Django Reinhardt Festival brings celebration of French Romani jazz to Ann Arbor

This story is part of a series about arts and culture in Washtenaw County. It is made possible by the Ann Arbor Art Center, the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, Destination Ann Arbor, Larry and Lucie Nisson, and the University Musical Society.

What Andrew Brown loves most about Django Reinhardt’s music, and the French Romani musical style Reinhardt inspired, is "its unbridled, joyous, infectious energy."
 
Brown is the founder and lead guitarist of the Ann Arbor-based band Djangophonique, but more recently, he also founded the Django Reinhardt Festival, which will return for a second year at 8 p.m. on Sept. 7 at the Ark.
 
Brown says he "fell in love" with both Reinhardt's music and the "legacy and lineage" it created. He says jazz manouche, the genre of jazz associated with Reinhardt, is "really a social music" in the same way that "swing dancing is a social dance" – something to appreciate and celebrate with others. That’s why it’s best experienced live, in a crowd.
 
It’s also why Brown, who says his "long-term game is to eventually build a Django Reinhardt scene in Michigan and [put] it on the map," has begun hosting an annual show around Reinhardt’s birthday, which falls in January.
 
"People really dig it," Brown says of both the Django Reinhardt Festival and the birthday show. He adds that the events are "fun and collaborative and make a really great experience for the audience."
 
Brown says creating the events was a "no-brainer," catalyzed by his "love of the music and wanting to share it with folks."
 
This year's Django Reinhardt Festival will be split into a series of "chapters," Brown says, with various musicians "flowing in and out" in a kind of "rotating cast."
 
While Djangophonique will serve as the evening's host band, guest performers will include Erik McIntyre, one of Djangophonique’s original guitarists. Brown compares McIntyre's style to that of Eddie Lang, an American musician who Brown says is widely known for "popularizing the guitar as a lead instrument." The event will also feature Christo Ruppenthal, who Brown says "blends the music of Django Reinhardt and Hawaiian steel guitar."
 
Brown sees the Django Reinhardt Festival "turning [more] people on to this [style of] music," but says it also gives him "a platform to showcase some of the other musicians from abroad and the area that … have their own different take and angle on this music."
 
In the future, Brown says he might like to expand the festival into a multi-day event with workshops and jam sessions as well as concerts. But he’s got other plans in mind, too.
 
This winter, Djangophonique, which added vocalist Katie Smith to its lineup just over a year ago, plans to take some time off from "running around and gigging all the time" to work on a new album, Brown says.
 
The band’s first studio album, "Introducing Djangophonique," won big at Grand Rapids radio station 88.1 FM WYCE's Jammie awards, which honor Michigan musicians. The record won the Jammies' 2023 Best Jazz Album, the Traditions Award, and Artist of the Year.
 
Tickets to the Django Reinhardt Festival are available here. A teaser for the event is available here.

Natalia Holtzman is a freelance writer based in Ann Arbor. Her work has appeared in publications such as the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, The Millions, and others.