On Saturday 12th May Theatr Mwldan, Cardigan, welcomes a quintet which brings together on tour for the first time three giants of Western European Gypsy music. Fapy Lafertin and Lollo Meier are arguably the two true ambassadors of the legacy of Django Reinhardt and have seduced audiences worldwide with their interpretation of Django’s music.
Fapy Lafertin was born in Courtraie (Belgium) into the Manouche gypsy community. From a very young age he played all kinds of instruments. He started playing Hot Club de France repertoire with the Piotto orchestra, and in the seventies and early eighties he starred in the group WASO with Coen de Cauter, which was so succesful it popularized Django’s Hot Club Jazz worldwide.
Lafertin has also co-starred with Charlie Byrd, Scott Hamilton, Al Casey, Benny Waters, Milt Hinton and Stéphane Grappelli. Highly regarded as an authority in the jazz world, in 1985 he started his own Quintet in The Netherlands, inspired on the sound of Django Reinhardt’s famous 1930s group. The Lafertin Quintet featured various well-known Dutch artists such as Rudi Brink and Joop Hendrickx. Since 2001, Fapy has taken up his old love: the Portugese 12-string guitarra.
Raised on Gypsy swing from an early age, Lollo Meier is a guitar master, composer, bandleader and arranger. Lollo comes from an elite family of Gypsy players and is cousin to the great Fapy Lafertin and Stochelo Rosenberg. His goal: to carry on the music of Django, with a style and technique that’s traditional, melodious, lyrical, sensitive and joyful. His mellifluous compositions have a refreshing authentic Django flavour and are played with extraordinary talent, unique style and amazing suppleness that clearly reflects that he makes music he loves. His Quartet is sought after around the globe for private functions and renowned jazz festivals, famous for playing lesser known Django tunes and his own compositions.
A man of style, grace and humour, Lollo’s pure melodious playing touches his audiences and makes Django’s music as fresh today as it was 80 years ago. A remarkable man, with a remarkable style of playing.
Multi-instrumentalist Tcha Limberger is a phenomenon who defies any reasonable description. He’s toured the world recently as a composer, a guitarist, and violinist, and has played Mwldan several times in the past – each time meeting with a phenomenal response from audiences here in Cardigan. He is known for his affecting performances notably with his Budapest Gypsy Orchestra.
Completing this amazing quintet, Dave Kelbie and Andy Crowdy are the Jaguar and Rolls Royce of British rhythm sections!
This is one line up you really will not want to miss – exceptional world-class musicians on a once in a lifetime tour! Tickets are £15 (£14) and are available to book now from the Box Office on 01239 621200, online at www.mwldan.co.uk, or via SmartPhones by visiting mwldan.ticketsolve.com/mobile.
