Duo Gadjo and their Hot Friends

San Francisco's Duo Gadjo are known for their ebullient style of Django Reinhardt-influenced continental jazz and swing. A mainstay on the Bay Area music scene since the mid-2000s, they have garnered attention for their work alongside the Hot Club of San Francisco and for their own albums, including 2008's Meet Me in Paris and 2018's Parlez Moi D'Amour. Formed in 2005, Duo Gadjo features the talents of husband-and-wife collaborators vocalist/guitarist Isabelle Fontaine and guitarist Jeff Magidson. Prior to coming together, the French-born Fontaine grew up listening to artists like Edith Piaf and Charles Trenet. She began singing in bands in college and eventually picked up the guitar after gravitating toward the music of Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France. Conversely, San Francisco native Magidson began playing guitar at a young age, and by the time he was in college, he was an adept jazz and blues performer. The pair initially met in France, where Magidson had moved following a college year abroad living in Poitiers. Discovering their shared love of gypsy jazz and swing, the couple spent many years living and performing in Europe before moving to San Francisco in 2004. There, Magidson established himself as a member of the Hot Club of San Francisco while he and Fontaine began working under the Duo Gadjo moniker. In 2008, they released their debut album, Meet Me in Paris, which also featured members of the Hot Club of San Francisco. The duo were also featured on the HCSF's 2012 concert album Live at Yoshi's San Francisco and contributed a version of the French classic "Sous le Ciel de Paris" to the 2015 compilation Putumayo Presents: French Café. In 2018, they released their sophomore album, Parlez Moi D'Amour.
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