Soirée: Django Festival All-Stars at the Dakota

Soirée: Django Festival All-Stars at the Dakota

Django Reinhardt tickets: http://bit.ly/2ljDwvK

Pioneering Gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt lamented that he might be neglected by history, but today the ebulliently swinging “jazz manouche” sound he created with French violinist Stéphane Grappelli is more pervasive than ever. And no one has done more to ignite interest in the idiom than dazzling French guitarist and violinist Dorado Schmitt. Born to Gypsy parents near the German border in Lorraine, Schmitt was weaned on traditional Roma music and Gypsy jazz, but rebelled as a teenager by taking up electric guitar and emulating Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana. After a decade of leading his own trio, he was nearly killed in a car crash, and spent years in physical therapy to regain his unrivaled guitar prowess.