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Led by Grammy-winning guitarist John Jorgenson, the John Jorgenson Quintet creates a unique musical experience that equally enthralls the most discerning and the casual music fan. Each member of the group is a virtuoso, yet the music is very accessible, melodic and appealing. The group's style has been called "gypsy jazz" after the dynamic string-driven swing created by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli in 1930s Paris, but Jorgenson's compositions draw in elements from Latin, Romanian, Classical, Rock, and Greek music, so "21st Century World Music" is perhaps a more apt description.
Guitarists (and folks who read liner notes) will be well-acquainted with John Jorgenson as his career has already spanned a few decades and many musical styles. First coming to national attention in the mid '80's as co-founder of successful country-rock act The Desert Rose Band, many diverse artists were drawn to add Jorgenson's artistry to their own recordings such as Bonnie Raitt, Bob Seger and Barbara Streisand. In the '90's The Hellecasters gave audiences a chance to experience John's fretboard fireworks in an unrestrained venue and the trio's three original CDs remain favorites of guitarists everywhere. Having been a fan of the Desert Rose Band, Elton John invited Jorgenson to join his band in 1994 for an 18 month tour that stretched into a 6 year stint of touring, recording and TV appearances with the British superstar.
2010 marks the 100th birthday of the great gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. Since discovering Django in 1979, Jorgenson has become "the US Ambassador of Gypsy Jazz" which is quite an honor given the distinctly European slant of the music's heritage. The John Jorgenson Quintet is the only American act to ever headline the prestigious Django Reinhardt Memorial Festival in France, and has been featured at other "Djangofests" in the US, UK, Germany and Canada. For the films "Gattica" and "Head in the Clouds" Jorgenson was tapped to recreate Django's music, and in the latter he even appeared onscreen as Django with stars Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz.
Adding to the international flavor of the Quintet is Dutch bassist Simon Planting, well-known and respected in the gypsy-jazz community from his tenure with legendary Belgian guitarist Fapy Lafertin. Filling out the Quintet are prodigious young jazz violinist Jason Anick (who is quickly making quite a name for himself), fiery rhythm guitarist Doug Martin and veteran percussionist Rick Reed, renown for his intricate brush work and swinging drive. The combination of these five musicians creates a sound that is equally dynamic, romantic, driving, melodic and accessible.
Legends like Elton John, Earl Scruggs and Duane Eddy along with fellow guitarists such as Tommy Emmanuel, Peter Frampton and Brad Paisley will all sing Jorgenson's praises, but the best way to find out what they already know is to experience the magic of a John Jorgenson Quintet performance live yourself!
Raves and Reviews - John Jorgenson
Legendary musician, John Jorgenson |
John Jorgenson, known as The U.S. Ambassador of Gypsy Jazz, is setting fire to stages across the country with his Quintet this summer and continues to add performances to the 2012 lineup. Jorgenson is performing at the ArtsCenter, 300 E. Main St. in Carrboro, on Friday, Oct. 19. Jorgenson has earned a reputation as a world-class musician and guitarist and has collaborated with the likes of Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti, Bonnie Raitt and Bob Dylan. Touring in support of two new releases, this latest creative cycle sees this legendary musician exploring new elements of world music, bluegrass, rock and classical as Jorgenson continues to expand his range of gypsy jazz, captivating and enlightening fellow musicians and listeners along the way. One Stolen Night, Jorgenson's first of two new releases, was the second album credited to the John Jorgenson Quintet, following up on the Billboard Jazz chart success of Ultraspontane. The One Stolen Night collection contains a mix of standards and new compositions, with plenty of clarinet and swing, plus a vocal and the addition of the Greek bouzouki into the Quintet's instrumentation. The Quintet recorded all of the tracks in two days using minimal production, resulting in a live-in-the-studio sound that is warm, rich and so crisp that it envelops listeners in a warm, intimate private concert experience. The album features a driving rhythm section throughout as Jorgenson creates a classic gypsy jazz feel while pushing the boundaries with his arrangements and melodic content. Red on Red opens the album with fanfare and Django-inspired minor key swing, while Mediterranean Blues highlights a fiery jam session between violin and guitar. The title track, One Stolen Night, presents a captivating melody and showcases the enchanting sound of the bouzouki. Throughout the album, the John Jorgenson Quintet creates a unique musical experience that equally enthralls the most discerning and the casual music fan with a sound that is all at once dynamic, romantic, driving, melodic and accessible. Jorgenson's second new album offering is Istiqbal Gathering, the culmination of a long relationship between Jorgenson and Paul Gambill, conductor of Orchestra Nashville. Recorded live at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Jorgenson and Gambill brought together a world-class team of musicians and collaborators to create the first collection of music specifically composed and recorded for gypsy jazz guitar and orchestra. Jorgenson's brilliant guitar work leads the way, supported by the progressive and dynamic Orchestra Nashville. Concerto Glasso and Istiqbal Gathering feature a full orchestra, the latter showcasing the breathtaking talents of Alexander Fedoriouk on cimbalom and David Davidson on violin. Dieter's Lounge and Groove in the Louvre feature the unexpected blend of string orchestra along with the GRAMMY award-winning Turtle Island Quartet. The combination is a groundbreaking album full of soaring melodies and driving rhythms. The John Jorgenson Quintet is the only American act to ever headline the prestigious Django Reinhardt Memorial Festival in France and has been featured at other Djangofests in the U.S., UK, Germany and Canada. For the films Gattica and Head in the Clouds Jorgenson was tapped to recreate Django's music, and in the latter he even appeared onscreen as Django with stars Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz. Despite the levels of success Jorgenson has already attained, the acclaimed musician has no intention of taking it easy any time soon. Building on the legacy of Reinhardt, Jorgenson continues to expand the popularity of his beloved gypsy jazz by offering listeners an exotic yet familiar sound to which they can relate.
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John Jorgenson Quintet On Mountain Stage |
John Jorgenson was an original member of the Desert Rose Band, a founder of guitar-guru group The Hellecasters, and a six-year veteran in Elton John's touring band. Since his 2004 album Franco American Swing, Jorgenson has specialized in the hot club sound of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, calling Reinhardt (who would have turned 100 this year) the group's "spiritual, musical mentor."
Hear Jorgenson and his quintet — Jason Anick on violin, Doug Martin on rhythm guitar, Simon Planting on bass and Rick Reed on percussion — visit Mountain Stage to perform songs from his latest album, One Stolen Night, which includes several of his own compositions in the "gypsy jazz" style and Reinhardt's romantic number "Billets Doux" ("Love Letters").
This Mountain Stage performance was originally published on July 13, 2010.
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| Mountain Stage, NPR |
Cool Jazz for a Hot Club Night at the MACC |
The Django Would Go! Music Festival ignites the isle on Sunday, June 5, at 6 p.m. in the McCoy Studio Theater at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center (MACC). The flavorful showcase is part of the 2011 Maui Invitational Music Festival presented by Arts Education for Children Group, and features internationally renowned guitarist, arranger and musical director John Jorgenson and the John Jorgenson Quintet, along with Hawai‘i’s own Hot Club of Hulaville. Led by Grammy Award-winning talent John Jorgenson, the John Jorgenson Quintet offers a unique musical experience that enthralls discerning and casual music fans alike. The quintet’s style has been called “gypsy jazz” after the dynamic string-driven swing created by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli in 1930s Paris. Since discovering Django in 1979, Jorgenson has become the U.S. Ambassador of Gypsy Jazz, an honor considering the distinctly European slant of the music’s heritage. Also, the John Jorgenson Quintet is the only
American act to ever headline the prestigious Django Reinhardt Memorial Festival in France.
Adding to the international flavor of the quintet is Dutch bassist Simon Planting—esteemed in the gypsy jazz community from his tenure with legendary Belgian guitarist Fapy Lafertin. Rounding out the group are young jazz violinist Jason Anick, who is quickly making a name for himself, fiery rhythm guitarist Doug Martin, and veteran percussionist Rick Reed, who is renowned for his intricate brush work and swinging drive. Each member of the group is a virtuoso, and together, their music is romantic, accessible and appealing.
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| Maui Times |
Gypsy-jazz ace Jorgenson owes his living to a mouse |
Out on the far fringe of Conspiracy World, word is that Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake are the unwitting dupes of a sinister mind-control plot cooked up by the Illuminati, in conjunction with operatives linked to Mickey Mouse.
So what else is new?
More plausible is that the Magic Kingdom played a significant role in the ongoing revival of the ’30s musical style known as gypsy jazz, and of this we have proof. This side of the Atlantic, the genre’s leading figure is guitarist John Jorgenson—and, as he readily confesses, he was first turned on to this unique form while in Disneyland’s employ.
“I was working there playing Dixieland and bluegrass music,” he explains, on the line from his Nashville home. “This was probably 1979, and I didn’t know very much about either one of those styles of music at all, but I wanted to learn, quickly. So I just started asking a lot of questions.”
Back in those pre-Internet days his curiosity led him not to some paranoid’s website but to banjo players Howard Alden and Doug Mattocks, acolytes of long-forgotten masters Harry Reser and Eddie Peabody.
“I saw this amazing technique,” Jorgenson says, “and so I said, ‘Well, were there any guitarists, at that time, who were virtuosic like that?’ And they both said, with reverence, ‘Django Reinhardt.’ ”
Jorgenson’s initial exposure to the great Belgian musician’s oeuvre was less than satisfactory: the only recording he could find was a “rarities” compilation that featured Reinhardt on banjo-guitar, rather than the Selmer six-string he later made famous. In time, though, he discovered the classic recordings of the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, and embarked on a study of Reinhardt’s style that occupied him throughout his tenure with bluegrass veteran and former Byrd Chris Hillman’s Desert Rose Band, a six-year-stint as Elton John’s lead guitarist, and three mind-boggling albums with twang-banging supergroup the Hellecasters.
“I never expected to be able to make this my career,” Jorgenson stresses. “But what’s happened with the advent of the Internet, is that it’s become very easy for people to get hold of each other or to get information—and there are a lot more Django fans than anyone thought.”
For the last several years, then, Jorgenson’s been able to make a good living playing the music he loves—and with the simultaneous release last year of One Stolen Night and Istiqbal Gathering, he’s also emerged as one of gypsy jazz’s most creative exponents. The former is a straightforward document of his touring group’s incendiary live set, but the latter’s a different animal altogether. Assisted by cimbalom virtuoso Alexander Fedoriouk, the Turtle Island Quartet, and Orchestra Nashville, it finds Jorgenson taking his Django-rooted style on a musical tour of Hungary, Egypt, Turkey, and points even further east, effectively honouring and building on Reinhardt’s Roma heritage.
Online dictionaries cite istiqbal as an Arabic word meaning welcoming or greeting. The Roma have adopted the term, but they’ve expanded it to include the idea of a future meeting as well. “My thinking with the title,” Jorgenson explains, “is that as the whole world gets closer and closer through new communication technologies, everyone is able to have access to all these musical and cultural things from other countries. And I think a literal world music will develop.
“Right now,” he continues, “world music is sort of a term for ethnic music, or regional music. But world music, to me, should mean a combination of elements from around the world—and I think that’s the direction we’re moving towards.”
That’s the kind of globalization even conspiracy theorists might want to get behind.
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| Alexander Varty, straight.com |
John Jorgenson Quintet to perform at KAC |
The Kirkland Art Center, 9 ½ E. Park Row, welcomes the return of international guitar sensation John Jorgenson and his Gypsy Jazz Quintet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7.
The John Jorgenson Quintet features guitarist John Jorgenson, a founding member of both the Desert Rose Band and The Hellecasters, and six-year member of Elton John's band. Artists ranging from Bonnie Raitt to Earl Scruggs have sought out Jorgenson's guitar work. John Jorgenson is best known as one of the pioneers of the American gypsy jazz movement. His articles and lessons on gypsy jazz have appeared in prominent guitar magazines and he has performed with some of the most respected European proponents of this style. In 1988, Curb Records released Jorgenson’s “After You've Gone,” a collection of Reinhardt and Benny Goodman-styled ’30s swing, featuring guest artists Darol Anger and David Grisman. Jorgenson first came to national prominence in the mid ’80s with the Desert Rose Band, which he co-founded with Chris Hillman (former member of The Byrds). The band earned five No. 1 singles and garnered several awards. During this time, John won the ACM's “Guitarist of the Year” award three consecutive times. Following the Desert Rose Band, John formed another award-winning group, the virtuosic guitar trio The Hellecasters. The group went on to produce three acclaimed CDs, winning “Album of the Year” and “Country Album of the Year” from the readers of Guitar Player Magazine. In 1994, Elton John invited Jorgenson on an 18-month world tour. The 18 months stretched into a six-year period that included not only sold-out world tours, but also recordings, television appearances, and collaborations with many other artists including Sting and Billy Joel. Currently living in Nashville, Jorgenson tours worldwide playing gypsy jazz with The John Jorgenson Quintet. He also performs in the U.K. with his electric band, John Jorgenson and Friends, and continues to collaborate with other artists live and in the studio. |
| Utica Observer Dispatch |
John Jorgenson and his Gypsy Jazz Quintet at the KAC |
On Thursday, April 7 at 7:30 pm, the Kirkland Art Center welcomes the return of international guitar sensation John Jorgenson and his Gypsy Jazz Quintet in the latest installment of the KAC's recent jazz series, a part of the its 50th Anniversary celebration. |
| The Oneida Dispatch |
John Jorgenson bring gypsy jazz back to The Ellen |
Grammy Award-winner John Jorgenson returns to The Ellen Theatre Thursday, March 3.
This is the third time the critically acclaimed guitar player and his quintet will play the historic theater. Jorgenson's concert in 2009 was the first in the newly-remodeled theater and was a sell-out. His appearance last year was also standing room only.
"In the two years that we have been open, I have never seen a more spontaneous standing ovation. John is a sensational musician, a truly one-of-a-kind entertainer," said John Ludin, director of The Ellen Theatre.
The New York Times hailed Jorgenson as " ... perhaps the best jazz guitarist alive."
Jorgenson creates a unique musical experience that equally enthralls the most discerning and the casual music fan. Each member of the group is a virtuoso, yet the music is very accessible, melodic and appealing. The group's style has been called gypsy jazz after the dynamic string-driven swing created by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli in 1930s Paris, but Jorgenson's original compositions draw in elements from Latin, Romanian, classical, rock and Greek music.
Jorgenson's career has already been a full one, co-founding The Desert Rose Band with Chris Hillman and Herb Pederson and collaborating with a number of musical luminaries including Earl Scruggs, Luciano Pavarotti and Barbra Streisand. The Grammy was for Best Instrumentalist on the Brad Paisley record Cluster Pluck and Jorgenson was named AMC's "Guitarist of the Year" for three straight years.
Reserved seating for the Thursday, March 3, concert is $30 and can be purchased online at www.theellentheatre.com or by calling The Ellen box office at 585-5885. Beer and wine will be available in The Ellen lobby starting at 7 p.m. with the concert slated to begin at 8 p.m.
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| Bozeman Daily Chronicle |
Gypsy jazz great inspired John Jorgenson to make the music his own |
There was a sound brewing in the back of guitarist John Jorgenson's mind in the 1980s and '90s that never had much of an opportunity to be heard.
It was a light, spirited variation on the Gypsy jazz popularized in the '30s by Django Reinhardt. But it was open enough to take on other musical accents from around the globe. Jorgenson even played it a bit in the old days, although the music was mostly a hobby. After all, he was already employed in artistic communities far removed from the land of the Gypsies.
Near the close of the '80s, Jorgenson was part of the triumvirate — with Byrds alumnus Chris Hillman and veteran country-rock stylist Herb Pederson — behind the vintage California country troupe known as the Desert Rose Band. When rock 'n' roll tugged at his sleeve, Jorgenson plugged into another trio, a fearsome group of guitar slingers known as the Hellecasters. Then in 1994, Jorgenson joined the touring band of rock celebrity Elton John. That, in essence, led to the life of an upper-class gypsy, as Jorgenson recorded and toured arenas around the world with John for six years.
Among the other giants with whom Jorgenson has collaborated: Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Luciano Pavarotti, Roy Orbison, Bonnie Raitt, Earl Scruggs and Emmylou Harris.
"I discovered Gypsy jazz in 1979 and played it a bit in the early to mid-'80s," Jorgenson said. "At the time, there really wasn't really any kind of scene for the music, so I couldn't see playing it as a career.
"But then there was a shift. While I was working with Elton John and doing a lot of session work, a shift came from the Internet that allowed people with specific musical interests to connect with each other. Then people realized they weren't the only ones who were fond of this music. They banded together and started having festivals while guitar companies started building instruments that were affordable replicas of the old French guitars. So that became a sort of sign to me."
That sign was illuminated when Jorgenson was invited not only to create Reinhardt-style music for the 2004 film Head in the Clouds but to play the famed Gypsy guitarist in the movie.
"When I started to go out and perform this music, I would have been happy just to be in a Django tribute band. I would have been happy to dress up like it was the 1930s and do that whole thing. But I started doing my own compositions to fill out the concert programs, and audiences responded as much to them as they did to the traditional Gypsy jazz tunes."
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| Walter Tunis, Lexgo.com |
John Jorgenson at Grammy Museum's night of 'Great Guitars' |
Guitarist John Jorgenson gave Grammy Museum officials a special challenge during his question-answer-performance session Monday night: how to shoehorn the myriad aspects of an extraordinarily multifaceted career into the usual two-hour time slot and leave any time at all for him to actually play some music.
Interviewer Scott Goldman, head of the Recording Academy’s MusiCares Foundation, did a yeoman’s job of steering the conversation through Jorgenson’s upbringing in Redlands, his years honing his skills as an instrumentalist playing in three Disneyland house bands by day while moonlighting in a new wave band that was slogging it out in Hollywood clubs by night and on weekends, his role as a founding member of the country-rock Desert Rose Band in the '80s, his six years touring with Elton John in the '90s and his passionate advocacy over the years for the Gypsy jazz guitar music of Django Reinhardt.
Jorgenson, 54, touched on the highs -- in 2005, he became the first American musician to headline the annual Reinhardt tribute concert in France in the town where Reinhardt lived out the final years of his life -- and the lows: appearing once with the Desert Rose Band at a show in Mississippi, second-billed to a wrestling bear.
He remained humble to a fault about his exceptionally wide-ranging skills: Not only is he one of the most respected guitarists in the world in jazz, rock, country and bluegrass circles, but he’s also a top-notch mandolinist and clarinetist to boot. Tossed off as an aside, Jorgenson alluded to the scholarship he once was awarded as a jazz bassist.
Goldman, in fact, ran out of time to even mention the pair of Reinhardt-inspired albums Jorgenson released last year to mark the 100th anniversary of the Gypsy jazz master’s birth -- “One Stolen Night” and “Istiqbal Gathering” -- or Jorgenson’s contributions not just as a skilled performer of that style but also as a composer whose original music is adding new material to the repertoire of the expanding universe of Gypsy jazz players worldwide.
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| Randy Lewis -LA Times |
Organized disorder |
Some of the world's finest music has roots in seeming chaos.
You may never suspect it, but a lot of your friends and colleagues are living life by the skin of their teeth. Even the ones who seem to have things especially together may be the most frazzled in the privacy of their own home. Here at this season of end-of-year deadlines piled on top of regular daily business, your so-called perfect fellow humans are likely losing sleep trying to maintain their sanity.
The evidence may or may not be obvious, but if you look hard enough you'll see it's there - maybe their desk or apartment is messier than usual, or their ungroomed hair is well-hidden beneath a really cute hat. Some try harder than others to conceal their lack of togetherness, and some care more than others whether or not their image is damaged by the slipups.
Either way, none of us are perfect, and I like to think that those of us who embrace this truth are the most content in life, regardless of what our cohorts may think. The chaos many of us try to avoid is greatly celebrated in certain circles. Musically, some of the best tunes ever created were born out of chaos, the best of which can be tough to recreate.
Jazz has often been described as "organized chaos." Depending on one's perspective, the seeming lawlenessness of a jazz trio can provoke different reactions - to an untrained listener, understanding need not precede enjoyment, but to a member of the trio, the music may seem anything but lawless.
It would be foolish of me to attempt to dissect the origins or explain the anatomy of jazz or free form music, but I will suggest a few recent releases that have enhanced my relationship with the genre.
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| Libby Sterling |
Essential Acoustic Albums of 2010 |
On his latest solo album of Hot Club–style Gypsy jazz and other styles, John Jorgenson shows an ever-expanding skill at composing great melodies and creating brilliant arrangements to showcase his dazzling Django Reinhardt–inspired technique on acoustic guitar and other instruments. (J2) |
| Mark Smith-Acoustic Guitar Magazine |
Times music writers pick their favorite albums of 2010 |
John Jorgenson, “One Stolen Night” (Pharaoh Records). Guitarist and clarinetist Jorgenson transcends his obvious affection for the influential jazz of gypsy musician Django Reinhardt in this collection in which Jorgenson’s own compositions bring the swing and effervescent joy of the master’s music fully into the 21st century. |
| Randy Lewis |
Jorgenson Closes Culver's Festival with Hot Sounds |
Page 9 |
| Sharon Bell |
The Boston Globe-Django lives |
...No American player has done more to spread Djangophilia than guitarist John Jorgenson, who performs with his Hot Club-style quintet Thursday at Scullers. With credits including a six-year stint as Elton John’s lead guitarist, cofounding the Desert Rose Band, and sharing front line duties with fellow guitar-slingers Will Ray and Jerry Donahue in the Hellecasters, Jorgenson’s immersion in Gypsy jazz might seem strange. But he caught the Hot Club bug in the mid-1970s playing string band music at Disneyland, and never let go of the passion, eventually becoming one of the most accomplished players building on Reinhardt’s legacy. “I heard it and I went crazy,’’ Jorgenson, 53, says from home in Nashville. “I call it getting bitten. I’ve seen it happen to a number of people, very often guitarists who are already skilled. In my mind, Django was the first guitar hero. He was leading his own band, doing flashy single-note solos right out there in front. You can see his influence everywhere.’’
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| Andrew Gilbert |
Boston Globe-Reinhardt’s descendants play on |
JOHN JORGENSON
“Franco-American Swing’’ (Pharaoh Records), 2004
While the album includes two tracks from the film “Head in the Clouds,’’ in which he portrayed Reinhardt in a minor role, Jorgenson has developed a powerful Reinhardt-inspired style that doesn’t slavishly emulate Django, and a repertoire of artfully idiomatic originals.
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| Andrew Gilbert |
CD Review: John Jorgenson Quintet "One Stolen Night" |
Some jazz artists release new albums with such frequency that it is difficult to remember the sequence of their discography. Not so with John Jorgenson. Today John released his 4th Jazz album in 22 years. In fairness, the time between the first (After You've gone, 1988) and the second (Franco-American Swing, 2004) is largely explained by the fact that John was pretty busy in the intervening years playing with Elton John and the Hellecasters. Since 2004, John released UltraSpontane in 2007 and now One Stolen Night. These last two releases feature the John Jorgenson Quintet, probably the most successful Gypsy jazz outfit in the US (if not the world).
John HAD to do a new album. His entire band is made up of new members since the release of his last CD. In fact, one of the "new" members of the quintet has already left (Doug Martin has taken the rhythm guitar chair as Kevin Nolan has moved back to Europe).
The new album is a collection of 8 Jorgenson originals with 4 Gypsy jazz standards and 1 old time jazz tune.
The musicianship of this quintet is SUPERLATIVE! John may well be the best guitarist playing Gypsy jazz in the US. Simon Planting is probably the best bassist playing Gypsy jazz in the world. Kevin Nolan is as solid a Gypsy Jazz rhythm guitarist as they come, and Rick Reed (percussion) and Jason Anick (violin) handle their respective instruments with great aplomb.
One of the Gypsy jazz standards played is Robin Nolan's "Mediterranean Blues". Quite appropriate as the band contained two Robin Nolan trio alumni (Nolan and Planting). On "Billet Doux", "Hungaria" and "Norwegian Dance", John channels the spirit of Django with uncanny precision. The old time standard "Dr. Jazz" features John on reeds and vocals.
Of the 8 Jorgenson Originals, my favorite is " Souvenirs Des Nos Peres", a haunting composition finding John again on reeds. On "Istiqbal Solo" John plays solo guitar, evoking the sound of Django on the "Improvisations".
This album, while offering breathtaking virtuosity and some superb new compositions, breaks little new ground (John does play the Greek Bouzouki, a new instrument for US Gypsy jazz). For fans of the John Jorgenson Quintet it is indispensable. Others may find it superfluous. I have found that non-Gypsy Jazz fans like John Jorgenson better than the European masters. John's musical virtuosity and precision are second to none. John brings his other musical influences (Rock, Country etc.) to the music, which helps outsiders to this music relate, and become drawn in. They don't call John the "US Ambassador of Gypsy Jazz" for naught! John once told me that he never thought that playing Gypsy Jazz would end up being his gig. Lucky for the rest of us it has!
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| Marc Schwartz |
Album Review-One Stolen Night |
John Jorgenson Quintet "One Stolen Night" Not, apparently, closely related to anybody in Nashville by birth, Mr. Jorgenson was, however, a key player, along with Chris Hillman, in the country-chart-topping Desert Rose Band, and regularly pays guitar with Earl Scruggs today. This CD shows off the guitar wizardry that got him there in another context entirely—as a master of the subtleties and rhythmic complexities of Django Reinhardt-inspired "gypsy jazz." He plays clarinet, soprano sax and bouzouki on this one, while he's at it, and his much-lauded jazz quintet proves his match.] |
| Barry Mazor |
CD Review: John Jorgenson "Istiqbal Gathering" |
In 1808, Italian Virtuoso guitarist Mauro Giuliani performed his Concerto No.1, the first modern concerto for guitar and orchestra. This raised the status of the guitar from a parlor instrument to an instrument worthy of respect of the worlds most serious (and respected) musicians. In 1939, Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo penned "Concerto de Aranjuez" the most famous guitar concerto to date. The nylon string classical guitar (Torres guitar) has been elevated to the status of a serious instrument as a result of these seminal compostions.
The Selmer-Macaferri guitar has been seen as an anachronism in the modern guitar world. Most "serious" musicians ( respected jazz and classical authorities) usually classify the Selmac guitar as an unusual instrument used by Django Reinhardt and his modern imitators.
John Jorgenson has changed that with his new release "Istiqbal Gathering". This is a collaboration between John and Orchestra Nashville. This work is the culmination of 7 years of work between John and Orchestra Nashville's conductor, Paul Gambill. This album has four pieces. The first is Concerto Glasso, a 3 part concerto for the Selmac with Orchestra written by John. Make no mistake about it, this ain't "Minor Swing" redone. This is modern Classical music that uses many idiomatic Gypsy guitar elements (one of the parts is in 3/4 time, evoking the traditional "Gypsy Waltz"). The Selmac guitar can finally take its place among its brethern (the Classical guitar) as a serious insrument worthy of the world's attention. Bravo John Jorgenson!
There are three other pieces on the album. "Dieter's Lounge" a Jorgenson piece performed with the Turtle Island Quartet, "Groove in the Louvre" another piece done with the Turtle Island Quartet penned by David Balakrishnan, the founder of the Turtle Island Quartet and the title track, "Istiqbal gethering" another Jorgenson composition that feaures a Cimbalom and violin in addition to the Selmac guitar.
John Jorgenson is one of the world's great guitarists (in any genre) and his Gypsy Jazz chops are up there with the best of them. His virtuosity is amply presented in this work. All fans of great music, especially those with an interest in Gypsy Jazz should check out this work. Most Gypsy jazz recycles that which has previously been done. This album breaks new ground. John dedicated this work to his father, but in some respects, this is a symphony to Django Reinhardt. This album is highly recommended.
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| Marc Schwartz |
John Jorgenson Talks About Django, Telecasters and Disneyland |
The superlatives always fly when guitarists start talking about multi-instrumentalist and guitar master John Jorgenson. Anyone who’s had the good fortune to catch him on tour not only experience an awe-inspiring performance, but also get chance to discover an up tempo level of professionalism coupled with a gentleman who’s easy going and gracious. There’s a chance those of you who went to Disneyland in Anaheim, California a few decades back may have bumped into John or saw him as he performed on the pavement of that epicenter of entertainment ala Americana. He was young, earning his chops and preparing for bigger things. And it didn’t take long for Jorgenson to share the stage with Chris Hilman, who’s time with the Byrds is now legendary. John joined Chris to form The Desert Rose Band and while with them Jorgenson racked up three Academy of Country Music (ACM) awards as “Guitarist of the Year”. He joined forces with Will Ray and Jerry Donahue in the early ’90s to form a trio called The Hellecasters and out of the box, their debut album, Return of the Hellecasters (1993), won Guitar Player Magazine’s “Album of the Year” and “Country Album of the Year” awards. |
| Rick Landers |
Decades after his death, Django Reinhardt is a star |
One of the world's leading proponents of the music of Gypsy jazz innovator Django Reinhardt, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday Saturday, guitarist John Jorgenson offered illuminating anecdotes and back stories about Reinhardt's life and songs when he performed last weekend before an intimate crowd of about 100 people packed into what's normally a guitar showroom at Culver City's Boulevard Music store. "I never thought this was anything I would do for a main gig," said Jorgenson, 53, who spent seven years in the '90s in Elton John's touring band and another half-dozen with Byrds founding member Chris Hillman fronting the Desert Rose Band, the boundary-pushing '80s and '90s country-rock group. "It was what I always did for fun." |
| Randy Lewis |
Legendary Musician John Jorgenson Releases Two New Albums Today: One Stolen Night and Istiqbal Gathering |
As one of the pioneers of American gypsy jazz music, Jorgenson is celebrating the father of gypsy jazz, Django Reinhardt, whose 100th birthday would have been this year, with two album releases and a touring schedule that takes him across the country and across the pond with the John Jorgenson Quintet. Widely known as the "U.S. Ambassador of Gypsy Jazz," Jorgenson has earned a reputation as a world-class musician and guitarist and has collaborated with the likes of Elton John, Luciana Pavarotti, Bonnie Raitt and Bob Dylan. Both new releases see this legendary musician exploring new elements of world music, bluegrass, rock and classical as Jorgenson expands the range of gypsy jazz, captivating and enlightening fellow musicians and listeners along the way. One Stolen Night, Jorgenson's first 2010 release, is the second album credited to the John Jorgenson Quintet, following up on the Billboard Jazz chart success of Ultraspontane. This collection contains a mix of standards and new compositions, with plenty of clarinet and swing, plus a vocal and the addition of the Greek bouzouki into the Quintet's instrumentation. The Quintet recorded all of the tracks in two days using minimal production, resulting in a "live in the studio" sound that is warm, rich and so crisp that it transports the listeners to an intimate private concert. The John Jorgenson Quintet is the only American act to ever headline the prestigious Django Reinhardt Memorial Festival in France, and has been featured at other "Djangofests" in the U.S., UK, Germany and Canada. For the films Gattica and Head in the Clouds Jorgenson was tapped to recreate Django's music, and in the latter he even appeared onscreen as Django with stars Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz. |
| Kissy Black |
Inland Empire Weekly Review |
“Smokin’ hot” has been used to describe John Jorgenson’s playing style over the past couple decades. Now the accomplished guitarist (who’s also proficient on nine other instruments) is literally that... |
| George A. Paul |
Grand Rapids Ballet Company delivers sizzling performance with 'An Evening with John Jorgenson' |
www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/04/grand_rapids_ballet_company_de.html |
| Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk |
Grand Rapids Ballet Company delivers sizzling performance with 'An Evening with John Jorgenson' |
Dance, so they say, is a vertical ex
Certainly that's true when you're participating in the cheeck-to-cheek activity, but it also can be the case when you're only sitting and watching.
Guys in open shirts, gals in halter tops, guitars playing gypsy jazz set the stage for a sizzling evening with Grand Rapids Ballet Company on Friday in Forest Hills Fine Arts Center.
Guitarist John Jorgenson and the John Jorgenson Quintet joined the company for more than two hours of music and movement.
The program recalls past collaborations between GRBC and banjoist Bela Fleck and the Flecktones in DeVos Performance Hall.
4 OUT OF 4 STARS
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| Kim Wynn |
John Jorgenson Quintet review from Anchorage, AK |
Gypsy Jazz Star now turns to Southeast The John Jorgenson Quintet delivered a fantastic Alaska debut performance at the Sydney Laurence Theatre Friday Night... |
| Leland Smith |
Purdue Convocations Rave |
Hi Trish |
| Todd Wetzel - Director |
John Sheffler Rave |
DATE: Wed, 22 Nov 2006
RE: John Jorgenson Trish, This is way after the fact but I feel compelled to write to tell you how much I enjoyed the time spent with John on Nov. 10th. You were right, not only was he a breath-taking musician but one of the nicest people I've ever had the honor to meet. He was very well received by the audience and I know the radio audience will be absolutely amazed at what they'll hear. If there is ever anything that I can do on his behalf, please let me know. I've been promoting concerts here in Michigan since 1979. I have sponsored and recorded over 250 concerts and I would have to put this show in the top three....and would be hard pressed to determine what "edged" this concert out. Thanks again. John Sheffler Director of Radio Central Michigan Public Radio 1999 E. Campus Dr. Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 989-774-3105 |
| John Sheffler - Central Michigan Public Radio |
Y'all Meets Gaul |
| Buzz McClain |
John Jorgenson Quintet Yoshi's Review |
"I've heard a number of sets in the last year by Jorgenson and his impeccable Quintet at Yoshi's. They made me both cheer and cry..." |
| Phil Elwood |
Ultraspontane Review - Etudes Tziganes |
Following the excellent "Franco-American Swing" released in 2003, here is the new CD from The John Jorgenson Quintet, respected session musician with a resume as long as your arm, who is also one of the best representatives of Swing Manouche in America. |
| Francis Couvreux |
Acoustic Guitar Review |
"On One Stolen Night he shows again that there is no one better today at doing justice to the technical mastery, melodic inventiveness, and insouciance that was the great Django Reinhardt." |
| Phil Catalfo |
All Music Guide - One Stolen Night Review |
"This is a powerfully impressive album from a jaw-droppingly versatile artist who has managed to take one of the most venerable jazz traditions and fashion it from something both completely personal and fully faithful to its roots." |
| Rick Anderson |
All Music Guide - Istiqbal Gathering Review |
"Jorgenson is pretty much alone in his willingness and ability to realize this kind of experiment, and both his playing and his expansive creativity make for consistently interesting and frequently gorgeous music." |
| Rick Anderson |
Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange - One Stolen Night Review |
"Hoo-boy! If you like hot jazz, gypsy refrains and Balkan ballads, I've got just the ticket." |
| Mark Tucker |
Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange - Istiqbal Gathering Review |
"You get the best of both worlds here, the classicalist infused with musique moderne, and the modern spiced with classicalism." |
| Mark Tucker |
Maverick |
"Musical magic performed by ten fingers on pieces of wood and steel. Jorgenson's world-wide reputation as an interpreter of Django Reinhardt's gypsy jazz style of guitar playing is second to none." |
| Arthur Wood |
Midwest Record - Istiqbal Gathering Review |
"...this is a wild ride that's hard to pin down as anything except glorious, pure music." |
| Chris Spector |
Midwest Record - One Stolen Night Review |
"The Django vibe seems grafted so deeply into his DNA that you can't call this derivative or anything else that takes away from the power and purity of the playing and writing. A luscious change of pace for people that love massive chops that are understated in their presentation, this is a top shelf adult listening date that will simply blow you away." |
| Chris Spector |
Audiophile Audition - Istiqbal Gathering Review |
"This album breaks new ground." |
| John Sunier |
Green Man Review |
"A wonderful tribute both to Django, who started it all, and Jorgenson, who is keeping it going! Two absolutely gorgeous albums dedicated to 'gypsy jazz' approached in different ways, but both marvelous. John Jorgenson is a treasure." |
| David Kidney |
The Valley Advocate |
"Jorgenson seems to have gotten comfortable incorporating the hallmarks of the style while embracing the sounds that come naturally to him. As a result, his tunes are infused with an easy grace, like he's really at home, on his own terms, in this most demanding of genres." |
| James Heflin |
"What better to honor Django Reinhardt than by offering two releases by the artist who is obviously filling his shoes in the twenty-first century. Both of these albums are equally incredible. One of the most accomplished guitar players ever, Jorgenson is obviously on top of his game at this point in time." |
| Babysue |
Music Web Express 3000 |
"Both CDs stand tall as a testament to Jorgenson's one of a kind guitar talent and technique, while also serving as a tasteful tribute to the amazing guitar legacy of Django Reinhardt." |
| Robert Silverstein |
West Chester Daily Local |
"Whether playing his own accessible compositions or classical standards, Jorgenson and his band make music that is equally romantic and ecstatic, played with virtuosity and soul." |
| Sean Hickey |
Date |
Venue |
Location |
| 06/14/2013 - 06/15/2013 | Djangofest San Francisco | Mill Valley, CA |
| 06/22/2013 | DjangoVegas! | Las Vegas, NV |
| 06/23/2013 | Musical Instrument Museum | Tempe, AZ |
| 07/12/2013 | Mason Park District | Annandale, VA |
| 07/13/2013 | Redwing Roots Music Festival | Mount Solon, VA |
| 07/20/2013 | Castoro Cellars Winery | Templeton, CA |
| 07/21/2013 | Levitt Pavillion for the Performing Arts-Pasadena | Pasadena, CA |
| 07/24/2013 | Music City Roots - Loveless Barn | Nashville, TN |
| 07/25/2013 | Station Inn | Nashville, TN |
| 07/26/2013 | Redfield Auditorium | Woods Hole, MA |
| 07/27/2013 | Ossipee Valley Music Festival | Cornish, ME |
| 08/10/2013 - 08/11/2013 | Guitar Town | Copper Mountain, CO |
| 08/15/2013 | The First Congregational Church of Wellfleet | Wellfleet, MA |
| 08/18/2013 | Riverside Farm Gypsy Jazz Festival | Oakland, ME |
| 09/20/2013 - 09/22/2013 | Djangofest Northwest | Langley, WA |
| 10/25/2013 - 10/27/2013 | SFJazz Center - Miner Auditorium | San Francisco, CA |
| 11/07/2013 | Del Mar Powerhouse | Del Mar, CA |
| 11/08/2013 | Del Mar Powerhouse | Del Mar, CA |
| 11/14/2013 | McMillan Memorial Library | Wisconsin Rapids, WI |
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