Django Reinhardt (1910-1953) is a legendary figure in the history of jazz. He was a Romani-French guitarist who created a new style of jazz music in the 1930s that for the first time made the guitar a lead instrument. And while Django astounded listeners with his virtuosity on the instrument, in fact due to an accident he only had the use of two fingers in his left hand.
With violinist Stephane Grappelli he formed a group called the Quintette du Hot Club de France and it caused a sensation. The make-up of this small group jazz band was unusual. There were three guitars and a bass, plus Grappelli on violin. Nothing else. No piano and no drums. And acoustics guitars and bass. Two of the guitars played mostly chords laying down the harmonic patterns of the songs they played. These were the ‘rhythm guitarists.’ But in addition to the harmony they also supplied a percussive element – marking the rhythm – in place of a drum set. Django was out front playing melody with Grappelli. It was a distinctive sound and Django and Grappelli both had distinctive jazz voices.
The Django Festival Allstars (DFA) is a small group jazz band that models itself on the Hot Club of France. It too has three guitarists and a bass and a Romani-French artist leading the group and alternating between guitar and violin. The leader is Dorado Schmitt and like Django he sports a pencil-thin mustache. He is also a terrific musician and has raised a family of equally fine musicians. While Dorado plays his share of solos so do his sons Samson (he is the older brother and the one wearing, at least on this occasion, a Panama hat) and Amati. Francko Mehrstein plays rhythm guitar and Gino Roman plays bass. For the Koerner Hall concert on November 10 they were joined by pianist Peter Beets and harpist Edmar Castañeda.
Edmar Castañeda (Photo by Diana Bejarano)
One might have expected that the DFA would play essentially the Django/Grappelli songbook, or songs that the two legends had recorded and made famous. But that was not the case. While the DFA certainly emulated the Hot Club sound they went their own way as far as repertoire was concerned. Many of the songs were written by the performers themselves, especially Samson and Amati. The DFA is celebrating not only Django and Grappelli but Manouche or gypsy jazz. It is clearly rooted in the 1930s and makes no attempt to incorporate elements of later jazz let alone pop or rock music. It is music that features melody and beauty of sound and phrasing. And there was plenty of both on offer at Koerner Hall on this night.
I must confess that I am a big fan of the Hot Club sound and I wondered how a piano would fit in. Perhaps it would make the DFA just another jazz band instead of the distinctive band it was with only guitars and bass. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised. Peter Beets fit in perfectly, exchanging solos with Samson and Amati on an equal basis and in perfect balance. At times the DFA, as did the Hot Club before it, moves away from a sophisticated early jazz sound to something more like gypsy music in which unaccompanied improvisation, lots of glissandi and acceleration is featured. When this happened Beets piano started to sound like a cimbalon, that typical Hungarian keyboard instrument played with two sticks. It all worked beautifully. The same thing happened when the Colombian harpist Edmar Castañeda joined the group. The harp is not a loud instrument but like the other acoustic instruments in the DFA it was carefully amplified to balance with the other players. So here again we had a keyboard turned into a cimbalon to complement the basic sound of the band. Like the other musicians Castañeda is a virtuoso and understands the style to perfection. The addition of piano and harp added both new colours and variety to the concert.
Dorado Schmitt has been around for a long time and is clearly now an elder statesman. He still plays with authority on both violin and guitar but now leaves the show-off stuff to his sons. And I have to say that Django himself was a marvel but the technique displayed by both Samson and Amati was in a league of its own. The speed with which they both tore up and down their fingerboards defied belief. And their improvisational skills are seemingly limitless. Samson can generate greater tonal variety but Amati showed impressive imagination as a composer.
The DFA played for almost two hours without intermission and ended with some real gypsy fireworks. First came the romantic slow tempo improvisations then gradually accelerating tempos until fingers, bows and hats were flying in all directions at breakneck speed. The near capacity audience loved it. Thanks to the Django Festival Allstars the legacy of Django and Grappelli and manouche jazz is alive and well in Toronto.
Korner Hall – The Royal Conservatory of Music
www.rcmusic.com
