Clint & Wendy Bell




Don & Mary Scott Spencer Cubage













William & Kathryn
Small
Thorell Fine Guitars







Sheryl-Anne Atkinson
Doug & Jan Allderdice
Drew Bamber
Randall Bilof
Paul Blackwell
Scott Bookman
Laura Conrow
Norbert & Carolyn
Ertel
Dwight Deason
Greg Gunter
Bob Holo
Kenneth L. Jones
Brad Kauder
Bruce Lowe
Mike Lundstrom
John Pearse Strings
Dennis McBride
Larry & Margi
Munson
John & Atsuko
Neely
Loretta Palagi
Linda Powers
Lynda Scheben
Mark & Sandra
Shwartz
Ken Williams







ticket office

Wed - Sat
1pm - 6pm
and 2 hours
before curtain

565 Camano Avenue
Langley, Washington
98260

t. 360/221.8268
t. 800/638.7631

EMAIL

DjangoFest NW 2010 - The Artists.


Ludovic Beier



A jazz musician at heart since his early childhood in Auvers-sur-Oise, Ludovic Beier is a fan of the West Coast sound. As a child, he discovered his idols (Chick Corea, George Duke, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, George Benson…) who influenced him during the years of its musical education. He started to compose very young, studding his albums with some of his own themes, from ballads to be-bop…

During a concert in Washington in November 2002, a journalist presented Ludovic Beier in these terms: "Since the arrival of Ludovic Beier's accordion on the musical scene in France, we can proudly say that this instrument is not dead and, on the contrary, enjoys a certain revival. Ludovic Beier belongs to the eager cognoscenti who are always out to try out new sounds and techniques. Not only does he compose, write and arrange, but he also is at basis of the revival of accordion: jazz, West Coast music are new directions taken by this instrument, but always rooted in the French heritage, in his skillful hands."... more.

John Jorgenson Quintet



John Jorgenson, known as one of the pioneers of the American gypsy jazz movement, has had quite a varied career.  At 14, he was playing professionally, first rock, then other guitar styles as quickly as he discovered them. He has played with artists as diverse as Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti, Bonnie Raitt, and Benny Goodman. He is an “A List” session player working in LA, Nashville, and London and has appeared on many platinum-selling and Grammy-winning CDs.

He first came to national prominence in the mid 1980’s with The Desert Rose Band, a group he co-founded with Chris Hillman. The band scored five # 1 singles, and won numerous awards. Following that John formed another award winning group, The Hellecasters, which produced 3 acclaimed CDs and a live video, including the award winning and stunning debut effort, Return of the Hellecasters released in 1993. In 1994, John did a six-year stint with Elton John that included sold out world tours, recordings, television appearances, and collaborations with many other artists including Sting and Billy Joel. As well as the expected guitar duties, Jorgenson was also featured on saxophone, pedal steel, mandolin and vocals.  In addition, John is a prolific composer and arranger.

Gypsy jazz is the style of music closest to Jorgenson’s heart. His articles and lessons on gypsy jazz have appeared in many prominent guitar magazines and he has given master classes around the country. He has performed with some of the most respected European proponents of this style, Bireli Lagrene and Romane. His playing has been included on a CD with Babik Reinhardt and Jimmy Rosenberg, and on another featuring Angelo Debarre and Moreno. Jorgenson was twice asked to recreate Django’s music for feature films, Gattica and Head in The Clouds.

In 1988, Curb Records released Jorgenson’s After You’ve Gone CD, a collection of Reinhardt and Goodman styled 30’s swing. Featured guests included Darol Anger and David Grisman. In 2004, Franco American Swing, a CD full of infectious gypsy jazz music, was released. His latest releases include, Ultraspontane, One Stolen Night and a double DVD Live at Teatro Olympico, recorded in Vincenza, Italy.

Currently living in Nashville, John continues to tour the UK with his own band, John Jorgenson and Friends, playing an eclectic blend of styles, and in the US playing gypsy jazz with The John Jorgenson Quintet. Occasionally he will also perform with bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs, and continues to collaborate with other artists live and in the studio.

John Jorgenson, guitar; Jason Annick, violin; Doug Martin, rhythm guitar; Simon Planting, upright bass; Rick Reed, percussion

Howard Alden with Bucky Pizzarelli and Bria Skonberg



Howard Alden - bio coming soon



John Paul Bucky Pizzarelli is an American Jazz guitarist and banjoist, and the father of jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli. Pizzarelli has also worked for NBC as a staffman for Dick Cavett (1971) and also ABC with Bobby Rosengarden in (1952). The list of musicians Pizzarelli has collaborated with over his career includes Les Paul, Stephane Grappelli, and Benny Goodman. Pizzarelli acknowledges Django Reinhardt, Freddie Green, and George Van Eps for their influences on his style and mode of play... more.



At age 26, jazz trumpeter and vocalist Bria Skonberg has been performing on stage for over 20 years. Originally from Chilliwack, BC, she now resides in Vancouver where she has completed a Degree in Jazz Performance from Capilano University. Since getting into jazz ten years ago Bria has been featured as a bandleader and guest artist all over North America, Europe, China and Japan playing alongside such greats as Warren and Allan Vache, Bucky Pizzarelli and Howard Alden. In July of 2009 she was one of four performers selected for an International Young Artists’ Showcase at the Jazz a Juan Festival in Antibes, France.  She has been the recipient of the CBC Jazz Award of Merit (2006), and the Kobe Jazz Street Friendship Award given at the Breda Jazz Festival in Holland in 2007. Early in 2008 Bria was a guest on Riverwalk Jazz with the Jim Cullum Jazz Band representing the “Next Generation of Jazz”. In Vancouver she leads and manages Bria’s Hot Five and The Big Bang Jazz Band, and performs as a soloist and vocalist with Canadian icon Dal Richards and his Orchestra both live and on his last two albums. She is a co-founder of the groundbreaking all female jazz group, Mighty Aphrodite, comprised of members from the US and Canada. In 2009 Bria released her first solo album Fresh that features original songs and arrangements of jazz and mainstream standards. She is an active advocate for young musicians, working as a teacher/alumni at the Sacramento Jazz Camp and Camp Heebie Jeebies in Port Angeles, as well as programming, narrating and performing educational school shows for students ranging from Kingergarten to College. Intent on giving back, she is also active on the Board of Directors for the annual Chilliwack Jazz Festival... more.

Hot Club of Detroit



More than seven decades after the innovations of the Quintette du Hot Club de France, featuring guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt, combos called Hot Clubs carry on the gypsy jazz sound around the globe -- in Tokyo, San Francisco, Seattle, Sweden, Norway, Austria, and many other locales. None, however, offers a fresher take on the tradition than does the Hot Club of Detroit, led by fast-fingered Reinhardt disciple Evan Perri. Unlike the instrumentation of original Paris-based quintet, comprising Reinhardt, violinist Stephane Grappelli, two rhythm guitarists, and a bassist, the current Hot Club of Detroit is made of guitarist Perri, accordionist Julien Labro, soprano and tenor saxophonist Carl Cafagna, rhythm guitarist Paul Brady and bassist Andrew Kratzat. The fibrous accordion tones of Labro, a native of Marseilles, France, links the Detroit quintet to the French musette style from which gypsy jazz partially sprung, while Cafagna’s robust saxophone work introduces bop and post-bop elements to gypsy jazz... more.

Pearl Django



Entering their sixteenth year of performing Pearl Django continues to be one of America’s most respected and busiest Hot Club style groups. Though still strongly influenced by the music of Django Reinhardt, Pearl Django’s repertoire now includes many original compositions. Their music reaches out across the divides of taste to a wide variety of audiences. The band's fervent followers include Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli fans, guitar enthusiasts (and guitarists!), lovers of string music, including bluegrass devotees, who relish nimble, clean, intricate picking, "world music" fans drawn to French and Gypsy accents, plus jazz buffs and aficionados of the new swing music. Transcending simple categorization, Pearl Django packs in enthusiastic audiences at dancehalls and nightclubs, at folk music festivals and jazz festivals alike... more.

Troy Chapman, guitar; Ryan Hoffman, guitar; David Lange, accordion; Michael Gray, violin; Rick Leppanen, upright bass

Kruno with Ludovic Beier



Kruno - bio coming soon

Alfonso Ponticelli and Swing Gitan



Alfonso Ponticelli and Swin Gitan is Chicago’s premier gypsy-jazz band.
The group plays the 1930s-style music of guitarist Django Reinhardt -- foot-tappin' swing played on acoustic instruments. It's a blend of the jubilant swing of early jazz with the feisty passion of gypsy music, plus a strong dose of guitar pyrotechnics and virtuosic improvisation.

Caravan - Marc Atkinson Trio with Daniel Lapp



Marc Atkinson is one of Canada 's finest JUNO-nominated, Western Canadian award-winning musicians. He is the leader and composer of the internationally renowned Marc Atkinson Trio (and co-founder, composer and performer in the acclaimed, The Bills). The music of this virtuosic group is melodically captivating, sensually charged and ferociously, technically awe-inspiring. Embracing a lifetime of musical influences, The Trio, formed in 2000, has toured North America, England and Europe and has received standing ovations everywhere they perform from the Montreal Jazz Festival to the Vancouver International Folk Festival to DjangoFest Northwest. The first three CDs are still garnering international attention for its stunning compositions and extraordinary guitar dexterity. The Marc Atkinson Trio II was voted one of the top five albums in North America by Acoustic Guitar Magazine. The Marc Atkinson Trio III was nominated in 2006 for an Outstanding Album Award at the Western Canadian Music Awards.

Marc and the Trio have just released their fourth CD, The Marc Atkinson Trio IV, praised as the finest yet. The compositions on this CD are punchy, driving and rhythmically inventive and push the boundaries of this instrumental group even further than the first three CDs.

Marc Atkinson, lead guitar; Michael Hamilton, rhythm guitar; Joey Smith, upright bass

Van Django



Van Django is an acoustic string ensemble made up of four of Canada's most talented and eclectic musicians; violinist Cameron Wilson, guitarist Budge Schachte, guitarist/cellist Finn Manniche and bassist Brent Gubbels. Van Django's music is punchy, driving and rhythmically inventive, combining a wealth of musical influences while maintaining their roots in the gypsy jazz made famous by the 1930's Quintet of the Hot Club of France. Since the group’s formation in 1998, they have toured extensively in Canada as well as international forays to the USA and Europe. The group has had repeat performances at Djangofest Northwest (DFNW) where in 2008 they shared a double bill concert with the John Jorgenson Quintet and in 2009 they opened for the legendary gypsy jazz guitarist Romane and his group. They look forward to a return visit this year (2010) to DFNW for a double bill concert with the Mark Atkinson trio. Van Django is slated for their second European tour in early September of this year (2010)... more.

Hot Club Sandwich



Hot Club Sandwich - bio coming soon

Billet-Deux



Billet-Deux - bio coming soon

Douce Ambience



Douce Ambience - bio coming soon

Doug Martin Avatar Ensemble with Annie Staninec



The San Francisco based Avatar Ensemble, led by guitarist Doug Martin, will be performing a mixture of selections from the gypsy jazz repertoire, jazz standards, as well as original compositions.

The group’s original compositions draw inspiration from Doug's many travels performing with his own projects in the US and China and performing in Europe and Australia as a member of Lulo Reinhardt’s Latin Swing Quartet. Doug currently performs on the road with the John Jorgenson Quintet when not playing locally with the Avatar Ensemble.

Doug Martin, Lead guitar; Jason Vanderford, Rhythm guitar; Mike Zisman, Mandolin; Clint Baker, Bass; Annie Staninec, Violin

Nick Lehr Quartet featuring David Seriff

"The Nick Lehr Quartet featuring David Seriff came about in 2009 as a result of when David and I served as judges for the Guitar Center ’s ‘King of the Blues’ contest held at the Van Ness Ave. store in San Francisco . David was there because of his renown and well earned reputation as an up and coming jazz and blues player on the Bay Area scene. (Why I was there is a bit of a mystery.) Between contestants, we’d remove our earplugs, David would ask me questions about Gypsy Jazz, and which players were my favorite and so on. The contest went on for three weeks so by the end we had covered a lot of ground. A while later we met up at the Saga headquarters to try out some guitars. We started jamming and liked the way it sounded. After that, we got together a few more times and then started to get some gigs around the Bay Area. The other two members of the quartet have varied according to availability. We’re very pleased to have two great DjangoFest veterans lined up as our ‘string section’ this time out with Michael Papillo on Bass and James Mason on Violin." -- Nick Lehr, Sep. 2010

Nick Lehr, rhythm guitar; David Seriff, lead guitar; James Mason, violin; Michael Papillo, double bass


The Workshops.



Schedule and artists subject to change.



The Festival Staff.

Nicholas Lehr, Artistic Director; Stacie Burgua, Executive Director; Deana Duncan, Production Director; Jason Dittmer, Director of Marketing; Tyler Raymond, Technical Director; Jeanette Eveland, Volunteer Coordinator; Ann Deacon, Facilities Manager; Dorothy Ferguson, Shirley McClure, Karen McInerney, Linda O'Brochta, House Managers



special thanks

TBA