Django Festival Allstars and Edmar Castañeda

An unforgettable night of jazz and world music featuring two incredible artists from across the globe!

“Sensational… Standout performance… Hardest swinging band at the Newport Jazz Festival.” (Downbeat)

The Django Festival Allstars bring the music of the legendary jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt fully into the 21st century. Their unique, high-energy performances pay tribute to Reinhardt who is considered one of the greatest guitar players of all time. Reinhardt’s driving, swinging style became known as “hot jazz” and it continues to grow in popularity throughout the world, in great part to the success of the Django Festival Allstars, who honour the traditions of the music, adding their own interpretations, arrangements, and original compositions with stunning virtuosity.

This internationally renowned group prominently features one of Europe’s greatest musical families: guitarist/violinist Dorado Schmitt and his two sons, Samson and Amati. The band also features virtuoso violinist Pierre Blanchard, with DouDou Cuillerier and Francko Mehrstein on rhythm guitar, and Antonio Licusati and Gino Roman on bass.

Latin Grammy Award nominated Colombian-born Edmar Castañeda has made a name for himself as the preeminent jazz harp virtuoso. A master at realizing beautiful complexities of time, while skillfully drawing out lush colors and dynamic spirit, the legendary Paquito D’Rivera, Castañeda’s frequent collaborator, has remarked, “Edmar is…an enormous talent, he has the versatility and the enchanting charisma of a musician who has taken his harp out of the shadow to become one of the most original musicians from the Big Apple.” Singlehandedly, Castañeda has cemented the harp’s place in jazz with innovative technique and heartfelt creativity from a wealth of formidable collaborations with music titans such as Sting, Bela Fleck, John Scofield, Ricki Lee Jones, Hiromi, John Patitucci, Pedrito Martinez, Marcus Miller, and more.

“His amazing technique…raises the bar for every harpist.” (NPR)

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