Swan Berger, Levis Adel Reinhardt and Pierre Manetti “Swing 48”

This is a tribute concert to Django Reinhardt that occurred  in January 2010 and broadcast by France 2.

And would you look at the size of the audience…
Not sure that would happen for this type of music in the USA?

And would you look how young these kids are!!
And for sure it doesn’t hurt when you have the name “Reinhardt” when you are playing Jazz.

Here’s how Levis is related to Django according to Vintage Guitar.com:

“Levis Adel-Reinhardt is the grandson of Django’s brother, Joseph Reinhardt, who married into the equally famous Romany musical clan of the Adels.”  http://www.vintageguitar.com/5225/david-reinhardt-levis-adel-reinhardt-various-artists/

From left to right the players are as follows:

Swan Berger
Levis Adel-Reinhardt
Pierre Manetti
Marc-Michel Le Bevillon: bass

So let’s talk a little about the music… (now that we have the relative stuff out of the way)
To me this sounds more jazz than Gypsy, even though this is a Django composition. I think some of it has to do with the fact that Swan Berger and Levis are playing electrics which naturally give it that standard jazz feel. Pierre Manetti on the other hand is playing a Gypsy style guitar but you know what? He doesn’t sound as Gypsy either. For me, I think this is a good thing, as all three guitarists sound like they have developed their own sound and styles. After all, with all of the great Gypsy guitarists out there, what is it that you will be able to do that can bring something new to the table? These guys get an A+ in my book and probably would be praised highly by Django himself.

There is a brief interview at the end and of course it’s in French. Hey Andy Arleo or someone else of that speaks French, can you translate that for me (paraphrase of course)…

Update: Swan Berger, Levis Adel Reinhardt and Pierre Manetti “Swing 48”

By Andy Arleo:  “Thanks for posting this, Bob. There’s not much substance in the interview at the end. The kids say they they started playing at 6 and 7, and Swan says he was influenced by his great-grandfather Django. There’s are lots of great young players in France and it’s wonderful that the tradition is being carried on and is evolving. Many of today’s players have also incorporated modern jazz compositions into their playing. The other day I heard a great version of C. Corea’s challenging “Got a match” by a local band Gadjo & co. The expression jazz manouche (gypsy jazz) is in some ways a misnomer because although there was a gypsy influence (the minor keys) a big influence on Django & Stéphane came from Joe VEnuti & Eddie Lang. For me, it’s string jazz above all.”