Le Chat Lunatique

Le Chat Lunatique is, as they describe themselves, “a group of middle-aged gentlemen who hit, scratch and yell notes at people in hopes of the best.” Purveyors of an addictive genre they call “filthy, mangy jazz,” they play originals, bent covers of ‘80s classics, and old jazz and Django Reinhardt standards, blending Western swing, classical, reggae, doo-wop, and “anything else we damn well please” into “strikingly original compositions and audaciously reworked standards.” Formed in 2005, their acclaimed debut CD, Demonic Lovely, featured all original tunes, and their follow-up Under the Covers (Vol.1) featured a collection of covers. Over the years, Le Chat has performed at South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, in the clubs of England, the boards of the national theater in Novi Sad, Serbia (where they performed their commissioned score for Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental’s ground breaking theatrical production Flamingo/Winnebago) and throughout New Mexico where they have won many awards for best band, best jazz act, and best song. Le Chat is comprised of Muni Kulasinghe on fiddle and vocals; Jared Putnam on bass and vocals; John Sandlin, guitars and vocals; and Greg Williams, drums “and stuff.”