Django's Birthday Party at The Royal Room

Gypsy jazz musicians from around Puget Sound will celebrate Django Reinhardt’s 105th birthday with an evening of music. The party will be hosted by two bands, Greg Ruby Quintet and Ranger and the ‘Re-Arrangers’. Other top Seattle Gypsy Jazz musicians will make guest appearances, including guitarist Neil Andersson, founder and former member of Pearl Django.

Django was an itinerant Gypsy who earned international acclaim in the 1930’s. Many of his compositions became jazz classics and he is considered one of the top guitar soloists of all time. Duke Ellington referred to Django as “the most creative jazz musician to originate anywhere outside the United States.” Decades later, Jerry Garcia said, “Even today, nobody has really come to the state that he was playing at…nobody plays with the whole fullness of expression that Django has.” Django passed away in 1953....

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Gypsy jazz musicians from around Puget Sound will celebrate Django Reinhardt’s 105th birthday with an evening of music. The party will be hosted by two bands, Greg Ruby Quintet and Ranger and the ‘Re-Arrangers’. Other top Seattle Gypsy Jazz musicians will make guest appearances, including guitarist Neil Andersson, founder and former member of Pearl Django.

Django was an itinerant Gypsy who earned international acclaim in the 1930’s. Many of his compositions became jazz classics and he is considered one of the top guitar soloists of all time. Duke Ellington referred to Django as “the most creative jazz musician to originate anywhere outside the United States.” Decades later, Jerry Garcia said, “Even today, nobody has really come to the state that he was playing at…nobody plays with the whole fullness of expression that Django has.” Django passed away in 1953.

Greg Ruby is a former member of Pearl Django, with whom he performed at the prestigious Django Reinhardt Festival in Samois-sur-Seine, France.To replicate Django's sound, Greg has assembled a special quintet just for this show, with 2 guitars, bass, drums, and clarinet. Ranger and the ‘Re-Arrangers’ feature the violin playing of Ranger Sciacca. They have performed about 600 times since 2007, including a concert at North America’s foremost gypsy jazz festival, Djangofest Northwest. Says Sciacca: “Our goal is to make this a really fun show, featuring as many great Gypsy jazz players as we can.”

There is no cover charge, but donations will be accepted.

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