Articles, Interviews, Reviews
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"These guys can really swing! In fact, the first time we had them at Rhythm & Roots, they swung so hard that the crowd demanded that we bring them back the next year." - Chuck Wentworth (Promoter), Rhythm & Roots Festival, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival
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"Outstanding. I love the energy and harmony and melodies and the lyrics, okay, I just really like this band." - Dee Perry, WCPN Cleveland "Around Noon", Radio Interview, July 11, 2012
Hear entire interview here
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"Great singing, fantastic guitar and violin work, with high energy originals that left the crowd crazy. An awesome band." -David Bromberg, Musician
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"A typical Occidental Gypsy concert consists of a mix of original pieces by Kulman and Feldman, traditional gypsy jazz from 1930s and ’40s icon Reinhardt, and covers of songs from other genres — the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” the theme song from the Harry Potter movies — but with a gypsy jazz spin.
And its appeal is turning out to be widespread.
“Gypsy music is reminiscent of a retro period; it has a warm sound and an acoustic instrumentation that is easy on the ear,” said Kulman. “So anyone who has heard it before is a little nostalgic for the sound and likes us because of that. But we also play with a high energy that appeals to younger ears.” -Boston Globe Article, August 22, 2012
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The Creative Center is still buzzing from the energy Occidental Gypsy put into it's set. Trust me when I say, you left those that stayed to hear you with nothing but glowing words about the talent, personality and "feel good" music you performed.
One of the resident artists from The Creative Center who saw your set was heard to say in the hall this morning "Man that music was so good I woke up feeling happy!". That's a true story and quite frankly says a lot about how your music touches people and makes them feel.
- The Creative Center Greensboro, NC, February 2013
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"...Django has inspired a half-century of brilliant guitarists. In the U.S., Brett Feldman's band Occidental Gypsy has fused contemporary styles and tunes with gypsy guitar and violin." -excerpt from "Some Flowers You Can't Kill" article about Django Reinhardt by Frank Malley
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"I had to wonder if this is what audiences felt when the great Django Reinhardt was introducing gypsy guitar to the world... All masters of their craft, it is blatantly apparent that these guys really love what they do and have a lot of fun doing it! Injecting their gypsy flavor into numbers that range from Duke Ellington all the way to Michael Jackson on top of the plethora of original tunes, Occidental Gypsy delivers a high energy performance not to be missed!" -Sky King's Mountain Beat
Read Full Review Here (submitted June 18, 2012)
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"... the acoustic Hot Club arrangement of Michael Jackson is a kick to hear. The originals on Over Here also testify to the enduring fascination with guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephan Grapelli, whose easy mix of European sophistication and American rhythm set an inspiring model in the 1930s...."
- Milwaukee Express
Read full review here
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....Scottie is basically a pop guy," [Brett] Feldman says. "He is a huge pop fan. He wants to write pop music and I just want to play gypsy swing. But, we play real well together. We're the best of brothers. So, we basically combined the ideas. We take some American influences and combine them with gypsy swing influences. You play them on gypsy guitars, which really give us our own sound."
"I said we should do a Django song," Feldman says. "Scottie said, 'No, we are gypsy pop band. We should do a Stevie Wonder song. Even better, why don't we do my idol?' I said, 'No, we're not going to do Michael Jackson.'"
Kulman convinced Feldman to at least give it a try, so the band worked out an arrangement for Jackson's "Thriller."
-The Herald Palladium, July 2012
read full article here
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The latest video exclusive from your friends here at TONY is a performance by fast-rising local Gypsy-swing combo Occidental Gypsy, which puts a fresh spin on the kind of music you might have heard in a chic Parisian caf during the 1920s. Gearing up for a date at the Metropolitan Room on June 5 (from which partial proceeds will benefit the American Folk Art Museum), the band popped by the TONY offices to provide a quick dose of old-world charm and New York swagger with an original track called "Gypsy Blues," as heard on its new CD, Over Here. Doff your beret, sip something strong and have an earful.
- Time Out New York
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"I haven't heard anyone take a genre this far afield since the Bourbon Boys did The Beatles to bluegrass. Listeners will surely be all in with Occidental Gypsy's "Over Here", Whether smiling as the tunes float through the car stereo system, or on the dance floor live.What a terrific and unpretentiousfab four." -C.D Review, Motif Magazine April 2011
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"A Whirling dervish of sound rooted in the Hot Club of France, this quartet plays a stunning mix of traditional gypsy guitars and violin with breathtaking originals." - WCUW 91.3 FM
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"Best Bet" for weekend live music (Maudslay Arts Center) - Boston Globe
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"Occidental Gypsy has become a major force in regional music, with appearances at the Rhythm 'n Roots Festival, the Blackstone River Theater, the Taste of Rhode Island, and other venues in Southern Massachusetts and Eastern Connecticut." - The Westerly Sun
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"An awesome array of foot tapping grooves that just keep coming at you song by song. Highly recommended." - Al Salzillo (Promoter), Nightside Entertainment, Newport Summer Concert Series
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"Whether they respond to the amazing virtuosity of these players or the infectious tempos of the tunes, listeners have been entranced by their music." - South County Independent
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"A four piece force to be reckoned with..."
- The Narragansett Times
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"Occidental Gypsy is the real deal. Their playing is impeccable, their onstage presence is infectious and their professionalism is top-notch."
- George Tocci, Bull Run Concert Series
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More Articles, Interviews, and Reviews
The Valley Breeze, Concert Preview 04/17/12 >> go there
Rockland Times, Concert Preview 03/29/2012 >> go there
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Midwest Record, Album Review 12/20/11 >> go there
In the footsteps of all the great gypsy guitar crews that have come before, Occidental Gypsy forges a dandy, adult listening path that takes it's cues from the Hot Club but adds and subtracts what's necessary to create a unique and enjoyable sound. With the music purely front and center and everything else in service of the sound, this four piece crew and their pals know the best thing is to let the music do the talking. A fine, new step in the path that tickles the world beat ears in such a suburb fashion. A winner throughout.
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The Day, Concert Preview 12/15/11 >> go there
Below are four statements about Occidental Gypsy, performing Saturday at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook. Three of them are true. Can you correctly figure it all out?
• A visionary band applying Django-esque arrangements to American style pop music, Occidental Gypsy does a truly clever and inspired arrangement of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" on their 2011 "Over There" CD.
• The great-grandmother of violinist Jakub Trasak was the actress who played the Gypsy fortune teller who counseled Lon Chaney, Jr., in "The Wolf Man."
• Yes, in September, that was Occidental Gypsy you saw kicking some major ass at the Rhythm 'n' Roots Festival in Ninigret, R.I.
• In addition to virtuosity, originality and killer music, the OG stage show is a blast: they're witty, friendly, and seem the sort of guys you'd hang around with after the show to share a few Pilsner Urquells.
Oh: the "Wolf Man" thing isn't true, but it should be. - RICK KOSTER
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Shepherd Express, Album Review 12/11/11 >> go there
New York Times, Concert Listing 12/02/11 >> go there
Time Out New York, Video Post 05/27/11 >> go there
The Listening Room, Concert Review 12/08/10 >> go there
See our Current and Past Show list here.