Photo Coverage: Django Reinhardt Festival in Full Swing at Birdland

The Django Reinhardt NY Festival is in full swing at Birdland, it's New York City home. Jean "Django" Reinhardt was a Belgian-born, Romani French jazz guitarist and composer, regarded as one of the greatest musicians of the twentieth century. He was the first jazz talent to emerge from Europe and remains the most significant by far. This is the 18th year that Gianni Valenti and Birdland have hosted the festival which is produced by Pat Philips Stratta. The love of this music and the players established thru the Festival validate the credibility of Django's style of music as it builds greater and greater audiences in the US and stretches with new original music as well as some from the Great American Songbook. It's standing room only at the 2 shows a night at Birdland during the festival which runs from Nov. 7th - Nov. 12th. The Festival is presented by AIRFRANCE.

This year's Django Festival Allstars are Ludovic Beier, Samson Schmitt, Dorado Schmitt, Amati Schmitt, and Pierre Blanchard. They are joined by special guests during the run by Ken Peplowski, clarinet, Grace Kelly, sax, and Chris Smith, drums. These extraordinary musicians keep audiences on the edge of their seats with their improvisations and melodic vertuosity. The Jazz Greats of the world have appeared on the Birdland stage and these musicians currently performing in the Django Reinhardt join their ranks. The Festival is currently in the midst of it's tour of the U.S. which has included The Kennedy Center in Wash DC.

Photo Credit: Stephen Sorokoff

Pierre Blanchard, Amati Schmitt, Samson Schmitt, Dorado Schmitt, Ludovic Beier

Patt Philips Stratta

Pat Philips Stratta

The Django Reinhardt NY Festival, Ken Peplowski, special guest

Ludovic Beier