"Douze Chansons" (12 songs) is Gypsy Caravan's first recording effort. Lead Guitarist, David Clarke had long aspired to form a gypsy jazz band, and finally in late 2011, he took the steps necessary to make that happen. He had been influenced early on by Bireli Lagrene's first album "Routes to Django" recorded at the tender age of 13. This prompted him to search out Django Reinhardt's music as well. David has performed in many bands and styles over the years, but never really attempted the gypsy style until last year. David approached his musician friends about forming the band "Gypsy Caravan," enlisting the help of his father, Dan Clarke (rhythm guitar), Wayne Delano (saxophones, clarinet), and Herb Maine (acoustic bass). In order to keep the band versatile and continually available for bookings, David thought it would be a good idea to maintain alternate players, so also added Scott Rapaport (saxophones, clarinet), Chris Poulin (rhythm guitar), and Ezra Rugg (acoustic bass). So David set forth the task of writing original tunes in the gypsy jazz "manouche" style. The music flowed quickly, and after hearing about the chance to perform at the Belfast (Maine) "Free Range Festival" requiring a full set of all original music, he set his sights on 12 original songs. He was offered the chance to record at NESCOM studios in Bangor, and jumped at it. The album was recorded live in 6 short daytime sessions by the students of NESCOM. So David put together a repertoire for the band, and has been successfully performing around the state of Maine in 2012.