Django in June

This year both our evening concerts will be split bills featuring artists on the teaching staff of Django in June's weeklong Django Camp. Each of the four ensembles brings together an extrordinary collection of musicians, and each blends a deep appreciation of the Gypsy jazz tradition with other strong influences. Except for our formidable Dutch contingent— Amsterdam's Pigalle44 with Tim Kliphuis—all the performing artists on the bill this year are now based in North America but (before we get all puffy about our deepening stateside talent pool) many hail from abroad: Argentina, Croatia, and France are all represented and their influence is unmistakable. Please join us either night, or both, for some of the best Gypsy jazz that will be played anywhere in the States this year.

If you'd like more info on the artists we'll be featuring this year, the hyperlinks in the descriptions below will take you to their respective websites. There are more links on our Staff/Artists page. If you are a musician and you'd like to take advantage of the opportunity to study and jam with them, please see the pages For Musicians.

Montreal-based Denis Chang has been on the teaching staff at Django in June almost from its inception and, in many ways, our event and his artistry have grown in tandem. As a young student of the style he got as close to the source as possible, travelling to Holland for studies with Fapy Lafertin, Ritary Gaguenetti, Paulus Schäfer and other Dutch masters. Since then he has studied and collaborated with many other European greats, including Wawau Adler, Andreas Oberg, Emmanuel Kassimo and, most recently, Stochelo Rosenberg. In recent years he has stepped forward in his own right as one of the foremost Gypsy jazz educators in North America.

In the past year, Denis has pulled together a hot club quartet worthy of his own commitment to the tradition, featuring two fantastic young French musicians: Aurélien Trigo on violin and Romain Vuillemin, whom Denis describes as "by far the very best rhythm guitar player I've encountered on this continent." Knowing the crowd Denis runs with, that's saying something. The Denis Chang Quartet is going to kick off our weekend right.

Reviewing Gonzalo Bergara's 2007 release, Porteña Soledad, Django biographer Michael Dregni reflected on the dual influences of Argentina (Bergara's birthplace) and California (his current home). "Both locales infuse [Bergara's] music; a nostalgic melancholy weaves through, a lasting impression of Buenos Aires and a rainy day tango in the district of Palermo, perhaps. At the same time, there's a wide open sense of possibilities - the other side of the coin, thanks to the wonders of California." Dregni concluded by calling Porteña Soledad, "a masterpiece of a new kind of Gypsy Jazz, taking Django's work as a starting point for creating very personal music."

Gonzalo joined us for the first time last year, sitting in with Ensemble Zaiti for part of their performance. This year we've invited him to bring out the whole Quartet and treat us to a full set at the start of their first East Coast tour. Expect technical brilliance, soulful melodicism and memorable original compositions. He'll be joined by Rob Hardt on clarinet and tenor saxophone.

It's hard to believe, but in the first five years of Django in June, Kruno Spisic has only been with us once, back in 2007. His short opening performance that year brought the house (well, the chapel) to its feet, clamouring in approval and appreciation. It's time we had him back, so this year we shall.

Kruno is based in Philadelphia, PA, but grew up in a Croatian household and cut his instrumental teeth on an Eastern European variety of mandolin called the Tambura. He makes distinctive and beautiful music by fusing Eastern European folk traditions with Django swing and a long list of influences that includes the likes of Joe Satriani, Frank Sinatra and Birelli Lagrene. The guy can really sing, too.

Holland is a hotbed of Hot Club activity and Pigalle44 has been in the thick of things since its core members, Reinier Voet and Jan Brouwer, began collaborating in the early 90's. As a student, lead guitarist Reinier went the full legit route, including jazz studies at the Royal Conservatory in Den Haag. But in the Gypsy jazz world, "legit" means something else altogether. In his case it meant close work with two giants of the style, Jimmy Rosenberg and Fapy Lafertin, whom he accompanied for four years. Combine both "schools" with a couple decades of practice, experimentation and steady giging and you get what Pigalle44 is known for: unique repertoire, creative arrangements, tight ensemble work and stellar musicianship. For their performance here Reinier and Jan will be joined by Gert Wantenaar on accordion.

Also joining them to wrap up the week will be two old friends of Django in June: Tim Kliphuis on violin and Simon Planting, bass. Tim is one of the world's leading experts in the playing style of Stephane Grappelli and has performed as featured soloist with most of the genre's top echelon players, including Stochelo Rosenberg, Angelo Debarre and Gary Potter. Bassist Simon Planting is best known in these parts for his work with the Robin Nolan Trio and now holds down the low frequencies in the John Jorgenson Quintet. This all-Dutch ensemble constitutes something of a reunion for these old friends who've known one another and played together for decades. They are looking forward to it, and so are we.