and horns, and a Django Big Band, which emulates the sound of the early 50's when Reinhardt performed with Duke Ellington. The group often features captivating vocalist Alexis Tantau who sings in her native Occitan language as well as songs in French and English by Edith Piaf, Eartha Kitt, Charles Trenet, Maxine Sullivan, Jacques Dutronc, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and Henri Salvador. Hot Club of Baltimore and Harris’s Ultrafaux group have been featured on Jon Larsen’s Django Festival, an annual compilation of the best gypsy jazz in the world. Michael Joseph Harris made the front page of The Baltimore Sun Weekend section in 2016 and was named one of the top 10 artists in Baltimore by Baltimore Style Magazine that same year. Both Ultrafaux and Hot Club of Baltimore have each recorded three full length albums since 2014 and performed at The Kennedy Center, Charm City Django JazzFest, The Soundry, Ramshead Live, Django Birthday Festival, Djangoary, Red Poppy Arthouse, North Columbia Schoolhouse Theater, Valhalla Boathouse Theater, Django-a-gogo, Festival Django Reinhardt, Napa Valley Jazz Society, Midwest Gypsy Swingfest, Baltimore Jazzfest, The French Embassy, Knoxville’s Blue Plate Special, and the IMT Folk Series.

In 2012, after years of performing mostly Brazilian and Latin influenced original music, guitarist Harris began studying and playing the music of Django Reinhardt which led to the creation of The Hot Club of Baltimore later that same year. After a surge of Django-inspired composing in 2013, Harris formed the band Ultrafaux Ensemble in 2014 to perform his original songs in the style of Gypsy Jazz. In 2015, Harris founded and remained Artistic Director for the popular Charm City Django Jazz Fest, the only annual Jazz festival in Baltimore, Maryland since then. Michael was named one of the top musicians in Baltimore by Baltimore Style Magazine and he was featured in a full spread article in The Baltimore Sun and Baltimore Magazine.

---PRJC has been bringing classic jazz to the DMV area since its founding in 1971---

Our monthly concerts are held at Rosensteel Hall in Silver Spring, MD. There is plenty of parking and the venue is just a few blocks from the Forest Glen stop on Metro's Red Line. There is seating, a great dance floor, and a cash bar (yes, paper money) with beverages and snacks.