Music
Press
"Atlanta's Bonaventure Quartet offers a fascinating amalgam of classic jazz, western swing,
and plenty of originals - all arranged and played with the inspiration of Django Reinhardt."
The Bonaventure Quartet may be steeped in Django's legacy, but on these two albums, they prove they're not just another Hot Club band."
".... it's Williams' originals that stand out. Composing the mustic and lyrics to tunes like "The World's Greatest Lover," "Blue Rendezvous," and the eulogy "In Lieu of Flowers," he proves himself. Instrumentals such as "Tres Ambiance are the icing on the cake."
Michael Dregni
(August 2005) - Vintage Guitar Magazine 2005
"Actually a five-piece, with the addition of moonlighting country vocalist Amy Pike, the Bonaventure Quartet has quietly honed its continental jazz chops during weekly gigs at Eclipse di Luna. The group's new CD, Blue Rendezvous, was recorded live in the studio with no overdubs, and as such showcases Bonaventure's true sound -- inspired primarily by Django's gypsy jazz, but also veering toward torch songs and pre-rock pop. "
Roni Sarig-Music Editor - Creative Loafing Atlanta
Sense and sensibility, restraint and passion. Guitarist-composer Charles Williams maneuvers expertly between these poles when playing with the Bonaventure Quartet, his all-acoustic jazz outfit. He disciplines his spirit with Zen Buddhism, a practice integral to his music. "Moments of music begin to sing to you and you become the song," he says.
On the other hand, he emulates the bravado and panache of famed gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, whose capacity for theater, Williams says, allows him "to take something really mundane and make it seem really important."
Williams and his quartet elevate their music in a like manner -- a simple waltz becomes a stirring, darkly beautiful instrumental. Normally, Bonaventure features the vocals of local talent Amy Pike. As Pike cares for her newborn, though, the group has shifted gears to highlight a clarinet and saxophone player, described by Williams as "the venerable Don Erdman from Argentina, a political refugee and former gaucho." Local veterans Dave Boling on second guitar and Kris Dale on acoustic bass complete the quartet.
While stylistically similar to the set performed with Pike, Bonaventure's repertoire has benefitted from the addition of Erdman. As Williams explains, a decaying note on an acoustic guitar can be picked up by the wind instrument, improving the melody.
Pike will soon rejoin Bonaventure to help record an album of Williams' original compositions, which he hopes will coalesce as a "strange soundtrack to a movie that was never made, about conversations with myself." We're lucky to get to listen in.
The Bonaventure Quartet plays every Wednesday at Eclipse de Luna. - Creative Loafing Atlanta
Chances are you’ve never heard a band quite like the Bonaventure Quartet. Like the Squirrel Nut Zippers before them, the misnomered sextet is steeped in the old-time jazz your grandparents may well have listened to in their youth. But where that Carolina act tended to serve up Dixieland and Ragtime with a healthy dose of camp, the Bonaventure Quartet tackles Django Reinhardt’s Continental jazz with a warm sense of reverence that reeks of authenticity.
The group began as an acoustic trio, but it’s hard to imagine them being this good without veteran vocalist Amy Pike, former frontwoman for swing band The Lost Continentals. The orchestral opening of “The March of the Grand Pompadour” showcases guitarist Charles Williams’ (a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit) classical compositional influences, but it’s when Pike’s rich vocals intertwine with Williams and Dave Boling’s strummed guitars and Don Erdman’s smooth clarinet on the frisky “The World’s Greatest Lover” that the album really comes alive. “The Scene Of You” proves the band can deliver a torch ballad with just as much personality as their swing, with Pike lamenting, “What can I say, you had it coming/What with the way you ran around/And who in the world could blame this sweet little girl/Besides, I didn’t leave any clues at the scene of you.”
And so it goes throughout this fantastic 15-track LP, moving from gypsy-style jazz (“The Heat Below”) and Argentinian tango (“Moonlight Falling”) to klezmer influences (“Ou Est Pepe Lopez”) and sultry blues (“Lily’s On The Prowl”) with equal aplomb. Since each of these seasoned veterans seems to have their own side gigs, I’m guessing the Bonaventure Quartet doesn’t play out all that often. Which makes it all the more essential for jazz fans to catch them when they do. – BRET LOVE
- Georgia Music Magazine, Spring Issue 2008 and INsite's April issue, 2008:
"The Bonaventure Quartet gives a breath of fresh air to classic jazz and swing sensibilities with a strong but elegant Gypsy flare. Django Reinhardt worship with a touch of camp gives BVQ's blend of ballroom jazz a subtle sense of humor"
- Creative Loafing, May 20-27, 2008
"With the sultry, silky voice of former Lost Continentals front woman Amy Pike and the gypsy-jazz flavored guitar of Charles Williams, Bonaventure is a marvelous melting pot. They add Southern sass to the smokey jazz of Parisian cabarets between the world wars on their new album, "the Secret Seduction of the Grand Pompadour". -Shane Harrison.
- The Atlanta Journal/Constitution, May 22 2008:
Creative Loafing, July 9-15, 2008
"The Secret Seduction of the Grand Pompadour is a velvety concept album cut from a different cloth than anything the Bonaventure Quartet has done before. The group straddles a baroque in-between area of smooth, continental jazz and secretly torchy tendencies for a release that is pure mood. Vocalist Amy Pike is as classy as she wants to be, as she gives a warm romantic hue to the album's subtler moments. Her moonlit croon carries a sense of innocence and allure to "The Scene of You", while bestowing "The World's Greates Lover" with a frolicsome air.
There's no denying that it's an essential BVQ offering. It is it's most accomplished to work to date that uses shades of klezmer sounds and a gypsy jangle to add flavor to a timeless and tasteful jazz palette." Five stars! -Chad Radford
- Ctreative Loafing
Southeastern Performer Magazine August 2008
The Bonaventure Quartet - The Secret Seduction of the Grand Pompadour
Recorded at Ken Gregory Studios in Atlanta, GA | Produced by Charles Williams Engineered and mixed by Ken Gregory | Mastered by Alex Lowe
"It never, ever, gets old hearing a band play music like The Bonaventure Quartet does on The Secret Seduction of the Grand Pompadour. The band’s blend of western swing and old time jazz played through a southern filter jumps in your pocket and puts a high-dollar sprint in your step. Like Christabel and the Jons or Miss Tess, The Bonaventure Quartet brings the unmistakable music of jazz clubs and cabarets of ages past beautifully to the present and in an unsullied light.
The songs are steadfast and mysterious. They are sleek and sexy, smooth like honey spread on gold bars. Amy Pike’s vocals are celestial in a bawdy kind of way — sweet and sassy, delivering something both timeless and easy to swoon over. On “Henry and June” Pike coos and purrs when she sings lyrics like “They were the love of each other’s lives.”
But just as the music on The Secret is from an era many will find fresh, yet it’s not without its own diversity. Note the Asian flavor lent to “Postcards” on its opening and during each break, the Mexicali flair of “Moonlight Falling” or the Henry Mancini strut of “Lily’s on the Prowl.” Don Erdman’s sax takes a wonderfully curious walk all over the track. His clarinet playing on “The World’s Greatest Lover” charms and the combination of Erdman and Pike recalls Carmen McRae’s “You Took Advantage of Me.”
The music-only interludes on The Secret are like life’s playful moments, sweet pauses before strong emotions. This is a careful and cautious creation to be sure, but the band handles it deftly with uncanny inspiration.
When not focused on cooking things up, The Secret moves casually along like a stroll on a weekday afternoon. Take “The Very Idea” or “Little World” which sound like the melodies echoing in the ears of new lovers or those taking the fall unknowingly. The Bonaventure Quartet takes care to swing you around in their arms and embrace you with the same soulful manner. (Château Debris Music)"
-Brian Tucker - Southeastern Performer Auust 2008
Discography
Blue Rendezvous- 2002 Chateau Debris Records
Songs from Trattoria La Cellina- 2004 Chateau Debris Records
The Secret Seduction of the Grand Pompadour-2008
Chateau Debris Records
Photos
Bio
Atlanta's Bonaventure Quartet has been profiled in Michael Dregni's new book, ' Django Reinhardt and the Illustrated History of Gypsy Jazz' as one of the premier groups in this style in America, alongside of Pearl Django and the Hot Club of San Francisco. Most of the groups in this style worldwide play the same repertoire of instrumental standards made famous by Django. The BVQ has caught the ear of critics and writers because of two factors; the intoxicating voice of Amy Pike and the quality of the original music they write. The BVQ began in 2000 as outlet for Charles Williams, formerly of The Aquarium Rescue Unit featuring Bruce Hampton, and Amy Pike, formerly of Landslide Records' The Lost Continentals...Charles had been playing funk and rock, Amy had been playing punk and swing and both were looking for a change. So the jam band veteran and the swing chanteuse, both songwriters with major label credits joined forces for an all acoustic swing/jazz/and more group....
Southeastern Performer Magazine August 2008
The Bonaventure Quartet - The Secret Seduction of the Grand Pompadour
Recorded at Ken Gregory Studios in Atlanta, GA | Produced by Charles Williams Engineered and mixed by Ken Gregory | Mastered by Alex Lowe
"It never, ever, gets old hearing a band play music like The Bonaventure Quartet does on The Secret Seduction of the Grand Pompadour. The band’s blend of western swing and old time jazz played through a southern filter jumps in your pocket and puts a high-dollar sprint in your step. Like Christabel and the Jons or Miss Tess, The Bonaventure Quartet brings the unmistakable music of jazz clubs and cabarets of ages past beautifully to the present and in an unsullied light.
The songs are steadfast and mysterious. They are sleek and sexy, smooth like honey spread on gold bars. Amy Pike’s vocals are celestial in a bawdy kind of way — sweet and sassy, delivering something both timeless and easy to swoon over. On “Henry and June” Pike coos and purrs when she sings lyrics like “They were the love of each other’s lives.”
But just as the music on The Secret is from an era many will find fresh, yet it’s not without its own diversity. Note the Asian flavor lent to “Postcards” on its opening and during each break, the Mexicali flair of “Moonlight Falling” or the Henry Mancini strut of “Lily’s on the Prowl.” Don Erdman’s sax takes a wonderfully curious walk all over the track. His clarinet playing on “The World’s Greatest Lover” charms and the combination of Erdman and Pike recalls Carmen McRae’s “You Took Advantage of Me.”
The music-only interludes on The Secret are like life’s playful moments, sweet pauses before strong emotions. This is a careful and cautious creation to be sure, but the band handles it deftly with uncanny inspiration.
When not focused on cooking things up, The Secret moves casually along like a stroll on a weekday afternoon. Take “The Very Idea” or “Little World” which sound like the melodies echoing in the ears of new lovers or those taking the fall unknowingly. The Bonaventure Quartet takes care to swing you around in their arms and embrace you with the same soulful manner. (Château Debris Music)"
-Brian Tucker
Charlie Williams- The guitar soloist with the BVQ was a founding member and guitarist for the Aquarium Rescue Unit featuring Col. Bruce Hampton. He was the writer of several songs for the band's two Capricorn releases, the first of which received a five star review in Rolling Stone magazine. Two of those songs were performed regularly on the Jay Leno show for over two years. The Aquarium Rescue Unit was a progenitor of the 90's wave of jambands. Alumni of the band include Jimmy Herring, now with The Dead and Phil and Friends, Otiel Burbridge of the Allman Brothers and Jeff Sipe of the Susan Tedeschi band.
Amy Pike- Amy is well known in Atlanta for her sultry singing style. Her group, The Lost Continentals, were hugely popular in the Southeast and songs from their Landslide Records' release, Moonshine and Martinis have played on national radio as well as being utilized in network television commercials. Amy has garnered, to date, a total of eleven Best of Atlanta awards for her musical outings. Basically, she rocks.
David Boling-Rounding out the sound of the BVQ with his strong rhythm playing, Dave is also known for his ukulele stylings with local Atlanta Hawaiian group Tongo Hiti..
Mark Bynum-On upright acoustic bass, Mark has played with Col. Bruce Hampton, Blueground Undergrass, and too many Atlanta notables to name.
Don Erdman-Don plays clarinet and sax with us and we're really happy about that...He gets called to back up the likes of Nancy Wilson and other 'name' people when they come through town...
Marla Feeney-On violin and practically anything she picks up Marla wails.
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