Olli Soikkeli Feat. Costel Nitescu

Every Tuesday from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., Chez Georges welcomes the Alex Swing Events collective, which offers a varied and quality program, following a repertoire of swing / gypsy jazz, the music of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli, and many others!

Chez Georges is a very pleasant wine bar on rue des canettes, with a magnificent vaulted cellar in the basement, transformed on Tuesday into a gypsy jazz club

Born in Nurmes, Finland, and based in New York City, Soikkeli was introduced to the music of the great Django Reinhardt and to gypsy jazz, which has since become his main interest. Olli has played in jazz clubs and festivals throughout Finland and toured Europe with Sinti guitarist Paulus Schäfer. At a young age, he has already performed with notable artists such as Bucky Pizzarelli, Stochelo Rosenberg, Tommy Emmanuel, Andreas Öberg, Cyrille Aimee, Antti Sarpila, and Marian Petrescu.

Relocated to New York City since 2014, Olli has performed at legendary venues such as Town Hall, Herbst Theatre, Birdland Jazz Club, Blue Note, Iridium, and Lincoln Center.

Olli recorded his debut album, "Three Generations" (2011) with the Hot Club of Finland and Vitali Imereli, and his second album, "Kouvola Junction" (2012), with Paulus Schäfer and Arnoud van den Berg.

The Rhythm Future Quartet, co-led by Olli with violinist Jason Anick, released their debut album in 2014, followed by "Travels" (2016), which received critical acclaim, including being named one of the best albums of 2016 by Huffington Post and All About Jazz magazines. The fall of 2018 marked the release of their new album, "Rhythm Future Quartet and Friends," which features critically acclaimed vocalist Cyrille Aimée, top Brazilian bandolimist Hamilton de Holanda, and guitarist Stochelo Rosenberg.

In recent years, Olli has been exploring music. In 2017, he toured and recorded the album "Rise and Grind" with virtuoso accordionist Julien Labro. In 2018, Olli launched a duo project with Brazilian 7-string guitarist Cesar Garabini, based in New York, playing primarily Brazilian choro music. In early 2019, Olli recorded with Grammy Award-winning pianist Marian Petrescu.

First violinist in the Gypsy section of the Bucharest Radio Orchestra at the age of 16, Costel Nitescu has participated in numerous recordings with leading Romanian artists, such as cymbalist Toni Iordache.

In France, he seamlessly transitions from Eastern European music to gypsy jazz, which he plays with all his soul.