Samois Festival Guide

Lango-Django

I was happy to run into Denis on the island Saturday night.

I tried to buy him the drink which I had promised above, or perhaps in another thread... But just as another commenter predicted, he refused!

So all I could do was offer him a hearty handshake in recognition of all the contributions he makes to gypsy Jazz in general and this website in particular.

PS forgot to say, I've gotta agree with Denis, "Django in June" is in many ways superior to Samois...

-easier for North Americans to get to
-better organized
-beautiful self contained location
-more jamming opportunities
-closer fan-performer relations
-amazing music lessons

The only thing it DOESNT have is Django's former residence!

Micheal Irwin

Great meeting you at the festival Dennis. It was an amazing experience. Went on to Paris and caught Sebastian's set at Atelier Charonne. Probably the best vacation I've ever taken. You have a permanent customer my friend.

bohemewarbler

Lango-Django writes: "I've gotta agree with Denis, "Django in June" is in many ways superior to Samois ...The only thing it DOESNT have is Django's former residence!"

Even though I have never been to Django in June, I cannot let the last statement go by without comment.

There are so many things that the Samois experience can offer that DIJ can’t:

- It takes place in France! They say "Bonjour" instead of "Hi!" and then some.
- Paris is one hour’s train ride away (possibly the world's most beautiful city).
- Samois itself is a beautiful quaint medieval village, origins going back to 1260, surrounded by a forest full of bird songs along the gentle Seine.
- Where in less than a week you can listen to and watch many of Gypsy Jazz’ most respected players (Berelli, Romane, Stochelo were there)
- And listen to and watch, and possibly jam with, many European talented GJ players (Yorgui Loeffler, Adrien Moignard, Thomas Baggerman, Sara French, Tcha-Badjo, and many others, who were there and bring with them a more European sensibility to GJ playing.
- Engage in new friendships from people with like-minded musical tastes who come from mostly Europe but also from other continents (in my case: Holland, Norway, Sweden, France, Spain, and Japan) .
- You will want to take your spouse and family to the event, allowing them varied opportunities to vacation in this area of France and more fully experience its people and customs, along with the concerts and jams and come to appreciate what this thing called Gypsy Jazz is really all about.
- And with all the jams I witnessed at the campgrounds and at Samois, I would say that it is only one's own trepidation that would prevent one from having as many jamming opportunities and learning experiences as one could possibly have.

My wife and daughter were totally taken in. I enjoyed that as much as everything else! IMHO there's nothing comparable to The Django Reinhardt Festival at Samois-sur-Seine.

dennis

haha it's a big topic and it depends on what one means by "Samois", do they mean the official festival that happens on the island? Or all the magic that surrounds it thanks to all the people visiting from around the world? Like I said, nowadays, lots of people refuse to go to the official festival and they make their own festival at campsites. That's great stuff indeed! And we can't deny the magic of Django's final resting place.

One of my reasons for going to Samois these days is to see my Gypsy friends who would otherwise never go to America unless invited, and some of these people are not likely to be invited as they're not really musicians. I've noticed that the German Gypsies are still going to Samois in recent years, but French and Dutch Gypsies, less and less. This year, only Paulus and his brother showed up, Fapy and Lollo hung out at Samoreau. Stochelo left right away after his concert.

Django in June, is run by the eternal emperor Andrew Lawrence, the success of Django in June can be directly attributed to him. The man runs a tight ship and invites artists that want to be there and create a beautiful atmosphere. The people who attend the camp are international as well, people from France, Australia, UK, Japan, China, have come to the festival. It's held in a university campus, and everyone stays together, eats together, etc... The spirit of community is EXTREMELY strong. You can leave your guitar in a hallway, no one will steal it, every is just so friendly. Try leaving your guitar in the open in Samoreau, it'll disappear in 5 minutes hahah