Django Drom: featuring Didier Lockwood, Birelli Lagrene and Stochelo Rosenberg

Thursday 15 July 8.30pm

Legendary gypsy-jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt would have turned 100 this year; Django Drom is a stunning multi-media work created by film-maker Tony Gatlif to celebrate his centenary.  Jean Baptiste ‘Django’ Reinhardt was born on January 23, 1910 in Liberchies, a small town in Eastern Belgium.  He was a Sinto, a tribe of nomadic peoples closely related to the Roma (Gypsies). Despite a severe hand injury, he was a multi-instrumentalist but is best known one of jazz’s great guitar virtuosos. Django Reinhardt died on May 16, 1953 in Fontainebleau, France. 

 

The Music and Media show, Django Drom featuring violinist Didier Lockwood and guitarists Birelli Lagrene and Stochelo Rosenberg, explores the gypsy roots of Django’s genius as well as his dazzling achievements in jazz. 

 

‘This misrepresented and fantastic creature, at once so captivating and so divorced from the contentions of his age’ – Charles Delauney on Django Reinhardt

 

Freestage 7-8pm: Trio Manouche are a world-class gypsy swing ensemble performing the works of Django Reinhardt and their own up-beat quirky original compositions in the style of Hot Club de France, bringing a uniquely contemporary take on the repertoire. In 2010 they have set themselves the challenge of performing 100 gigs to mark the centenary of Django Reinhardt's birth including performances at Royal Festival Hall, The Mostly Jazz Festival, Secret Garden Party and Glastonbury Festival.

 

Born in Algiers, Tony Gatlif arrived in France following the Algerian War of Independence. He struggled for years to break into the film industry, playing in several theatrical productions. Since his 1981 feature Corre, Gitano, Gatlif's work has been focused on the Roma people of Europe, from whom he partially traces his descent. Exils (2004), won the Best Director Award at Cannes Film Festival where Transylvania was premiered in 2006.  In Gatlif’s extraordinary multi-media presentation, hundreds of rarely seen Django photographs are projected, along with the few known pieces of moving film of the great virtuoso.

 

Ticket price: £10/15/25

 

Concert at the Barbican Hall, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS

Box Office: 0845 120 7550      https://www.barbican.org.uk/eticketing/selectseatblock.asp

More Information on

http://www.paulvernonchester.com/Django'sCentenary.htm