Hot Sardines bring innovation, verve, and sheer joy to ‘Holiday Stomp’

The Hot Sardines infuse yuletide classics with their unique and swinging sound when they bring their critically acclaimed “Holiday Stomp” to Mercyhurst University’s Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 7:30 p.m.

In the talented hands of The Hot Sardines, music first made famous decades ago comes alive through their brassy horn arrangements, rollicking piano melodies, and cool vocals from a chanteuse who transports listeners to a different era with the mere lilt of her voice. “Holiday Stomp” includes beloved favorites like “White Christmas” and “Please Come Home for Christmas” as well as lesser-known gems such as Edith Piaf's “Le Noël de La Rue,” Ella Fitzgerald's “Santa Claus Got Stuck in My Chimney,” and even “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”—with plenty of surprises along the way.

Bandleader Evan “Bibs” Palazzo and lead singer “Miz Elizabeth” Bougerol met in 2007 after they both answered a Craigslist ad about a jazz jam session above a Manhattan noodle shop. The unlikely pair—she was a London School of Economics-educated travel writer who grew up in France, Canada, and the Ivory Coast; he was a New York City born and raised actor who studied theater at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia—bonded over their love for Fats Waller. Influenced also by such greats as Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday, they began playing open mic nights and small gigs and, by 2011, they headlined Midsummer Night Swing at New York’s Lincoln Center.

The Hot Sardines’ self-titled debut album, named by iTunes as one of the best jazz albums of 2014, spent more than a year on the Billboard Jazz Chart, debuting in the top 10 alongside Michael Bublé, and Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. The accolades began pouring in for the band: Downbeat called The Hot Sardines “one of the most delightfully energetic bands on New York’s ‘hot’ music scene,” while The London Times praised their “crisp musicianship” and “immaculate and witty showmanship,” declaring them “simply phenomenal.”

The group has made guest appearances on Later… With Jools Holland, NPR’s Weekend Edition, CBS Saturday Morning, NPR’s Soundcheck, Live at WFUV, and appeared at major jazz festivals including Newport, Montreal, Toronto, London, and Blue Note in Japan, in addition to sold-out shows at more than 400 venues worldwide.

In the hot jazz movement, The Hot Sardines stand apart for the innovation, verve, and sheer joy they bring to music, both new and old. The Guardian raves, “The charismatic front-runners of vintage jazz play big halls as if they’ve just dropped into a party.”

Tickets for “Holiday Stomp” with The Hot Sardines, priced $20-$45, can be purchased online at the MIAC ticketing website, over the phone at 814-824-3000, or in person at the Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center box office (Tuesday-Thursday, noon-5 p.m.). Each order is subject to a $3 per ticket processing fee, regardless of purchase or payment method.

A limited number of pre-concert reception tickets, priced $15, are also available. Students from Mercyhurst’s Hospitality Management Program will be serving roast turkey with cranberry chutney and cheddar cheeses, shrimp cocktail, bacon-wrapped dates, charcuterie skewers, vintage cupcakes, macarons, mocktail martinis, and more!

This performance is sponsored by Humes Chrysler Dodge Jeep & Ram, Gary’s Flower Shoppe, and the Erie Reader, and the 2022-2023 MIAC Live season is sponsored by Scott Enterprises, Dr. & Mrs. Robert Guelcher, Aetna, Cumulus Media, and the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority.