La Vie En Rose is the first release from the Absinthe Minded Professors, a new old band featuring Greg Ruby and Rich Sikorski.

Ruby and Sikorski first played together in Hot Club Sandwich, the Pacific Northwest string band that spent the early 2000s mixing Django Reinhardt, French chanson, American swing, and whatever else seemed like a good idea at the time. Fifteen years later, they thought it would be good to put together a sequel.

Their version of La Vie En Rose pairs Rich’s French vocals with Greg’s guitar and a little accordion, keeping the romance of the original while giving it a healthy dose of Hot Club swing. It’s Paris, circa 1940, viewed from somewhere considerably less historically accurate.

A little Django. A little Piaf. A little absinthe. Mostly just two old friends having fun.

The Absinthe Minded Professors:

• Greg Ruby — guitar
• Rich Sikorski — vocals

with:

• Steve Rice - accordion
• Michael Gamble - bass