For five days in September, Langley will become a veritable “hot club” as Gypsy jazz reverberates off the stages of WICA and spills out into the streets, cafés and pubs of the lucky village.
DjangoFest Northwest is one of the fastest selling events on the South End and perhaps even the Northwest, and Whidbey Island Center for the Arts has tickets on sale now.
Named after the great Belgian guitarist Django Reinhardt, Gypsy jazz is a unique blend of Reinhardt’s dark Gypsy roots with the Musette-style accordion waltzes of 1930s Parisian dance halls and, unlikely enough, American jazz swing.
And that joyful blend of American jazz and bohemian European styles is what this festival is all about.
So all you music lovers — and lovers in general — get ready, this festival, which is continually growing in international fame, is gearing up to be five days of exceptionally good fun and musical surprises.
DjangoFest NW begins on Wednesday, Sept. 19 and runs through Sunday, Sept. 23 with a unique opportunity to experience performances, workshops and spontaneous jam sessions from an international line up of some of the best Gypsy jazz players that ever congregated in one place at the same time.
Headliners for this year’s festival include the classic American jazz line-up of jazz guitar legend Larry Coryell, hot-licker Dan Hicks and seven-string guitarist Howard Alden, along with the haunting Old World sound of the French ensemble Norig.
Coryell said he doesn’t usually play Reinhardt’s music but welcomes the challenge of it.
“I’d like the audience to come away with a sense of joy and a feeling of enlightenment as we explore a relatively old form of jazz and inject some 21st century energy into it,” Coryell said.
Players near and far
And there’ll be plenty of energy emanating from the fest stages.
The extensive and varied roster of artists who play in addition to the headliners features musicians from all over the world and some closer to home, like Whidbey Island’s own Billet-Deux.
The Seattle quintet Pearl Django will be there as well with their respected and popular “hot club” band who have been playing together for more than
10 years and which was one of only two bands who played the very first DjangoFest Northwest back in 2001.
Pearl Django bassist Rick Leppanen said the best thing about DjangoFest NW for him is his connection to the crowd.
“Because this festival has a history and yet remains fairly small, there is a great deal of mingling going on,” he said.
Mingling seems to be an important aspect to the whole bohemian and folklorish quality of this Eastern European and Romanian influenced music and the artists who play it.
Gypsy jazz, along with traditional Gypsy music, is learned by the passing down of knowledge from older generations. Historically, many Gypsy musicians do not read notated music. It is more common for beginners to spend hours learning and memorizing songs from recordings and gleaning techniques from more experienced players.
In Gypsy jazz, guitar and violin are the main solo instruments, although clarinet and accordion are also common. The rhythm guitar is played using a distinct percussive technique, “la pompe,” that essentially replaces the drums. An upright bass fills out the ensembles. Although many instrumental configurations exist, a group including one lead guitar, a violin, two rhythm guitars and a bass is often the norm.
Unexpected pleasures
Another description of DjangoFest NW that comes to mind is “a happening.” This festival holds many surprises that are the icing on the cake of the scheduled portion of the event.
Unannounced “djam sessions” in local pubs and cafes, surprise guests and the opportunity to connect with other Djangophiles are part of the streaming Gypsy jazz effect the festival invites when these artists come to town.
DjangoFest founder and artistic director Nick Lehr said his team of organizers has managed to bring the festival to a new level.
“This year is very exciting to me because of the wide mix of musical styles,” said Lehr.
“In a sense we are going in both directions. As a rule we generally feature music that has been influenced by Django in some way,” added Lehr.
“But this year we are taking it a step further and featuring bands that play styles of music that were actually an influence on Django,” Lehr said.
Festival-goers can look forward to performances from the Robin Nolan Trio; Andreas Öberg; Kruno; Sébastien Giniaux Trio; Lache Cercel and the Roma Swing Ensemble; Mathieu Chatelain; Fishtank Ensemble; Hot Club Sandwich; 3 Leg Torso; Sammo Miltich; Hot Club Pacific; Billet-Deux; Swing Papillon; Annie Staninec; Pete Krebs Trio; Early Swing Now; Ivan Pena; and Samson Grisman.
In addition to performing, some of these artists will be teaching a variety of workshops that are available for registration through the WICA box office.
Young performers
Performer Miltich, lead guitarist for the Clearwater Hot Club, is this year’s winner of the of the Dudley Hill Memorial Award, which awards outstanding young musicians with funds and or a musical instrument each year at DjangoFest. The award is entirely made possible by donor contributions.
Dudley Hill was a Tacoma native and a master guitarist. As a founding member of Pearl Django, Hill helped shape the sound of the band and contributed a number of fine compositions to the Pearl Django repertoire. Dudley retired from the band in 2004 for health reasons. In January 2005, Dudley lost his long, hard-fought battle with cancer.
Though Miltich and his father Matthew, a bassist, have been performing since Miltich first learned to play the guitar at 13, the band was formally put together in the summer of 2003. At DjangoFest Northwest, Miltich will be joined by the immensely talented Olivier Manchon, who also plays with the Hot Club of New York and the Hot Club of San Francisco.
Another exciting performance this year will be from last year’s winner of the Dudley Hill Award, Annie Staninec.
Staninec performed at DjangoFest 2006 with Miltich in The Younger Generation. She went on to tour in “The Gypsy Kidz” with famous bluegrass artist David Grisman and the Gypsy Caravan.
The highlight of those performances was a full orchestra playing Grisman’s “Gypsy Medley” from his soundtrack recording for the film, King of the Gypsies. As the featured fiddler, Annie electrified audiences in solos that honored Grappelli who originally recorded the piece with Grisman.
A San Francisco native, Staninec has been playing bluegrass and old-time fiddle for more than half her life. Her love for the fiddle didn’t blossom until she realized while listening to older musicians that she could improvise freely in the midst of playing bluegrass standards. She’s been unstoppable ever since.
Hot ticket
The stories behind most of these musicians careers are as colorful and lively as the music they play and the rich history of this particular style of music lends a spontaneous excitement to the performance of it.
DjangoFest NW captures a rich cultural experience and makes it accessible for both young and the not-so-young, for musical connoisseurs and those who may not know anything at all about Gypsy jazz.
Islanders are lucky to have been chosen by DjangoFest organizers to bring this unique musical experience to the South End.
“We have the makings of a terrific musical melting pot of styles and ideas from which I have no doubt some great things will emerge,” said Lehr.
Tickets sell out fast so go and get yours now. Individual performance and festival pass tickets are available.
For tickets and information about DjangoFest NW, artists and workshops call the WICA box office at 221-8268 or 800-638-7631 or visit www.WICAonline.com.
