Young French gypsies keep Django flame alive

Hear gypsy kids who play like Django in bars around Paris. They describe how they take a guitar and Django records into their caravans to try, for hours and hours, to copy the way he played. They describe how Django stayed faithful to his gypsy roots: he lived in a caravan and always refused to compromise his freedom. Like when he blew out a sell-out concert at Carnaigie Hall because "he didn't feel like playing". The star gypsy guitarist Bireli Lagrene says why, after years playing contemporary jazz, he's returned to the music of his roots and how Django, the most famous 'Manouche' (i.e. French) gypsy ever, has become a figurehead for their community. This trip to Paris, full of music from the new players and their hero, provides a new take on this great jazz guitarist and his significance for gypsies today. Suggested introduction: There aren’t too many European jazz men that get called “the greatest” but the gypsy pioneer of jazz guitar Django Reinhardt is undoubtably one of them. Now, half a century after he died, French bars and cafés are bobbing along to a new generation of French gypsies or ‘Manouches’ inspired by Django, the violinist Stéphane Grappelli and the Hot Club of France. This report from John Laurenson begins in one of a number of Paris venues where Django’s music is still thriving... Take a listen!