Gypsy jazz music dates back to the swing days of the '30s and '40s and in some cases as far back as the impressionist art period.
And the late French guitarist Django Reinhardt was the first to fuse Eastern European sounds with American jazz. "Although gypsy jazz isn't heard by everybody, there is now a revival for this unique style of music," said Archtop Eddy, a guitarist for Mango fan Django, a band scheduled to play at Albuquerque's DjangoFest
The festival runs from Thursday to Sunday at venues throughout the city.
John Sandlin, guitarist for local gypsy jazz band Le Chat Lunatique, organized DjangoFest.
"The goal of this festival is to bring the community of Albuquerque together to celebrate the life and the music of Django," Sandlin said. "As an added bonus, we have the Albuquerque Lindy Exchange, a swing-dance festival, running in conjunction with DjangoFest. We will be having workshops, lessons, performances and open dances for the public to enjoy."
At least 10 bands will play at the festival, including a headlining performance by Stephane Wrembel - another famous French guitarist who has devoted his life to gypsy jazz. He lives and works in New York City as a workshop teacher and performer.
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Wrembel will play at El Rey Theatre on Saturday night. Doors open at 7 p.m.
"The mad Hungarian, Zoltan Szekely, is another gypsy jazz performer who will be playing at DjangoFest," Sandlin said. "He is known all around Albuquerque for his mad guitar skills and his band that combines samba, zydeco and gypsy jazz."
Szekely lived in Hungary for a few years but was born in Transylvania, Romania. Two years ago, he formed a trio with a bass player and a percussionist who used to live in Brazil.
"The three of us played a lot of South American-styled music," he said, "but when John Keith, our first accordion player, hopped on board, our style started to have a European feel. Having grown up in Europe, I naturally wanted to start playing more gypsy jazz music. Nowadays, I write the mad-sounding chorus structures and let everybody else in the band mix in whatever melodies they want. We still hold onto the European gypsy jazz style most of the time."
Mango fan Django hails from Colorado Springs. The band has played together for 10 years and incorporates jump swing and island reggae into its sound.
"The reason I love playing gypsy jazz so much is because it feels great on the guitar," Eddy said. "Because of all the different instruments and the feelings they evoke, our crowds are always so diverse."
Sandlin said gypsy jazz appeals to a wide demographic.
"Everybody likes it, whether you are 80 years old or only 8," he said. "It helps the old cats remember how it was back in the day, and it appeals to the younger crowd because of how upbeat it is."
For more information, visit MySpace.com/newmexicodjangofest
