Hey there guys, how is your day going? Here in Prague is almost bedtime :)
Finally the temperatures are getting hotter and hotter! At least we can finally go outside after a long cold winter and get a bit of that yellowish thing that Czechs insist on calling "sun" (a bit of context here: being originally from Sicily, it is not really sunny for me if there aren't at least 32 degrees Celsius and you can't breathe because of the humidity in the air).
I didn't have much to to today after work, so I took a nice stroll in the city center. I stopped in Namesti Republiky (Republic Square), one of the most beautiful in Prague, with its Art Nouveau Municipal House and the Palladium building, hosting the biggest mall in the center. I see a poster hanging in front of the Hybernia theater, take a look and, man! What a concert was going to happen there tonight!
The Prague Municipal House
The Hybernia Theater
Prague is in fact hosting the 20th edition of the Khamoro, the world Rom Festival, organized to celebrate the Rom community and its traditions, amongst them the musical ones.
The highlight of tonight's evening were Angelo Debarre, Stochelo Rosenberg and Tchavolo Schmitt, 3 of the most amazing Gipsy Jazz guitar players of all time and some of my favorites in this genre. I had to go, so I asked if they had some tickets left and I was so lucky to buy one! I love improvised evenings :)
After taking my seat I patiently waited for the beginning of the concert... And what an experience it was!
All these musicians are "born" from the tradition of the father of Gipsy Guitar, Django Reinhardt, and are the finest example of this style all around the world.
Reinhardt was a Belgian player from the Sinti ethnicity that in the last century managed to mix the Gipsy musical tradition with the western swing elements, resulting in a genre containing the best of both worlds: pulsating guitar rhythms, standard jazz progressions and LOTS of improvisation.
I felt so lucky that I got a ticket also because it's kind of an historic moment: in fact, we see Debarre and Rosenberg playing together for the first time after 10 years (the last concert was at the Carnegie Hall in New York),so what more of an occasion to go and enjoy?
The concert was done in the name of the old school Gipsy Jazz, it was actually more a tribute to the late Django, although it included a few Standards and some Originals by the three musicians.
You wouldn't believe how good these guys are and the sinergy they have while playing on stage. Jazz is not an easy music to listen to, to appreciate it fully you need to like it a lot and have a trained ear, so imagine how much it takes to actually be able to play it.
Nonetheless, the three guitarists, with the aid of Noah Schäfer at the double bass and Ludovic Beier at the accordion make it sound like a piece of cake. They were absolutely perfect in coordinating each other and kept playing like there was no tomorrow, even when an unfortunate accident (Tchavolo Schmidt broke a string in the middle of a song) happened on stage.
Unfortunately I was seating a bit far away from the stage, so I did not manage to take better pictures than the ones you see here, and when I go to concerts I absolutely avoid recording videos as I want to enjoy the experience, although I have attached something from YouTube below, so that you can listen to them as well.
What about you Steemians? Do you like Gipsy Jazz? Let me know in the comments below!
