Mandosoft

My main instruments are upright bass, guitar, and mandolin. Plus some other stuff that I'd be too ashamed to admit.

I enjoy playing a variety of styles, staying mostly in the acoustic realm: Bluegrass, Swing, country, Gypsy Jazz, French Folk, Musette, Eastern European, Klezmer, Mexican, Tango, etc. I also teach online or in person.

Current active projects:

Bistro Moustache (French Café music)

Bistro Moustache plays French Café music, a style that mixes songs with flavors of Manouche, Gypsy Jazz, Musette, Tango and Swing. That style was popular in France before and after the Second World War, and it is still very much alive today. We go from the popular timeless classics (Les Feuilles Mortes, C'est Si Bon, Ménilmontant, J'Attendrai, La Foule, Sous Le Ciel De Paris, La Vie En Rose) to more modern songs , and even some numbers you may hear on the French radio today. We also feature Jazz instrumentals and dance tunes, Waltzes, Polkas, Tangos, Auvergne Bourrées and Celtic folk. All the songs are sung in French by Olivier, a native Parisian, with accompaniment on Guitars, Accordion, Clarinet and Mandolin.Just as if Charles Trenet, Jacques Brel, Yves Montand, Georges Brassens, Serge Gainsbourg, Tino Rossi, Edith Piaf, Boris Vian, Django Reinhardt, Gus Viseur and Jo Privat were all on the same stage together for one evening.

[Listen] -- [Watch] -- [YouTube] -- [Facebook]

Swing Shift (Swing and Classic Jazz)

Swing Shift plays American swing -- songs from the 1920s through the present day. Led by Richard Southwick on vocals and guitar, the trio features Nathan Ladyzhensky on violin and melodica, and Olivier Zyngier on double bass. While the focus is on songs from the Great American Songbook, the band also likes to mix in latin rhythms, western swing, and modern pop tunes reimagined in a swing style.

[Listen] -- [Watch] -- [Facebook]

Solo performer

I sing and accompany myself on Guitar and Mandolin, for events, corporate parties, cafés and restaurants, and senior/retirement homes. My repertoire consists of favorites from the 20's 30's and 40's Great American Songbook, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Fats Waller, Hoagy Carmichael, etc. as well as some Blues and Country most people will certainly recognize. Performances can be as staged or intimate shows, background music or with audience participation -- most of those songs are familiar to many people, and very often the audience members will sing with me.I mix those with French Café Music from the Bistro Moustache repertoire,(see above, e.g. Edit Piaf, Charles Trenet, etc.), Bourrées dance tunes played on the mandolin, and French children comptines, like Frère Jacques, or Sur Le Pont D'Avignon. I have played in over 30 Senior and Retirement homes in the Bay Area, most often as regular recurring performances.

Listen to the [English repertoire] -- [French repertoire]

Past bands and projects:

Past bands included The Baguette Quartette (French cafe music, musette and tangos), Way Blonde (country swing), The Mandorian Candidates (mandolin trio), French Toast (French traditional folk), Danubius (Hungarian and easter european folk), Special Delivery (country rock), Rhythm & Romance (gypsy swing), Blue Plate Special (bluegrass), Back At Two (jazz), Westwind (dance company), and a few others that disbanded before they could get a name or play a gig, or simply that I forgot. Some of these projects' recordings are still available:

Redwing (bluegrass with a twist, and, yes, no banjo) -- [Listen] -- [Watch]
Douce Ambiance (jazz, swing and other bizarre stuff) -- [Listen]
Swing Tonic (western swing, country, tex-mex, and more) -- [Listen]