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Django’s Birthday Party with Ranger & The “Re-Arrangers”
January 21, 2023 @ 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
21-and-overFree Admission! Donations Encouraged. Come Early for Best Seats!
Ring in the New Year with Bainbridge Island favorites Ranger & The “Re-Arrangers” as they throw their annual Django Reinhardt Birthday Bash!
Ranger & the “Re-Arrangers” evoke the spirit of a Paris cafe and the raucous energy of a Romani campsite with their version of Hot Club Swing. Also called Gypsy Jazz, the genre is named after the Quintet of the Hot Club of France. In the 1930’s guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli blended their own musical legacies with the new American art form of jazz. Their recordings soon brought international fame to the new genre. Hot Club Swing is characterized by upbeat, high-energy swing on acoustic instruments, especially guitar, violin, bass, clarinet, and accordion.
“At the heart of their sound is Ranger Sciacca’s sweet violin playing… his sense of melody and daring improvisations” (World Rhythm).
The band’s repertoire includes swing standards, traditional European melodies, Ranger’s unique originals, and of course, the music of Django Reinhardt.
Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt was born on January 10, 1910, in a gypsy caravan on the outskirts of Paris. He got his own instrument, a six-string banjo-guitar, when he was 12. On October, 1928, Django was severely burned, his left hand maimed in a caravan fire. During many months of recuperation he taught himself to play again using primarily the index and third fingers of his left hand.
In 1934 the guitarist met violinist Stephane Grappelli who was to become his musical partner for some 15 years in Le Quintette du Hot Club de France. Grappelli is quoted as saying, “My life started when I met Django. I realized when I was with him we produced something extraordinary.” During his career he played with many famous American musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Django suffered a stroke and died on May 16, 1953, just 43 years old.
Ranger and the “Re-Arrangers”
Ranger and his father Michael formed the band in 2006, after a pilgrimage to the world’s foremost Hot Club Swing event, the Django Reinhardt festival in Samois Sur Seine, France. The band has now released 4 CDs and performs over 100 times each year at music festivals, concerts in the park, swing dances, weddings and events of all sorts.
Ranger began playing violin at the age of six. He divided his studies between old-time fiddle and classical violin until a chance encounter with a CD of violin jazz ignited his interest in the music of Joe Venuti, Stuff Smith, Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt. Ranger draws inspiration from all the genres he has studied, and, according to one reviewer, “plays it like the old kings of swing jazz did”.
Mike Sciacca is Ranger’s father, and has been backing up Ranger on guitar for over 15 years. Ranger and Mike are descended from Sicilian immigrants, who played jazz in New York at the start of the 20th century.
Dave Stewart performs on the 5 string electric mandolin, tenor guitar, and traditional mandolin. He’s also a tremendous vocalist, lending his silky-smooth voice to swing standards!
Mick Nicholson played bass for 11 years with the US Navy Band in Washington, D.C. He has toured extensively throughout the world and has performed for three sitting presidents and countless heads of state.
Jeffrey Moose was born in Mexico and raised in West Africa. He is loved for his creative, high-energy percussion and playful vocal performances. He is the director of the Jeffrey Moose Gallery on Bainbridge Island, WA.