This is great news as gypsy jazz shows are hard to find in the southland. Such is the pity as gypsy jazz such a playful and accessible style. People love it when they first hear it. You will too.
Gypsy jazz, also known as manouche music, was invented in Paris in 1934 by Romani-Belgian guitarist Django Reinhardt and French-Italian violinist Stephane Grappelli. Grappelli also invented violin jazz at that time. Manouche was an immediate hit and took Europe by storm (and, subsequently, post-war USA). Django’s band was called the Hot Club Quintet. To this day, some bands will include ‘Hot Club’ in their title if they specialize in gypsy jazz.
There are superlatives aplenty about Django, the band and the style, all of them deserved. Every famous jazz and rock guitarist cites Django as an influence.
The sound is a blend of Romani folk, Hungarian/Romanian classical and the freedom that comes with jazz. While that sounds like an aggressive mix, it is truly a gentle, clever and timeless style. When you hear it, you can imagine yourself in a pre-war European café having an espresso with Kurt Weil.
So, enough words. Here is some proof. This link takes you to rare footage of the Hot Club Quintet. This link takes you to Sammy Daussat, who will be playing at the festival. In the video, he is doing a gypsy take on All of Me. Indeed, the most pleasurable experience for me are gypsy renditions of the Great American Songbook.
The festival will be held at Theater Raymond Kabbaz, on the campus of Le Lycee De Francais Los Angeles. The theater is only one in LA dedicated to French art forms. TRK has hosted many gypsy jazz musicians over the years. This is their first festival-sized gypsy jazz event. They plan to do more. I could not be happier!
Since you will be hooked, I thought I would do you the favor of providing a list of local musicians who specialize in the style. You’re welcome!
Hot Club of Los Angeles. They perform most Mondays at the Cinema Bar in Culver City. Great Band but not so great about maintaining their calendar.
Ganzalo Bergara. Musical phenom. Born in Argentina and started as a blues musician. He travels the world but is based in LA.
Leah Zeger. Leah played violin with Ganzalo Bergara. She now has a solo career and several side projects. One of her projects is Quattrosound. They will be playing at the Laguna Festival of the Arts in August. Don’t miss them!
Hedgehog Swing. I have not seen them, but I want to. They play mostly in Long Beach.
Trio Dinicu. Incredible ensemble. They will be playing at the festival. Their focus are the Hungaria-Romanian classical roots to gypsy jazz.
Black Market Trust. They fuse gypsy with pop songs from the 1960’s, e.g. Beatles and Beach Boys. My friends love them.
The Vignatis. They fuse rockabilly and gypsy jazz. They call their style gypsybilly.
Chamberlain Trio. These guys are brilliant but they have no calendar at all! You might be able to catch their shows if you follow their leader, A.J. Minette, on Twitter and Instagram.