The Vignes Rooftop Revival

Gypsy Jazz and Swingin’ Folk Rarities from the DTLA Arts District

Tucked away in a corner of Downtown Los Angeles lies a secret rooftop garden, where artists and musicians mingle with scientists and inventors, and the ringing of acoustic guitars wafts through the leaves of exotic plants. In this urban oasis the seeds of the Vignes Rooftop Revival took root, and over six years the group has honed its toe-tapping blend of Gypsy jazz and folk eclectica while blossoming into a local collective of several dozen musicians.

The group is arguably LA’s busiest and greenest swing band— performing over 200 times per year, the founding members travel to almost all of their shows by foot, bicycle, or skateboard.

 

 

On any given night, downtown residents may glimpse bassist Bergen Moore skating with his upright bass in tow, or guitarist Erik Miron pulling a bicycle trailer full of instruments. Their destinations include some of the Eastside’s best bars and restaurants—

• Mondays at 8 the group walks over to Eat.Drink.Americano, an intimate gastropub and favorite date spot in the Arts District;
• Thursdays at 6 they travel by bicycle to Prank Bar, a hip after-work favorite near Staples Center;
• Fridays at 8 they're walking, biking, and skating to Pali Wine Co., an Arts District tasting room that bleeds out onto Traction street;
• Sundays at 3:30 the musicians take the Spring Street bike path to hold court at Brack Shop Tavern, a local haunt in the Historic Core known for its comfort food and pet-friendly patio.

In addition to their weekly gigs, downtowners can regularly find the Vignes Rooftop Revival at venues such as 1642, Seven Grand, the Varnish, and the historic Grand Central Market.

The Vignes Rooftop Revival, purveyors of 1930s-style French gypsy jazz, weave through the traffic-clogged streets of Los Angeles on bicycles with all their instruments and equipment in tow [...] the band's fame is spreading.

With its reputation for lively, laid-back acoustic shows and spontaneous, invitation-only rooftop soirées, The Vignes Rooftop Revival has become an underground node in a thriving local music scene.

Regular guest performers include some of LA’s finest musicians from a wide variety of genres, including Amber Navran (Moonchild), Eliana Athayde (Nick Waterhouse), Kyle Crane (M. Ward, Daniel Lanois), and Daniel Richardson (Solange). The group’s audience has had its fair share of characters as well— from dubstep producer Skrillex to jazz guitar legend Kurt Rosenwinkel. 

Performing as many as 8 times per week, the musicians of the Vignes Rooftop Revival have no plans to slow down. In addition to keeping up an intense schedule of shows, preparations are underway for a live album as well as a studio project. Looking forward, they hope to build a bicycle trailer for the upright bass and begin touring outside of downtown Los Angeles— schemes for West Coast and European bicycle tours are already brewing. 

An amazing live band ...
Energetic and eclectic ...
[Their] lively, improvisational shows transport a 2018 Los Angeles crowd to 1930’s Paris

For press or booking, please email vignesrooftoprevival@gmail.com or call Erik at (406) 671-8942 or Bergen at (415) 713-7511

To see the band perform any day of the week, see where they play next — or get regular short videos and photo documentary @rooftoprevival on Instagram.