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I have been in contact with Spike from the Shadows Club in Perth who informs me that Hank has just returned from a 50th Anniversary Django festival at Samois in France and after playing Shads for the past 9 months or so on Cliff/Shads Tour is just getting back to grips with the Gypsy Swing idiom.He has already had a number of rehearsals with Gary Taylor and will be getting together his quartet with a view to a forthcoming album and TOUR??? How exciting is that?!! Although I am a bonafide Shads and Hank fan,I do also love Hanks style of Gypsy.It is so wonderfully melodic and full of Joie de Vivre as the French say! He also gets a lovely tone with his technique and I think plays the style much sweeter than some of the more frenetic players.If you want to hear a wonderful example of his playing,check out the Que Cumbar Patrons album at Leos Den.If you like this,you will also like Jon Jorgensons album Franco American swing on which he does an amazing Gypsy jazz version of Man of Mystery.If any one else hears any info about Hanks album etc I would be grateful to hear from them

Hi Stuart there is a Very busy Jazz/Acoustics scene here in Scarborough...currently lot of interest...they would go down well..... nice venue would be Stephen Joseph's Theatre in The Round in the centre of the town...all sounds interesting they may not cross the water this way.. sounds promising thanks for posting

stuartcosgrove wrote:I have been in contact with Spike from the Shadows Club in Perth who informs me that Hank has just returned from a 50th Anniversary Django festival at Samois in France

He was indeed there (this was a month ago), as he usually does every year for the Gipsy guitar Festival in Samois.
This year's Festival was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Django Reinhardt's birthday.

Didier

Sorry Didier ,I should have realised it was Djangos 100th anniversary not 50th as stated

I do hope that Hank manages to bring Gypsy jazz to a wider audience.I love anything with a good melody and rhythm which is what brought me to fall in love with the Shadows music as well as the sound created by Hank and of course the rest of the band. I think this could also be the case with this music as Hank gets a wonderful tone from the acoustic and also has a lovely vibrato technique even without the tremolo.Couple this with the driving La Pompe rhythm of Gary Taylor and you could have the makings of a new chapter in Hanks career.Every one I have spoken to in Oz who have seen Hanks quartet play live all agree.Heres to the next installment in Hanks career!!!

Hank Marvin last month in Samois :



Didier

What a pity Hank did not stop by in my home region (La Rioja, Spain) where there was a Jazz Festival two weeks ago, which included a superb concert playing tribute to Django:

http://www.jazzdezcaray.com/?p=301

Thanks for posting the video, Didier. I am also getting interested in this kind of music little by little ...

Cheers,
Ramon.

Ramon wrote:Thanks for posting the video, Didier. I am also getting interested in this kind of music little by little ...

I wasn't there, it's a video which I found on Youtube. Samois is about 50 miles south-east from Paris. Django bought a house there in 1951 and he lived in Samois until his sudden death from brain hemorrhage in 1953 (he was only 43).
The Festival takes place every year in late June since 1978, and Hank has been seen there each time in recent years.
http://www.festivaldjangoreinhardt.com/ ... p?&lang=en

Didier