Tatiana Eva-Marie - Djangology (2024)

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Tatiana Eva-Marie - Djangology (2024)

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“I grew up in the jazz Manouche circles, which are dominated by swarms of guitarists – it’s not always easy to fit in as a singer! Most of the music has no lyrics, and the melodies are often too guitaristique to be sung. The microcosm fascinated me and I too wanted to participate in the Django repertoire… I saw only one option: I had to write my own lyrics, tell my own stories, reinvent his music in my own image.”

Tatiana Eva-Marie’s new project celebrates the music of guitarist Django Reinhardt, the inventor of Gypsy Jazz. Instead of focusing on Django the guitar wizard and the emblematic style of playing that he created, her latest album “Djangology” highlights the music of Django the composer, and asks: “What if Django had composed his music for me to sing? What would that sound like?”

Tatiana had long been enchanted by the world of Gypsy jazz, regularly hanging out at Manouche jam sessions as an adolescent in Paris. “All these young bohemian boys with their toys, impressing each other with their fast licks, trading guitar picks… it was adorable!” But the idea of participating in the Django repertoire only came to her years later on a trip to Paris, when she met violinist Daniel Garlitsky and guitarist Duved Dunayevsky. There was an instant spark of friendship. They started frolicking around town, while playing together extensively, and quickly recorded an album of original music that featured Tatiana’s lyrics. She had always been quite shy about her writing endeavors, and she suddenly felt inspired and confident. “Then I thought… all those Django tunes I’ve loved all my life… why not write some lyrics to that!”

And then the pandemic happened. Tatiana decided to use that suspension in time to imagine what a ‘Django songbook” would look like. She tried to imagine the stories behind the melodies, the moods they conveyed. “Some of the songs I basically left intact, but some others just seemed too eager to become a Bossa, or be slowed down, or dance over new harmonies… I couldn’t ignore their wishes.”

Through lyrics in English, French, Romanian, and Rromanes (the Gypsy language), Tatiana shares – with humor and poetry – impressions of her journey from the dark alleys of the Latin Quarter to the chic New York society salons. “It is not only a tribute to Django Reinhardt, but also a love letter to Paris. Eternal Paris. The crossroads of the world, where misfits of every culture and background sought a fantastical harbor from the too-harsh realities of life. The city of lights and dark alleys, of bohemians and lost boys, a city that has kept on existing despite everyone’s attempt to mythicize it. These songs are like new wave short films – fables, observations, and lessons I’ve learned, it seems, always with the music of Django as my soundtrack.”