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Django in June review
ace
Buffalo, NY✭✭✭✭
Hello All,
Still recovering from this year’s Django in June. An absolute blast!
I think we all owe Andrew an enormous amount of gratitude for putting on such a relaxed and enjoyable festival. The Smith College campus is extremely beautiful, has decent food, and more than enough trees to keep you busy playing by. This was my first year attending the full week, and I must say to truly experience all this festival has to offer, that is the only way to do it. The jamming was good (and everywhere and constant -good thing!) and it is particularly nice to see the progress of repeat camp attendees from year to year. The workshops were very good, some better than others, but it is always a rare treat to have so many learning opportunities with such great players/teachers.
Friday evening's concert started off with a short set by some of this year's staff which consisted of Dennis Chang, Jean Philippe Watremez, John McGann, Simon Planting, Matt Glaser, and Vladimir Mollov. A quick and fun "jam" set featuring some of Django's less played compositions. The highlight (for me) of this set was the duo performance by Vladimir and Jean Philippe playing a Balkan influenced tune that seemed to give all of our ears a much needed rest from gypsy jazz and a whole new thing to wrap our ears around. These two are very much at home in this style. It was also a nice demonstration of what kind of interesting and inspired things can happen when you bring this kind of talent together.
Robin's set was, as expected, a real treat. His unique playing is increasingly soulful and inventive. Inspired by taste, feeling and heart rather than flash and flare; he has a great ability to draw audiences into his innovative and quirky style. He opted to play Bob Holo's brilliant guitar which he made many comments about (more about that later). Jason Anick joined the group on violin for a few songs. This young talent really swings. We can look forward to seeing more of him. Highlights to this set include a beautiful 'Flora' that Robin dedicated to Jimmy Rosenberg, and of course the encore 'Summertime' which he totally detuned the guitar and quoted Norwegian Wood (in nice Sitar fashion) and finished by playing with the feedback that had been a nuisance the entire set. This left the house stomping and screaming for more...
Saturday's concert featured two sets by Ensemble Zaiti. This is without a doubt one of the most exciting groups playing this style. So often at these festivals we are only able to have one player backed by a rhythm section they’ve spent a day playing with, while this group has spent time playing together and it shows. Their sound and style is completely fresh, new, and now. Adrien’s playing is astounding -Innovative, modern, and lightning fast while still retaining value. Mixing Bebop, gypsy jazz, blues, and experimental jazz, this group is creating something truly special. They remained very accessible all week, playing non-stop and giving quick hints and lessons to the attendees encouraging them to play along (although quite often everyone just wanted to watch in awe). Some of the best parts of the week were watching Adrien and Gonzalo duel for hours.
It was hard for the crowd not to be swept up into the wave of excitement this group is creating. Here we have four very young and talented guys doing something completely fresh and new, on their first tour through the US, and the honest smiles on their faces reeked of giddiness. The first set settled in well with a swinging ‘Double Scotch’ and a rather epic ‘Si Tu Savais’. They really poured it on the second set with Cedric Richards Sax solo leading into an interesting ‘Cherokee’. Gonzalo joined them for much of the second set which brought it up another level. Seeing him and Adrien play with each other is really a kick. ‘ Impromptu’ was really hot, ‘Four on Six’ was sexy, Donna Lee was ripping, and for the encore they played a really funky Sunny. The best gypsy jazz concert I have ever seen…yet.
The only downfall of the night would be the numerous sound issues which nearly derailed the show at times.
Other highlights of the week include:
Bob Holo’s guitar(s). Words cannot begin to describe how amazing his guitar is. There were four of his guitars there (including Josh Hegg’s personal guitar), and while they were all great, there was one that was truly special. Adrien and Mathieu were fighting over playing it all week. Robin made sounds that could have only come out of that guitar. Mathieu says “there is only one American gypsy guitar luthier. This is in the top 5 best guitars I have ever played.” I promise –one strum and you will be in love.
Watching the 20 year old Thomas from Holland soak up ideas and technique in four days. This kid is like a dried sponge starving for water. He showed up playing really well and left playing great. He is going to be one to watch.
Listening to Andre’s stories at meal times. Such a character this guy.
Thanks again to Andrew. Thanks for listening to my two cents. I hope to see you all soon.
Josh
Still recovering from this year’s Django in June. An absolute blast!
I think we all owe Andrew an enormous amount of gratitude for putting on such a relaxed and enjoyable festival. The Smith College campus is extremely beautiful, has decent food, and more than enough trees to keep you busy playing by. This was my first year attending the full week, and I must say to truly experience all this festival has to offer, that is the only way to do it. The jamming was good (and everywhere and constant -good thing!) and it is particularly nice to see the progress of repeat camp attendees from year to year. The workshops were very good, some better than others, but it is always a rare treat to have so many learning opportunities with such great players/teachers.
Friday evening's concert started off with a short set by some of this year's staff which consisted of Dennis Chang, Jean Philippe Watremez, John McGann, Simon Planting, Matt Glaser, and Vladimir Mollov. A quick and fun "jam" set featuring some of Django's less played compositions. The highlight (for me) of this set was the duo performance by Vladimir and Jean Philippe playing a Balkan influenced tune that seemed to give all of our ears a much needed rest from gypsy jazz and a whole new thing to wrap our ears around. These two are very much at home in this style. It was also a nice demonstration of what kind of interesting and inspired things can happen when you bring this kind of talent together.
Robin's set was, as expected, a real treat. His unique playing is increasingly soulful and inventive. Inspired by taste, feeling and heart rather than flash and flare; he has a great ability to draw audiences into his innovative and quirky style. He opted to play Bob Holo's brilliant guitar which he made many comments about (more about that later). Jason Anick joined the group on violin for a few songs. This young talent really swings. We can look forward to seeing more of him. Highlights to this set include a beautiful 'Flora' that Robin dedicated to Jimmy Rosenberg, and of course the encore 'Summertime' which he totally detuned the guitar and quoted Norwegian Wood (in nice Sitar fashion) and finished by playing with the feedback that had been a nuisance the entire set. This left the house stomping and screaming for more...
Saturday's concert featured two sets by Ensemble Zaiti. This is without a doubt one of the most exciting groups playing this style. So often at these festivals we are only able to have one player backed by a rhythm section they’ve spent a day playing with, while this group has spent time playing together and it shows. Their sound and style is completely fresh, new, and now. Adrien’s playing is astounding -Innovative, modern, and lightning fast while still retaining value. Mixing Bebop, gypsy jazz, blues, and experimental jazz, this group is creating something truly special. They remained very accessible all week, playing non-stop and giving quick hints and lessons to the attendees encouraging them to play along (although quite often everyone just wanted to watch in awe). Some of the best parts of the week were watching Adrien and Gonzalo duel for hours.
It was hard for the crowd not to be swept up into the wave of excitement this group is creating. Here we have four very young and talented guys doing something completely fresh and new, on their first tour through the US, and the honest smiles on their faces reeked of giddiness. The first set settled in well with a swinging ‘Double Scotch’ and a rather epic ‘Si Tu Savais’. They really poured it on the second set with Cedric Richards Sax solo leading into an interesting ‘Cherokee’. Gonzalo joined them for much of the second set which brought it up another level. Seeing him and Adrien play with each other is really a kick. ‘ Impromptu’ was really hot, ‘Four on Six’ was sexy, Donna Lee was ripping, and for the encore they played a really funky Sunny. The best gypsy jazz concert I have ever seen…yet.
The only downfall of the night would be the numerous sound issues which nearly derailed the show at times.
Other highlights of the week include:
Bob Holo’s guitar(s). Words cannot begin to describe how amazing his guitar is. There were four of his guitars there (including Josh Hegg’s personal guitar), and while they were all great, there was one that was truly special. Adrien and Mathieu were fighting over playing it all week. Robin made sounds that could have only come out of that guitar. Mathieu says “there is only one American gypsy guitar luthier. This is in the top 5 best guitars I have ever played.” I promise –one strum and you will be in love.
Watching the 20 year old Thomas from Holland soak up ideas and technique in four days. This kid is like a dried sponge starving for water. He showed up playing really well and left playing great. He is going to be one to watch.
Listening to Andre’s stories at meal times. Such a character this guy.
Thanks again to Andrew. Thanks for listening to my two cents. I hope to see you all soon.
Josh
Comments
A lot of photos of the performances...and others.
I meant to add that if you have any and all video, please, please, please PM me with a way to get a copy.
Thanks.
J
Great review Ace, thanks... wish I'd been there...
I'm sure there's more to come...
Cheers,
Josh
Andrew has created a wonderful scene. From a teaching perspective, we get to work with small groups and not get burned out on too many hours of teaching, which leaves energy for the hang and the jams. How often can you rub elbows with so many like minded people, many of whom speak English (in my case, more or less)?!?!?
I've never heard Django play a note without commitment.
www.denischang.com
www.dc-musicschool.com
Josh - great show review. I'll keep my head down and working hard to earn the response you folks had to the guitars. It was rewarding to hear them in your hands and the hands of the other artists because bottom line, you folks bring things out of them that I need to hear in order to understand how well they're doing the really difficult things which, quite frankly, my playing technique is not developed enough to really test.
Regarding AV clips - I don't really have a lot of stuff to share in terms of aud/vid yet. I brought a camera but lost it and so all I have are cellphone vids. However, some people have given me audio and video clips (much appreciated gents) and I'm going through it now and having a blast doing so. If I find some stuff that isn't huge - or can figure out how to convert it to reasonable sizes - I'll post it here for you guys.
What a festival! Andrew, you are the man! In just a few short years he's really nailed for form and format to be a good thing for the artists and the participants. The class schedules gave atendees quality time with the artists without exhausting them prior to their shows, the venue with all amenities taken care of made it possible for us all to just focus on being together and playing and reinforcing all the things we were learning. I learned almost as much from the other atendees as I did from the classes because people were so open both to share and receive. In virtually every jam, someone would say something like: "Hey, Mathieu taught me how to use tritone substitution to abbreviate rhythm changes to help build suspense coming into a solo..." and everyone would stop what they were doing and lean forward to learn... Basically we were all taking two 'big' classes and two dozen 'micro-classes' each day... absolute immersion if you were open to it.
The artists were amazing - both as talent and as people - absolute cream of the crop Samois veterans. You know a festival is well-attended when you can put together an all-star pickup band to open the show... seriously... a pickup band with Jean Phillipe Watramez and Dennis Chang on guitar? Wow. Seriously. Wow. Robin & Simone & Teddy G put on a fantastic and moving show which transcended the P.A. issues. In fact, toward the end of the show, Robin had begun to use the feedback 'Hendrix Style'. That's the difference between guys like him & guys like you and me. The things that we fear are the things he uses like a new tool in his toolchest and his dedication to Jimmy Rosenberg was amazing - I'll try to find a clip of that. That being said though, the sound needed to be improved and I was fortunate enough to meet "Sander" a Dutch gentleman who has recorded many well known gypsy artists - we went to the venue about a half hour before sound check and worked with the soundman who had gone so far as to bring his own personal (and quite expensive) mics to help out. The guy was extremely nice and open to getting assistance with the venue as it was extremely challenging. It was designed to be acoustically live and reverberant before the invention of electricity - probably state of the art acoustically for its time. Essentially the stage is in the throat of a horn and it feeds into a room with near perfect proportions to be an echo chamber - and if that isn't enough - the ceiling has a full length acoustic reflector which concentrates ambient sound and shoots it down at the center of the room. All of this is great for unamplified music... and a nightmare for amplified music. We employed about half a dozen room-mode notch filters and shelved the upper and lower end at ~120hz and ~12kHz -12db and put the band on DI (using mics only for ambience) and that did a world of good. Ensemble Zaiti with guest star Gonzalo Bergarra laid waste to the place - mixing hard core old school gypsy with straight ahead tunes and even finishing with an encore of a song by Stevie Wonder... sounds odd but you had to be there... it was a 'tour 'd force' to use their native language. There was electricity in the room after the concert - it sort of had the feeling of a home-town crowd whose sports team has just won a tournament. Exhultant. This new evolution of gypsy jazz from players who respect its roots while bringing in their influences is very inspiring. This, more than anything else, will help the current popularity in this music become a rebirth rather than a fad. Oh, and watch for Thomas Baggerman. Remember when you first heard Gonzalo in his early 20's? He's sort of like that only Dutch.
Until next year...