Originally aired March 1, 2007.
Tom Fudge: One of the giants of jazz was a French Gypsy named Django Reinhardt. Django more or less defined the sound of jazz played on the acoustic guitar. Today, there are many guitarists who play in that style. And one of the very best is John Jorgenson.
John has played many styles of music. But he's best known as a jazz guitarist. This evening he'll be playing in San Diego at Dizzy's downtown. He joins me now, live in studio, along with Charlie Chadwick on the bass and Stephan Dudash on the violin. I'm going to have a little chat with John later. But first, here he is performing El Camino del Che.
The John Jorgenson Quintet plays Thursday at 8 p.m. at Dizzy's in downtown San Diego. You can also see them this weekend at Djangofest LA in Laguna Beach. The quintet's latest CD can be purchased on John's website:
http://www.johnjorgenson.com/
Guests
- John Jorgenson, a renowned guitarist who has played with the likes of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and toured with Elton John for six years. He is considered a pioneer in the American gypsy jazz movement and even played Django Reinhardt on film. His gypsy jazz band is called the John Jorgenson Quintet.
- Charlie Chadwick , the bassist for the John Jorgenson Quintet.
- Stephan Dudash , part of the Quintet and today plays 5-string viola. He also plays guitar, bass, congas, mandolin and the violin.
(Photo: Members of the John Jorgenson Quintet perform in the KPBS Performance Studio live on These Days , Nathan Gibbs/KPBS ) | (Photo: John Jorgensen performs on guitar, Nathan Gibbs/KPBS ) | (Photo: Stephan Dudash performs on 5-string viola, Nathan Gibbs/KPBS ) |
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(Photo: Charlie Chadwick performs on bass, Nathan Gibbs/KPBS ) |
Music Clip 1:
El Camino del Che
by John Jorgenson Quintet, Live in Studio (2007)
Music Clip 2: "Direct Call" by John Jorgenson Quintet, Live in Studio (2007)
Music Clip 3: Don't Worry About Me by John Jorgenson Quintet (with Beryl Davis), from the album Ultraspontane (2006)
Music Clip 4:
G-Funk
by John Jorgenson Quintet, Live in Studio (2007)
Music Clip 5:
Ultraspontane
by John Jorgenson Quintet, Live in Studio (2007)
End Music:
Improvisation #2
by John Jorgenson Quintet, from the album
Ultraspontane
(2006)