Good day, LDAC members and supporters, sponsors and friends!
Get ready for a guitar-based Virtual Concert #13.
Today鈥檚 Virtual Concert focuses on famed guitarist Django Reinhardt. Django鈥檚 style, sometimes called gypsy jazz, continues to inspire instrumentalists around the world. We鈥檒l also feature entertainers who have come to 亚洲天堂 Lake to play tribute to Django and to 鈥榞ypsy jazz鈥�.
Jean Reinhardt, born in 1910, was known by his stage name Django Reinhardt. He was a Belgian-born Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. (The Romani people were, for many years, called 鈥榞ypsies鈥� in English.) Django remains one of the most significant influences in the history of jazz. With violinist Stephane Grapelli, Reinhardt formed the Paris-based Quintet of the Hot Club of France in 1934. The group was among the first to play jazz that featured the guitar as a lead instrument. Reinhardt recorded in France with many visiting American musicians, and briefly toured the United States with Duke Ellington鈥檚 orchestra in 1946. He died suddenly of a stroke at the age of 43. Reinhardt鈥檚 most popular compositions have become standards within gypsy jazz, including 鈥淢inor Swing鈥� and 鈥淒jangology鈥�.
Now, on with the show. First up is a French (with English subtitles)
The LDAC has hosted a number of entertainers over the years, who played in the Django style. The Denis Chang Quartet performed at the LDSS MPR back in April, 2012. Here are , 鈥淢inor Swing鈥�.
In LDAC鈥檚 very first year, way back in November 2006, we hosted in the MPR. Van Django play 鈥楢valon鈥�, a song from the 1920鈥檚 that became a big band hit and was recorded by Nat King Cole (and many years later by his daughter, Natalie Cole)
To round out today鈥檚 Virtual Concert 鈥� you may have noticed most of the Django-style musicians are men. But, during LDAC鈥檚 鈥楶erfect 10鈥� season, in 2016,. we presented Christine Tassan et les Imposteures. Here are , a big band tune written by Louis Prima in 1936. The song became a big hit for for Benny Goodman in 鈥�37. Goodman鈥檚 recorded version took almost 9 minutes and covered both sides of a 78 RPM record, almost unheard of at the time.
That鈥檚 it for this week鈥檚 Virtual Concert. We鈥檒l likely have one more VC and then take a bit of a summer break. But watch for more arts and cultural news from time to time over the summer: We鈥檙e still here!
