Every city has its charms and Paris has long been synonymous with love and romance. Hot on the heels of the turn of the twentieth century, a period of optimism now known as La Belle Epoque, came this heady style of jazz made famous by the original Quintette du Hot Club de France.

La Vie en Rose, translated as ‘life through rose-tinted glasses’, was the song made famous by Edith Piaf and from which this band takes its name. They entranced the crowd with their gorgeous violin, beautifully thumping bass and great guitars underpinned by a glorious clarinet as they romped through an exhilarating gipsy jazz and swing set at the Kingsbridge Jazz Club’s fourth outing of the year.

The band’s five musicians have wide-ranging backgrounds in classical music, traditional jazz, rock, blues, country, ragtime and roots, and La Vie en Rose grew out of regular gypsy jazz jam sessions at Exeter’s Globe Inn. Their shared pleasure of gypsy jazz and hot swing was joyful to experience as they played their music inspired by the ‘hot jazz’ musicians of 1930s Paris.

Featuring David Jones (lead guitar), Laurie Light (rhythm guitar), Rebecca Willson (violin), Nick White (clarinet) and Yann Mahdjoub (double bass) we were foot-tapping from the start and would have needed no encouragement to get on the dance floor had there been one.

The set included some of the best known tracks of the Reinhardt/Grappelli gipsy jazz and swing era, such as Troublant Bolero, J’attendrai and Stomping at Decca. But there were also standard jazz classics such as Fats Waller’s Honeysuckle Rose, Sidney Bechet’s Si tu vois ma mere and Duke Ellington’s Caravan, which began with a spectacular bass slapping intro from Yann which has been described elsewhere as ‘slaptastic’.

What was clear throughout the two hour set was the sheer class of the musicianship – some of the band members also teach music and all have been playing from a very early age. The stories that David Jones told to link together the different pieces were highly entertaining and informative. Visually the band were stunning to watch, from the double bass in the hands of a master of the instrument, the synchronised guitar playing, the lovely violin, to the exuberant clarinet, which all soloed at various times. This was an incredible evening and it was no wonder that it had been a sell-out.