constant try to improve your playing. You listen to Django
Reinhardt’s music: LP's, music cassettes, and you practise,
practise, practise… We don't study at the conservatory.
It is taught from father to son, from uncle to nephew. My
family is the inspiration. My family is, in fact, the essence
of gypsy swing. And Django Reinhardt was a gypsy (Sinto)
as well.
Have any of you ever taken time to fall in love with gypsy jazz? Or was
it a matter of immediate ardor?
I told you it’s our way of life. It’s different for accordionist
Dominique Paats .Mainly a great Sinti guitarist and teacher
Wasso Grünholz influenced our musical development. I
listened to him by crawling under his caravan, listening to
the most beautiful tunes. Then I ran to our own caravan and
tried to copy what I heard. Of course I often watched him
play and also asked him many questions.
I didn't need outside motivation. For my family and for
me making music is a given. It is a form of happiness you
simply can't avoid.
Most important was the day Wasso said: ‘Now I want to
hear Paulus!'
He stimulated me to find my own style. Stochelo
Rosenberg opened the doors to the world with his music,
and he showed us that the Dutch gypsy jazz style is being
appreciated everywhere. That encouraged me to also put
myself out there and start my own band. That is also how
Mozes Rosenberg found his way into jazz. Of course, his
brother world-famous Stochelo Rosenberg was also a great
inspiration and teacher.
How long has the band been together?
We have been playing together for many years.Noah is
my sister’s son. Mozes Rosenberg is my nephew and lives
a few miles away from me. We know each other very
well. The encounter with Dominique was spontaneous
in Maastricht at the end of 2012and blazed from the very
beginning. With him I have pure freedom to play and enjoy
my music. It happens intuitively and with so much ease. We
communicate with our instruments, whip each other in a
musical game - always with respect for one other.
Where does your music come from? Do you convey personal emotion?
Or are you seeking to honor the sentiments of the masters who
created the music?
Most important is that the music comes straight from our
hearts. The challenge is just you yourself! You can either
make it or break it.
As I said before, it is a natural process, in which you find
your own style step by step. Unthinkingly copying other
musicians is not my thing. The greatest challenge is to
be yourself and develop your own style. Like Wassohad
challenged me: ‘Now I want to hear Paulus!'
Throughout the years not so much has changed. It is a
natural process, like the lifestyle of our community that
develops in a natural way as well. In our musical style
nothing revolutionary has happened. I often wondered
though, how would it be if Django was still alive? Of
course, I do get influenced from outside as well, without
being aware of it; it just happens.
What aspect of one's personality disqualifies someone from playing/
understanding gypsy jazz?
It’s so difficult to answer this question. It’s so personal.
I would say let it happen. I don’t want to disqualify a
musician as well.
Tell us your origin story.
My journey is our journey. The journey of the Sinti:
LatchoDrom. A long travel.
We just look at today; tomorrow is another day. We'll see
where we will be playing then. We, all of us, are modest
when it comes to thinking about that. What people
remember is not us, but our music.
As you know our roots are in India. We think near the
river Sindh. The LatchoDrom brought us to Western
Europe: The Netherlands.
Everyone knows Django, but how often do you come across people who
know about the likes of Tchavolo and Dorado Schmitt?
The Sinti know all the great gypsy jazz musicians like
Tchavolo and Dorado Schmitt, Bireli Lagrene, Stochelo
Rosenberg, Fapy Lafertin etc. I think inside the gypsy jazz
scene everybody knows these names.
What do you think about the term "gypsy" in gypsy jazz? Do you think it
carries a racial charge?
Gypsy jazz is a style of jazz. Never before I have had any
idea that it is racist, intended or felt as such.
Tell us about the instruments, especially the guitar. Who crafted it? How
closely did you work with them?
All my guitars are handcrafted by a Luthier. I’m playing
in Mumbai on my JWC guitar build by Jeongwoo Cho. For
me it’s important that the luthier designed the neck on my
special wishes.
Of course you talk several times with him to get it custom-
made and of course it must have a warm sound. Mozes is
playing on a Czech guitar build by luthier VitCach.
What’s in store for your gig in December? What can we expect from
your set list?
I will tell you about my latest album. It’s called 'Letter to Van
Gogh'. The painter Vincent van Gogh has lived in my village,
Nuenen, for a number of years. He was an outsider, and in
the time he lived here he made that famous painting, The
Potato Eaters. It is a dark canvas of very poor farmers, quite
depressing. When he moved to France he met other artists
and his work becomes an explosion of colour.
The Sinti to this day are still outsiders. Collaborating with
other musicians certainly has brought more colour to my
style. On this CD - all original compositions - I have the
privilege to play with outstanding musicians, like Stochelo
Rosenberg, Peter Beets, TchaLimberger, Jan Kuiper and
Dominique Paats. This is my musical letter to Van Gogh!
I will bring the CD and play a few tunes from it.
Our setlist we will make just before the concert like we
always do. Classics of Django Reinhardt of course, the Great
American Songbook and our own original compositions.
The
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