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 Wednesday, 17 March 2010 |
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The Django Festival Starring Dorado Schmitt Swings into Oakland |
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Written by Ronaldo Oregano
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Saturday, 26 July 2008 |
 Dorado Schmitt
Launched in 2000 in New York, the Django Reinhardt Festival was the first-ever festival of Django’s music in America. Now it returns to Yoshi’s on Friday, July 31st, through Sunday, August 3rd, 2008. Legendary Gypsy guitarist Dorado Schmitt is showcased along with his son, the young Gypsy star Samson Schmitt. They carry on the legacy of Django and his fiery, virtuosic, romantic music, which has its roots in American popular music and in the reverence for artists such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. The Festival will also feature the young Dutch pianist Peter Beets; guitarist Howard Alden, who performed the music in Sweet and Low Down, Woody Allen’s film about Django; the Festival’s regular bassist Brian Torff, who toured for years with Django’s partner Stephane Grappelli; and, as special guest, the master guitar improviser Larry Coryell.
As a child in France, Schmitt would listen to Reinhardt’s music, patiently trying to puzzle out the master’s blazing guitar work. “Because the music of Django is very energetic. You have to have a lot of physical strength,” Schmidt told Fiddler Magazine. Like Reinhardt, whose hand was partially paralyzed in a caravan fire, Schmitt suffered a huge setback to his musical career when an automobile accident left him in a coma. Drawing on the same ingenuity and tenacity displayed by his idol, he relearned the instrument, patiently regaining his virtuosic touch. Dorado’s son Samson, who joins the band tonight on swing guitar, continues the proud family tradition of le jazz hot.
 Larry Coryell © Don Berryman
Larry Coryell was born in Galveston, TX. After trying out several other instruments including piano, he finally settled on the guitar in his teens, and absorbed the influences of Wes Montgomery, Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry. Larry moved to New York City in the mid 60s where he studied classical guitar and played with Chico Hamilton. He first gained recognition playing with Gary Burton’s quartet. His reputation in both jazz and rock grew as he later toured with Herbie Mann, rocker Jack Bruce, John McLaughlin Jimmy Webb, the 5th Dimension, Charles Mingus, Billy Cobham, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix and Chick Corea. With Randy Brecker, Coryell formed Eleventh House in 1974, which became the most influential fusion band of the era. Once Eleventh House disbanded, Larry continued to work with his own bands and the Brecker Brothers, and in the late 70s, toured with McLaughlin and Paco de Luca in a guitar trio. Larry continued his eclectic ways through the 1980s, playing mostly acoustic guitar and everything from jazz to rock to interpretations of classical music.
For tickets and more details visit yoshis.com. Yoshi's at Jack London Square is located at 510 Embarcadero West between Washington and Clay Streets around the corner from the Jack London Square Cinema Complex on Washington. Yoshi's is on the ground floor on the front side of the seven-story parking structure. |
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