Django's Birthday Party at The Royal Room

Gypsy jazz musicians from around Puget Sound will celebrate Django Reinhardt’s 104th birthday with an evening of music.

Django, born in 1910, 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, “(Django’s) technique is awesome! 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 104th birthday with an evening of music.

Django, born in 1910, 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, “(Django’s) technique is awesome! 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.

Composer and guitarist Greg Ruby is a former member of Pearl Django, with whom he performed at the prestigious Django Reinhardt Festival in Samois-sur-Seine, France. He has recorded with vocalist Dan Hicks, and his most recent CD with the Greg Ruby Quartet reached #1 on the Roots Music Review’s jazz chart. Ranger and the ‘Re-Arrangers’ feature the violin playing of Ranger Sciacca. They have performed about 500 times since coming together in 2007, including a concert at North America’s foremost gypsy jazz event, Djangofest Northwest. Says Sciacca: “Our goal is to make this a really fun event, featuring as many great local Gypsy jazz players as we can.”

The Royal Room opened in 2011 in Columbia City with the goal of encouraging cross-pollination and collaboration between different bands and different artists. There is no cover charge for this and most other events at the Royal Room, which is located at 5000 Rainer Avenue South.

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