French Gypsy Jazz

The Arts Council of Cebu Foundation, Inc., Les Amis de la France, SM City Cebu and Marco Polo Plaza Hotel present a night of French Gypsy Jazz featuring the famous Ferré brothers, Boulou and Elios on May 30, 2008 (Friday) at SM Theater One.

Boulou Ferré’s hands read like a resume. His fingers tell of his four decades of playing Gypsy swing and cutting-edge jazz guitar: Each finger of his left hand is wider at the tip than at the base, ending in blunt, thick calluses that are as leathery and hard as a drumhead. These calluses are a testament to the life of an artist, who was inspired to play guitar since he was seven.

Today, Boulou is in his late forties and still playing guitar with an inspired ferocity. Alongside his younger brother, Elios, the duo have been an inseparable team, releasing numerous albums of primarily acoustic jazz, influenced equally by the traditions of jazz manouche and be-bop, by Django Reinhardt and Charlie Parker.

The brothers Ferré are descendants of what is probably the greatest family dynasty of guitarists ever. Along with their father, their uncles, Baro and Sarane Ferret, were also guitar players. A driving force in the development of the fabulous French musette music, Matelo and Baro went on to play guitar with Django in his Hot Club quintet; as one of Django’s rhythm guitarists, Baro appeared on dozens of Hot Club sides.

European Gypsy families have long encouraged their children to excel at music. In the days when Gypsy families traveled by caravan, many children never went to school, instead learning the ways of the world from their elders. With a long tradition of music behind them, there have been numerous Gypsy child guitar prodigies, from Django, who played banjo in the Paris night clubs as a youth, to the Ferré brothers, Bireli Lagrene, and on to a new generation in Stochelo Rosenberg of the Rosenberg Trio and his cousin Jimmy Rosenberg of Sinti fame.

Boulou was born in 1951, and took up guitar at age seven under his father’s tutelage. Elios was born in 1956, and followed in his brother’s footsteps. And while their father’s generation spelled the family name “Ferret,” the brothers modernized the spelling to “Ferré.”

Like their father and uncles, the brothers were inspired by Django’s music: “Django was a guru for all of us,” as Boulou said. “A master. . . we listened to him all the time—it’s part of our history, our world, our culture, our lifestyle.” In fact, Django may be even more than that: For a people spread throughout the world in a diaspora with no government, no homeland, and no promised land, Django is one of the few Gypsy heroes, a cultural icon, especially to European Gypsies.

Along with Django’s music, Boulou was also inspired by that of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He listened to their records, transcribed their solos, and added the be-bop sensibility to the music of his father. “Our father told us he was going to teach us the history of jazz, and not only swing,” Boulou remembers.

When he was 13, Boulou played at the Antibes–Juan Les Pins Jazz Festival, trading lines with John Coltrane. After his set, the youthful Gypsy guitarist cornered the veteran African-American saxophone giant and queried him with his few words of English, “‘Is it good what I am doing?’” Boulou remembers asking. “And he said to me, ‘You must continue playing with your passion.’ He gave me phrases to play, and all my life I have continued playing them.”

Elios shared his brother’s passions but was also enamored with the other strain of Gypsy guitar, flamenco. He too entered the Conservatoire, receiving classical training as well as studying with flamenco master Francisco Gil. Elios gave his first concert when he was 13.

In 1969, Elios became entranced by Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced?, but even melding all of these disparate influences, it was still through Django that the Ferré brothers saw the world of music. As Elios says, speaking first in French, then switching to English to emphasize his point: “Django Reinhardt is the greatest guitarist in the world. I like all of the famous American and English guitarists, but my hero is Django, all of my life.”

The performance of the Ferré brothers is open free to the general public through the generous support and assistance of the following friends and sponsors of Arts Council of Cebu and Les Amis de la France: UBS, Equipment Technical Services, Nito’s Auto Supply, Dr. Efthimiou Hippocrates, Dr. Ma. Antoinette Mendoza, Dr. Don Edward Roselo, Dr. Richard Sia and Dr. Manuel Villamor. Reservations may be made at the Arts Council Office at tel. nos. 233-0452 and 233-0236.