| Jazz manouche |
When Django Meets Miles: The Django Festival Allstars Reinvent Gypsy Jazz for the 21st Century
I am not usually impressed by albums of this kind. Too often, they lean on nostalgia or virtuosity as an end in itself. Here, however, the Django Festival Allstars make a compelling case for something far more ambitious. The sheer quality of the musicianship, paired with unusually thoughtful and forward-looking arrangements, elevates this recording into a work of genuine distinction, situated between Gypsy jazz and folk-jazz, and shaped into a form of fusion that feels both graceful and purposeful.
At its core, the Django Festival Allstars represent a modern answer to a historic question: what does Gypsy jazz sound like when it refuses to fossilize? Founded in 2002 and led until 2018 by the Gypsy jazz legend Dorado Schmitt, the ensemble stands as a 21st-century response to the revolutionary Hot Jazz forged by Sinti guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli with the Quintette du Hot Club de France, whose sound captivated Paris in the 1930s and 1940s. That earlier movement marked Europe’s first true reply to American jazz, a dialogue across the Atlantic that continues, in refined form, with the Allstars today.
Ludovic Beier, founding member and de facto spokesperson for the group, puts it plainly: “Reinhardt’s Hot Gypsy Jazz was Europe’s first response to American jazz. We respect Django’s immense legacy while allowing the music to evolve, exactly as Django himself would have wanted.”
That philosophy is audible throughout Evolution, an album shaped through dozens of live performances before the group entered the studio in 2024. The result is not merely polished but deeply internalized. The Allstars play with a conviction that recalls why jazz singer and drummer Grady Tate once remarked of them: “These are true masters of the stage, capable of accomplishing the impossible on their instruments.” If anything, the album suggests that Tate’s praise underestimated the scope of their ambition.
What distinguishes this project is not only its technical brilliance but its refusal to stay within stylistic borders. The group reinvents both form and substance, drawing inspiration as readily from Argentine music as from swing, bebop, cool jazz, and even hints of jazz-rock. The listener is continually surprised by a sonic palette that refreshes the genre without betraying its roots. This stands in stark contrast to the commercially driven Gypsy jazz groups that proliferated in the 1990s and early 2000s. Here, the music is guided by reflection rather than formula.
That reflection translates into arrangements of rare quality, modern, layered, and unusually deep for a style that has too often relied on tradition alone. In that sense, Evolution addresses what has long been missing from this music: a willingness to interrogate its own language and expand it without losing its identity.
The personnel assembled for this project only strengthen that vision. Samson Schmitt, an exceptional lead guitarist who has inherited the mantle of his father, combines fire with restraint. Ludovic Beier proves himself a singular improvisational voice on accordion and accordina. Violinist Pierre Blanchard, who joined the group in 2006, brings a breadth of stylistic fluency that allows the music to move seamlessly across genres. Together, the soloists navigate harmonic shifts with impeccable articulation, narrative expressiveness, and structural clarity.
They are supported by a rhythm section of uncommon authority: bassist Antonio Licusati, whose expansive tone anchors the ensemble, and rhythm guitarist Francko “Locomotive” Mehrstein, a cousin of Schmitt, whose propulsion generates an irresistible swing. The collective harmonization is subtle yet powerful, underscoring a group aesthetic that privileges cohesion over individual display.
“We play fast and loud, not out of competition, but because it’s part of our aesthetic,” Beier explains. “The Gypsy essence is always present, but our 21st-century experience is just as essential.” On tracks like Swing and Ready, a traditional theme is reframed through a modal approach to soloing, balancing swing-era roots and Gypsy heritage while introducing new phrasing drawn from bebop and cool jazz, occasionally flirting with jazz-rock textures.
For the Allstars, this synthesis defines the very idea of Evolution. As Beier memorably puts it: “Django meets Miles, Charlie, and Herbie at a party hosted by the Allstars.” It is an image that captures the project’s spirit with unusual precision.
Beyond the undeniable artistic performance lies an intellectual engagement with the music itself, an inquiry into what Gypsy jazz is and what it must become if it is to remain vital. Such an ability to renew oneself is the hallmark of the greatest artists. The obvious comparison is Miles Davis, whose multiple creative reinventions reshaped jazz repeatedly over the course of a single lifetime. While Davis was a singular case, the Allstars operate in that same spirit of restless evolution.
The Django Festival Allstars thus represent more than an accomplished ensemble. They embody a renaissance of a style and a reawakening of an art form, delivered with a sensitivity that is likely to move listeners through the sheer quality of its interpretations. Over the years, dozens of major jazz figures have collaborated with the Allstars at the Birdland festival, among them Grady Tate, James Carter, Randy Brecker, Cyrille Aimée, and Madeleine Peyroux. After hearing Evolution, it becomes abundantly clear why so many artists have been drawn into their orbit.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, February 2nd 2026
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This high-octane and dazzling audiophile studio album of memorable new gypsy jazz compositions celebrates 25 Years of the historic Django Reinhardt NY Festival from which the Allstars emerged in 2002. One of the most thrilling groups in jazz, the Allstars honor and expand the legacy of Reinhardt & Grappelli’s ‘Gypsy Swing’, which became the rage of Paris in the 1930s and ‘40s and has recently resurged in popularity. Allstars anchors Samson Schmitt (guitar), Ludovic Beier (accordion/accordina), and Pierre Blanchard (violin) shine in the ensemble and as composers and featured soloists.
Releases February 13, 2026
Artists:
Samson Schmitt – Lead Guitar
Ludovic Beier – Accordion, Accordina
Pierre Blanchard – Violin
Francko Mehrstein– Rhythm Guitar
Antonio Licusati – Double Bass
Track Listing:
Rire avec Charlie
El Destino
Casse Noisette
Balkanic Dance
Around Toots
Lovely Wife
Swing and Ready
Nothing But Kind
Sunshine In My Heart
Piazza Italia
Dorado’s Smile
Stenli