En savoir + à propos de mon travail
I have been studying music since I was 3 years old, first by playing the piano, then by playing other keyboards (synthesizers). At the age of 17 I discovered Django Reinhardt and decided to take guitar lessons. The following year I bought my first Selmer type guitar and went to the Django Reinhardt festival in Samois-sur-Seine in 2003-2004 and the following years. I also played other instruments for pleasure (drums, double bass, saxophone, clarinet and trumpet).
Playing the guitar allowed me to play concerts to finance part of my studies. My university studies led me to become Doctor of University (PhD) with my work entitled The Blue Note: Gypsies in the history of Jazz. My academic research is mainly devoted to the migration of Gypsy musicians to the United States in the 19th century and to Gypsy musicians who played jazz before Django Reinhardt. I also had the pleasure of devoting a chapter of my doctoral thesis to the music of Django Reinhardt and in particular to its stylistic originalities.
This website and the videos of Django’s solos are part of this research and allow me to realize a project around my passion for this music.
André Chesnel