{"id":4222,"date":"2014-04-02T13:18:45","date_gmt":"2014-04-02T20:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/?p=4222"},"modified":"2019-09-29T08:38:07","modified_gmt":"2019-09-29T15:38:07","slug":"vous-aimez-le-jazz-manouche-a-closer-look-at-todays-french-jazz-manouche-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/vous-aimez-le-jazz-manouche-a-closer-look-at-todays-french-jazz-manouche-scene\/","title":{"rendered":"Vous aimez le jazz manouche ? A Closer Look at Today’s French Jazz Manouche Scene"},"content":{"rendered":"By Michel Mercier<\/strong>\n\nThe jazz manouche scene in France has evolved tremendously over the past 15 years.\n\nUntil the early 2000\u2019s, the jazz manouche scene was comprised of a small, tight-knit community. Several factors then merged together and gave birth to a real trend: the release of Woody Allen\u2019s \u201cSweet & Lowdown<\/em>\u201d with his numerous Django references, Bireli\u2019s awesome comeback with his Gypsy Project\u2019s albums, Django\u2019s 100th anniversary or the French mainstream success of Thomas Dutronc to name only a few.\n\nBands were really growing like mushrooms! Jazz manouche was starting to sneak into TV documentaries soundtracks, TV ads, TV shows with guests such as Bireli, Serge Krief, Marcel Campion, Romane, Thomas Dutronc \u2026 Cd shelves in stores went from 6 or 7 jazz manouche references to almost 150.\n\nConsequently, the style has now become a music genre that\u2019s recognizable by mainstream audiences but the popularity of Gypsy jazz has declined a bit over the last few years. However, from a hardcore fan point of view, it\u2019s much better! We got rid of all the fuss and also some of the wannabe guitar-heroes. This invasion of \u201cGadjo-chapeau\u201d was getting annoying\u2026 Heaps of blokes playing with hats on, stiff right-hands, wrigglin\u2019around when playing in their loose pants\u2026 enthusiasm was here but that was kind of depressing actually!\n\nNevertheless, the benefit of this decade is that Django\u2019s name became even more famous and Jazz manouche really became a recognizable genre for record shops, jazz festivals or jazz radios like \u201cTSF\u201d.\n\nAs far as musicians are concerned, \u201cfree-lancers\u201d appeared frequently. They came and went. You\u2019d see them for a year or two and then they\u2019d turn to straight jazz. These guys, although being excellent guitarists, never played 100% Django style and didn\u2019t know much about the Gypsy jazz repertoire. They made you realize once again that the spirit of Gypsy jazz is not a matter of awesome technique and complex phrasing, but a matter of FEELING, blending feeling and technique being the icing on the cake, as did the 90\u2019s generation who is still here: Romane, Serge Krief, Rodolphe Raffali, Rapha\u00ebl Fays (now more into Flamenco), the Ferr\u00e9 Brothers, Angelo Debarre, Moreno, Dorado, Tchavolo, Ninine\u2026 You can regularly hear many of those top players in Paris or around France.\n\nRaffalli is playing each Monday at Le piano vache, Ninine at La Chope des puces (with its Gypsy hard-Rock caf\u00e9 design), the Ferr\u00e9 brothers can be heard at L\u2019Atelier Charonne as well as Angelo who also plays at Les petits joueurs or Le petit journal Montparnasse. Romane is roaming France, often with his sons Richard and Pierre. Serge Krief has been invited to the Oslo Jazz festival with Jon Larsen\u2019s Hot Club de Norv\u00e8ge. That was a very nice promotion for a truly original and skillfull player, unfortunately too rarely seen. He plays quite regularly at L\u2019Atelier Charonne though and summer visitors can hear him each year at the Jardin des Tuileries\u2019 fair.\n\nDorado and his family (Samson, Amati, Bronson and cousin Brady) are touring in numerous countries like France, Germany, Italy or in the USA where they even played for Leonardo Di Caprio! Who knows, maybe Leo advised Scorsese about the Django songs featured in the \u201cAviator\u201d soundtrack… Looks like he appreciates gypsy guitar anyway. The Schmitt family is really one of a kind: they master a flawless and fiery technique, they\u2019ve got soul and an incredible talent for composing beautiful songs with just a few chords: a modern feel with an ancestral gypsy soul. Take \u201cParis sous la pluie<\/em>\u201d by Dorado, \u201cStan<\/em>\u201d by Samson, \u201cSonny Day<\/em>\u201d by Amati, or the lesser known but still thrilling \u201cEn voyage<\/em>\u201d by Bronson Schmitt\u2026 you can hardly sound more Jazz manouche than that!\n\nOf course you all know S\u00e9bastien Giniaux, Adrien Moignard, Beno\u00eet Convert, Rocky Gresset, No\u00e9 Reinhardt\u2026 the Selmer 607 crew, so to say. Now these guys have really created a new style of playing. Some call it the \u201cNew School of Gypsy Jazz\u201d, the biggest influence being Bireli Lagr\u00e8ne of course. He\u2019s the one who changed the scene. Lately he released a jazz-rock influenced album: \u201cMouvements<\/em>\u201d, with a mind-blowing title track. Bireli\u2019s always on the move!\n\nNow back to Adrien, S\u00e9bastien and Beno\u00eet, who are the leading players in today\u2019s jazz manouche scene. People come from England, America, and Australia to meet them and follow their path. In France their influence is really important. It sometimes leads to surrealist discussions\u2026 I once met a young player (now quite famous with his licks and transcription videos) and asked him if he listened to Django, Wes, etc\u2026 the basis. Well here\u2019s what he answered to me: \u201cNo I don\u2019t listen to them: I transcribe Adrien\u2019s solos because he already transcribed all these guys licks<\/em>\u201d. I didn\u2019t know if should have cried or laughed!\n\nRP Quartet is another band of young guys who blends French jazz with the golden age of American jazz, building a bridge between Django\u2019s legacy and the music of Monk, Coltrane, Mingus… Both violinist Bastien Ribot and guitarist Edouard Pennes are undoublty as skilled as the most famous players and should gain fame in the community very soon. Ribot has a cutting modern-jazz style and Pennes has an incredible and flawless technique. They surely both are part of the Parisian scene\u2019s best kept secrets. Didier Lockwood himself makes laudatory comments about this band. Their second album \u201cGoat Rhythm<\/em>\u201d was released in France on March 3rd under the Fr\u00e9meaux & Associ\u00e9s label. They played a show to a packed audience at the  New Morning the same night and it was a real success. Half of the Parisian jazz manouche scene was there, including Serge Krief and Adrien Moignard who were in the audience. A few days ago we just learned they will be playing on this year’s Samois festival main stage so whether you’ll be there this year or just  surfin’ the web, be shure to check them out!\n\nLooking closer at the younger generation, everyone knows that young prodigies keep appearing once in a while but their career and future is sometimes uncertain. Those gaining recent acclaim include Swan Berger, Pierre Manetti, No\u00e9 Reine or Sandro Lorrier with his flamenco finger technique.\n\nAntoine Boyer, who was trained by Francis Alfred Moerman, quickly recognized among both professionals (musicians, producers, journalists) and jazz manouche lovers as uniquely talented prodigy. With an unexpected musical maturity for his age, he has shared the stage with seasoned players such as Paulus Sch\u00e4fer and Adrien Moignard. Adrien and Antoine worked together for a few concerts in 2013, with intricate arrangements and a nice repertoire.\n\nThe Reinhardt family legacy proudly continues in the playing of Django\u2019s descendants: grandson David Reinhardt (son of Babik Reinhardt) and Levis Adel (descendant of Lousson). David has been invited in January 2013 to play with James Carter for the closing of the Parisian Django Reinhardt exhibition. Seeing David Reinhardt play with James Carter was really something. It was quite an impression for French jazz manouche fans to see one of America\u2019s best African American saxophonists pay tribute to Django Reinhardt. The opening song of Carter\u2019s show was \u201cPour que ma vie demeure<\/em>\u201d. Even some gypsy players don\u2019t know that song\u2026 wow!\n\nNow about records production, new labels like Label Ouest or Ivan Minthe\u2019s Rosenberg Trio productions appeared in the recent years and that\u2019s really good news because they\u2019re doing a terrific job, being with front-line releases or reissues.\n\nSamy Daussat is now the new artistic director for Label Ouest. Knowing what a man of taste and skillful player Daussat is, the choice couldn\u2019t have been wiser. After having released in 2013 his own excellent and joyful \u201cScopitone<\/em>\u201d album featuring Tchavolo on a few songs, it\u2019s now Tchavolo\u2019s turn to record a brand new album! Yes my friends, 14 new songs of our good\u2019ole Tchavolo are already recorded and should be released in May.\n\nWe spoke a few lines before about Fr\u00e9meaux releasing the new RP Quartet record. Also from Fr\u00e9meaux, released in 2013, let\u2019s not forget the excellent Raffali\u2019s \u201cChansonettes<\/a><\/em>\u201d, featuring soulful renditions of chanson fran\u00e7aise<\/em> classics in true Parisian style. This is an album really worth listening to and one of the few to feature the sought-after accordionist Felix Belleau.\n\nAnother star of the gypsy jazz galaxy is also about to release an album with Fr\u00e9meaux but I will tell you more soon with an exclusive interview of this great young player\u2026\n\nTo close this releases overview, I shall recommend to you Christophe Astolfi\u2019s debut album: \u201cChristophe Astolfi et son trio joue des valses<\/em>\u201d. Mark my words: this album is really a gem. It features waltzes only, played on a 1973 Jacques Favino guitar. The repertoire is chosen with great taste, the playing is exquisite and never shows off. Astolfi\u2019s great sense of nuance only serves the music. This record is really an instant classic, a true must-have like \u201cTziganska\u00efa<\/em>\u201d or \u201cImpair et valses<\/a><\/em>\u201d.\n\nLast but not least, speaking now about guitar gear, I can tell you a new magnetic pick-up is on it\u2019s way. It should undoubtedly please Django memorabilia and vintage sound fans, but I can\u2019t say more right now…\n\nWait and see!\n\nMichel \u201cMitch\u201d Mercier","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Michel Mercier The jazz manouche scene in France has evolved tremendously over the past 15 years. Until the early 2000\u2019s, the jazz manouche scene was comprised of a small, tight-knit community. Several factors then merged together and gave birth to a real trend: the release of Woody Allen\u2019s \u201cSweet & Lowdown\u201d with his numerous […]","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4222"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82472,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4222\/revisions\/82472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.djangobooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}