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From New York to Cardiff: The Debut album from the Transatlantic Hot Club !
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April 30, 2025
The Transatlantic Hot Club has long been a favourite with us at Camac. Formed in the balmy climes of the Caribbean, the group was founded by Ben Creighton-Griffiths (harp) and Adrien Chevalier (Violin) in 2013, who met whilst both performing at ‘Journées de la Harpe’, a festival that takes place on the islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe, St Anne, and St Lucia, and in French Guyana. “We discovered on the first day we met that this style of music was very well suited to the harp. Since then, the core lineup has always been formed around Adrien on the violin and me on the harp, but then often expanded depending on where we are and what we are doing.”
Over the years, the group has performed in various combinations, ranging from a duo to a quintet, always featuring an exceptional roster of musicians from New York, South Wales, and France. “Most commonly we’ve performed live as a trio with double bass but in the case of this album we decided to try and be a little more adventurous.”
Ben and Adrien were therefore delighted when two eminent Parisian musicans – Edouard Pennes (bass) and Adrien Tarraga (guitar) – agreed to join the lineup for their debut album. A serendipitous meeting with the clarinettist Corentin Giniaux at a gig at Le Piano Vache a few days before the sessions meant adding his beautiful sound to a few of the tracks presented “We loved the additional sound this provided. As it was our first album, we decided that a selection of different ensembles within this album would be a great introduction to our style.” Over two days, the group set up camp in Zoot Studios, Paris, and ‘From New York to Cardiff’ was born.
But what makes this group so different and exciting within the jazz manouche genre? Ben points out that, of course, it is the harp! The instrument performs the function traditionally occupied by the guitar in bands of this kind. “We are contrary to the norm by performing with the harp instead. While our trio formation has been very successful, it’s always fun to expand beyond just three musicians and add new timbres and textures, so we developed the first album’s lineup.”
This enriched tonal palette extends not only to the instruments of this album, but the music that they feature, too.
“We play perhaps a broader range of tunes than people expect from this kind of band, as well as the traditional Django and French chanson repertoire, We incorporate the Latin standards, Balkan/Eastern European folk tunes, and many American swing standards. We felt it was important to show the variety of what we can do in our debut recording. It’s certainly the kind of gypsy jazz style that fans of the genre will recognise and enjoy, but with something just a little different added to it (besides the harp!)”
The group is currently on tour in the UK with a fascinating new quartet formation, including Corsican chromatic accordion player Jeremy Lohier. That means thinking ahead to the next album!
“We are going into the studio during this tour to record our second album, which will see us add Corsican traditional songs to our repertoire as well, which is something absolutely unique with this combination of instruments.” The group plans to release that album during an international tour slated for 2026, but that’s not before they present their current album to audiences worldwide!
You can buy physical copies of ‘From New York to Cardiff’ from the band, and for anyone not able to make it to a live date, it’s available for purchase or streaming online. You can find the link to pre-save the album here. Ben says, “We’re incredibly proud of how this recording turned out, and we can’t wait to share it with you!”
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