The Hot Sardines
PROJECTS:
Emerging a decade ago from the underground parties of Brooklyn to touring worldwide and recording a string of albums that’s racked up more than 60 million streams, the Hot Sardines’ own “potent and assured” (The New York Times), “simply phenomenal” (The Times, London) brand of reinvigorated classic jazz landed them at the center of a whirlwind.
In 2024, cofounders Elizabeth Bougerol (vocals) and Evan Palazzo (piano) debuted the Sardines' new project at Carnegie Hall, selling out within hours. Banned Jazz is a celebration of joy as an act of resistance and the unifying power of music, recounting how political forces in the U.S. and Europe tried (and failed) to suppress the music of Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker, Benny Goodman and more, with its messages of cultural, racial, and sexual freedom. Frontwoman and powerhouse storyteller Bougerol weaves vivid historical vignettes — of dancehall raids, black-market recordings, and Nazi-era laws that made playing (or even hearing) jazz a punishable offense — into an electrifying live-music experience. Her rallying cry “These are times that need live music” has never felt truer.
The Sardines' latest recording is C’est La Vie, a bilingual affair of vintage jazz standards and originals. The title track, a Bossa nova original in French, is a timely ode to fully living each moment, even when you don’t know what the next will bring. A gospel-inflected “Moon River” came about when Elizabeth and Evan were tapped by director Greg Mottola to contribute music to the Miramax release Confess, Fletch, starring Jon Hamm and John Slattery (in which the band also makes an appearance); originals created for the project include the original “Adieu l’amour,” a foray into the sounds of film noir. And — recorded on the road while she was pregnant with her son — Elizabeth sings “La Vie en Rose” as a spare, hushed lullaby in duet with Bob Parins.
The Hot Sardines continue to tour, taking Banned Jazz on the road starting in 2025, which will also see the release of their seventh album.
HOLIDAY STOMP
Jazz revivalists the Hot Sardines throw a raucous yuletide extravaganza inspired by classic holiday films (such as White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life) and timeless classics, with hat-tips to Louis Armstrong, Edith Piaf, Duke Ellington and beyond such as: “Mistletoe and Holly,” “Le Noël de la Rue,” “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” “Blue Christmas,” “Christmas Blues,” “White Christmas,” “Please Come Home for Christmas,” and more.
SYMPHONY
BANNED JAZZ: HOW AMERICA’S MUSIC CHANGED THE WORLD
Nearly 100 years ago, jazz—that most American art form, with its joyous message of cultural, racial, and sexual freedom—was viewed by many as the devil’s music, a force that would bring down civilization. The new show from powerhouse jazz revivalists and storytellers the Hot Sardines recounts how forces in the U.S. and Europe tried (and failed) to suppress the music of Louis Armstrong, Josephine Baker, Benny Goodman and more, weaving vivid historical vignettes—of dancehall raids, black-market recordings, and, in Nazi Germany, laws that made playing (or even hearing) jazz a punishable offense—into an electrifying live-music experience. Banned Jazz—which debuted as part of Carnegie Hall's Fall of the Weimar Republic Festival in spring 2024, selling out within hours—celebrates the unifying power of music and joy as an act of resistance, and will resonate with anyone reading the headlines today. THS co-founder and frontwoman Elizabeth Bougerol’s rallying cry “These are times that need live music” has never felt truer.
VIVE LE JAZZ! A MUSICAL JOURNEY FROM PARIS TO NEW ORLEANS
Join Parisian vocalist Elizabeth Bougerol and New York pianist-bandleader Evan Palazzo on a joyous trip through France’s love affair with (and enduring influence on) jazz! Finally, after a decade of “simply phenomenal” (The Times UK) shows from Montreal to Newport with 70 million Spotify streams, a sold-out 2024 Carnegie Hall debut and a fifth weeklong residency at Birdland, powerhouse jazz revivalists The Hot Sardines bring their unique French-American sound to the symphony stage. The Sardines celebrate gallic icons from Django Reinhardt to Edith Piaf, put their own spin on the Great American Songbook’s enduring tributes to the City of Lights, and follow jazz’s French roots to New Orleans, bringing brass-heavy bon temps party into the aisles.
PRESS:
“One of the best jazz bands in New York”
Forbes
“They’ve assembled a unique repertoire, and a sound and style that are distinctly their own”
Vanity Fair
“Not many bands have seized the postmillennial early-jazz spotlight with as much gusto as The Hot Sardines.”
Nate Chinen, WBGO
“Potent and assured”
The New York Times
“Swings like hell”
WBGO
“Post-modern self-awareness and verve”
Boston Globe
“Musical deftness topped by great showmanship…a big party”
JazzTimes
“Leaders of New York’s jazz revival”
CBS
“Consistently electrifying live”
PopMatters
“One of the most delightfully energetic bands on New York’s ‘hot’ music scene”
DownBeat
“They’re not a band. They’re a movement.”
Max Tucci, LA Talk Radio
“A revelation”
Bill Bragin, Lincoln Center
