Django Reinhardt Festival  

November 5, 2009

Thursday 8:30pm

Detail:

Featuring Tchavalo & Samson Schmitt, Brian Torff, Andreas Oberg, Ludovic Beier, Aurore Voilqué, Ted Gottsegan & special guests!

The spirit of Django lives on in New York, celebrating the annual festival’s 10th anniversary! Excitement over the music of the legendary French gypsy jazz guitarist has grown immeasurably since Producers Pat Philips & Ettore Stratta founded the Django Reinhardt NY Festival in 2000. Combining the best players from Europe with some of America's finest jazz artists, a unique atmosphere of virtuosity and fun pervades Birdland for one week only! Reinhardt, a musical genius born to gypsy parents, was a virtuoso on the six-string banjo while still in his teens. In 1931, he heard the music of Louis Armstrong, an experienced than inspired and shaped the future of his music. By the time of his death, twenty-two years later, Reinhardt had single-handedly redirected the course of jazz guitar.

With music directed by bassist Brian Torff, this year’s festival features guitarists Tchavalo and Samson Schmitt, Andreas Oberg, Ted Gottsegan, accordionist Ludovic Beier, and violinist Aurore Voilqué. Nightly special guests include saxophonist Joel Frahm (11/3), trumpeters Dominick Farinacci (11/4) and Terell Stafford (11/5), harpist Edmar Castaneda (11/6), harmonica master Hendrik Meurkens (11/7), and washboard percussionist David Langlois (11/8). See for yourself why this Birdland tradition is one of our most anticipated events of the year!