Django in June

About Our Concerts & Co-Productions
Ready to purchase concert tickets? You can do so online right here.
Starting mid-May, purchase them as well at Downtown Sounds (Northampton) or Fretted Instrument Workshop (Amherst).

Thanks for your interest in our offerings for the general public at Django in June this year. We'll warm up with some mid-week events produced in cooperation with local partners, including:

You can learn all the details about those mid-week activities at the bottom of this page. But first, have a look at what we have in store for you on the weekend. You won't want to miss these shows by this year's featured artists.

Friday June 15: Antoine & Sebastien Boyer

Helen Hills Hills Chapel, Northampton. 7:30. Tickets $24 advance / $28 door.
Purchase advance tickets online here. Tickets also available at Downtown Sounds (Northampton) and Fretted Instrument Workshop (Amherst).

If you think the guitarist in the picture to the left looks like a kid, you're right; Antoine Boyer will be turning 16 a month after Django in June. But that photo was taken at least 2 years after the first videos I saw of him, in which he was dwarfed by his guitar. Even then, however, it took only a few minutes for me to get past the novelty of the visual and arrive at roughly the same conclusion as that of Francis Couvreux, who wrote the following in his Django station review of Antoine's latest (and already his 3rd) CD, Sita:

Far outside the commonly recognized boundaries of gypsy swing, we are witnessing the emergence of a musician beyond category, a guitarist who constructs his own world, combining inventiveness, serenity and inner strength impressive for his age; his complex compositions show a constant inspiration and genuine spirituality.

One reason to feature such a young artist is suggested in the quote above if you read between the lines: we have no idea where Antoine's musical explorations will take him next. But in these first few years of his formation he has undertaken an earnest study of the gypsy jazz tradition—especially the branch of it associated with Django's close associates, the Ferret brothers—under the tutelage of Francis Alfred Moerman and Mandino Reinhardt. For the moment, his path takes him right through the patch of turf Django in June has claimed for itself. I propose we meet there, right now, lest the moment slip away.

Antoine will be accompanied by his father Sebastien on rhythm guitar and, if we are fortunate, accordion. And with such a large pool of talented artists on the Django Camp staff this year, you can count on hearing some of them as well in combinations that are impossible to predict but easy to anticipate with relish.

Visit Antoine and Sebastien's website for a video collection that should whet your appetite for their appearance with us: http://www.esmeraldjazz.com/videos.html .

 

Saturday June 16: Paulus Schäfer and Tim Kliphuis with special guest, Olli Soikkeli

Helen Hills Hills Chapel, Northampton. 7:30. Tickets $24 advance / $28 door.
Purchase advance tickets online here. Tickets also available at Downtown Sounds (Northampton) and Fretted Instrument Workshop (Amherst).

If there is indeed something called a "Gypsy jazz tradition", it is not only because Django Reinhart himself was a Gypsy, but because in the decades after his death in 1953 it was various communities of Gypsies who kept his unique approach to jazz guitar vital, distinctive and in practice at a very high level. Django may be rediscovered every decade or two by the gadjo (non-gypsy) world, but among the Gypsies themselves he's never been forgotten. And not just as a figurehead, but as a flesh and blood musician whose repertoire, technique and improvisational vocabulary, no matter how challenging, are there to be learned, enjoyed and expanded upon by generation upon generation of musicians.

Nowhere is this more true than among the Dutch Sinti—the "clan", for lack of a better word—to which Paulus Schäfer belongs. He learned, as everyone interested in this style must, by working from the original recordings of Django himself. But what Paulus has that most of us in the US do not is the support of an entire community that deeply values participatory music. That sort of community produces mentors like the legendary contemporary of Django's, Wasso Grunholz, and Paulus's better-known cousin, Stochelo Rosenberg. Their playing, honed at a thousand family gatherings, effectively defines the "Dutch style" these days. For a taste of what this looks like far from the concerts stages they ultimately land upon, check out this amateur video of a "typical" campfire jam session among the Dutch Sinti: Stochelo Rosenberg is the first soloist followed by our featured artist, Paulus Schäfer.

Video: Campfire jam with Stochelo Rosenberg and Paulus Schäfer.

Fellow Dutchman Tim Kliphuis may not have been born into that community, but they adopt him whenever they need a violinist that can match—and even test—their own level of virtuosity. Classically trained and adept at many styles of music, Tim first came on the Gypsy jazz scene at the invitation of another Grunholz protégé, the great Fapy Lafertin. Since then he has been a first-call violinist for the best in the Gypsy jazz business across its home turf of Europe. Recognized globally as an expert in the jazz stylings of Stephane Grappelli, Tim is the author of the best-selling tutorial ‘Stéphane Grappelli Gypsy Jazz Violin’ and the excellent ‘Hot Jazz Violin’ DVDs and Jazz Etude videos. An old and dear friend of this event, he has been featured at Django in June more than any other violinist and his collaboration with Paulus Schäfer on their just-released Twelfth Year provides us with yet another opportunity to have him back. By way of appetizer, here's the title track to that CD: Twelfth Year: Paulus Schäfer and Tim Kliphuis

Paulus has also teamed up in recent months with the young Finnish fret-wiz, Olli Soikkeli, to form the Hot Club d'Europe. As luck would have it, Olli is on our Django Camp staff as well this year, so our concert goers will get to enjoy the fruits of their collaboration as well. Here's a video of Olli and Paulus recording Songe d'Automne for their soon-to-be-released CD:

The Hot Club d'Europe, featuring Paulus Schäfer and Olli Soikkeli.

 

 

 

Weekday Warm-ups

Wednesday, June 13: Music & Movies at Amherst Cinema
Starting time, 7:30, $10 admission. Tickets available through Amherst Cinema.

On Wednesday night Amherst Cinema will present two short films interspersed with live music by some of Django in June's artists-in-residence. Both films are documentaries devoted to the history (and ongoing development) of the Gypsy jazz tradition, but with a focus on important figures within the Gypsy jazz tradition who are less familiar to the general public than the iconic Django Reinhardt.

Encounter with Francis-Alfred Moerman (26 minutes) looks both back and forward as the father & son duo of Sebastien and Antoine Boyer pay a visit to guitarist and composer Francis-Alfred Moerman at his home in the French countryside. There, they pay him the greatest tribute one musician can afford another by performing (and recording) his own compositions for him. Antoine Boyer was only 13 years old when this DVD was filmed and was already a remarkable talent. Now almost 16, he and his father will be on hand to answer audience questions and play a couple selections by way of appetizer for their Friday night concert at Helen Hills Hills Chapel.
See this excerpt from the film on YouTube.

 

A l'Ombre d'un Nuage (In the Shadow of a Cloud.) (28 minutes) Moerman's own musical roots in the Gypsy jazz tradition reach back not so directly to Django as to three brothers who were his contemporaries: Baro, Sarane and Matelot Ferret. In the early 1930s, these three young Gypsy guitarists arrived in Paris to go on a musical adventure. Thanks to their talent, they soon drew attention to themselves and played their guitars along with the best musicians of the city, including the most famous of them, Django Reinhardt. From Russian cabarets to bal-musette halls via jazz clubs and music halls, this short film takes us on a journey down some of the lesser-known alleys of early Gypsy jazz. And aren't those always the most interesting routes?
Film trailer on YouTube.

Also Wednesday, June 13th: Tom Reney's Annual Gypsy Jazz Feature on WFCR

If you can't join us that evening, Tom Reney will be featuring an hour of Gypsy jazz starting at 8 pm on his Jazz a la Mode on 88.5 FM, WFCR. Tune in for select tracks from the masters of this tradition—including, of course, Django Reinhardt—as well as a sneak preview of the artists you can see in concert over the weekend.

Thursday, June 14: Dinner Showcases in Northampton

On Thursday Django in June goes downtown... downtown Northampton, that is, where a number of our favorite restaurants will be hosting dinner showcases featuring live Gypsy jazz courtesy of our Django Camp. The only music camp in the US devoted entirely to the Gysy jazz tradition, our event draws enthusiastic students and practitioners of the style from across the North American continent. We invite you to let them entertain you over dinner this evening at any of the participating venues shown below. (6:30 - 8:30 | No cover charge.)

 

 

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