Django in June: June 9th-14th

MichaelHorowitz · May 2009

Django in June is New England's premier occasion to celebrate,
study and just plain enjoy the musical tradition launched en France
some 75 years ago by guitarist Django Reinhardt, a tradition now known
by many as "Gypsy jazz."

In
2009, the event will be held between June 9th and 14th on the campus of
Smith College in beautiful Northampton, MA. Musicians (guitar, violin,
mandolin, accordion and bass players) have the option of going the
full-immersion route by attending Django
Camp Tuesday through Sunday or of dropping in for a weekend
of clinics and jamming. We'll also be hosting concerts by
world-class Gypsy jazz artists at the lovely Helen Hills Hills Chapel
on Friday and Saturday nights, June 12th and 13th.

harlemjoys · May 2009

A friend and I are heading up to this from Jersey...anyone else going?

Alex

rjs · May 2009

I am hoping to be able to get up there for Saturday.

Where in NJ are you? I'm in New Providence.

Soref · May 2009

I'm definitely gonna be there!
I love this festival, and highly recommend it for anyone who can afford to make it out... and anyone who can't... start saving now!
I've been to Samois a couple times and that is without a doubt the Mecca, but there are a lot of appealing things about Django in June that you probably can't get Samois...

For one thing it's a lot smaller, I remember watching Wawau Jamming with Tim Kliphius, and Stephane Wrembel's rhythm section, along with Kruno Spisic, Biel Ballester, Ted Gotsegen and John Mcgann. It just struck me I was so close to the action I was nearly at risk of being poked in the eye by Tim's bow. If that same lineup had been jamming at Samois there would likely have been a crowd a mile in radius. Here it was intimate and accessible.

The campus is beautiful, and the lines for a shower are non-existant. Probably best of all because of the very nature of the camp aspect of the festival, a lot of barriers are broken down between performers and audience. Andrew clearly makes very measured decisions in regards to the performers and teachers and it's hard to find another place where you can jam one on one with people like Adrien Moignard and have him shoot pointers your way, and talk about the altered scale. That atmosphere carries on through the weekend drop-in so I would highly recommending taking advantage for anyone who might be on the fence about that option. Anyway, didn't mean to ramble on just thought I'd throw in my two cents.

Regards,
Jack

Jack · May 2009

I'll be there (I live right down the street) and my band will be playing at least one gig a short walk away during the week. If you can make it for a day, that's great, but to get the full effect you really need to stay overnight so you can sit in during the jams at 4am...

bbwood_98 · May 2009

I'll be there as well, for the whole week.
Ben in Brooklyn

Michael Bauer · May 2009

Me too. My playing will be available all week to anyone who thinks they might be the worst ever GJ player. Five minutes listening to me play will convince you that you're not. I'll send you back to the fray with a new burst of optimism, saying, "Hey, at least I'm better than THAT guy!"

Let's see how much of my money Michael goes home with this year... The Djangobooks table is just too tempting.