Gypsy Swing

Next weekend I'll be at the Fifth-annual Gypsy Swing Festival in the Madison-area Art barn. The patron saint of Gypsy Jazz is its inventor, Django Reinhardt (1910-1953), a gypsy guitarist born in Belgium who grew up in Paris playing the "musette" style of the day before he discovered American jazz through a Louis Armstrong record. Reinhardt joined forces in the 1930s with French jazz violinist extraordinaire Stephane Grappelli with the "Quintette of the Hot Club of France," creating a popular new style in the process. Today this style is still popular in Europe, and the most known are The Rosenberg Trio, and my favorite Jimmy Rosenberg.

We are lucky here in Madison, WI to have this Gypsy Swing Festival. You can find more celebration of Django's music at DjangoFest.com. Every year at the Birdland in New York there is Django Festival DjangoBirdland.com. CD on the left was recorded 2000 and on the most tracks you can find Jimmy Rosenberg. Click here for more clips from past years DjangoBirdlandFest

If you plan to spend next summer in France you must find time in June to attend FestivalDjangoReinhardt.com that is going on since 1968 in Samois Sur Siene. Here is 20 minutes video from 2006 festival.

Django Reinhardt Festival Samois 2007 Django Reinhardt Festival Samois 2008 Gypsy Jazz Guitars Gypsy Swing Teachers Gypsy Swing Artists around the world Hot Club Internet Radio Gypsy Jazz Encyclopedia hotclub.no Encyclopedia How to play Django style

Listen to Gypsy Swing samples, buy MP3 or order CD.