Biography
Many view Django Reinhardt’s enduring influence as little more than a charming relic of 1930s and ’40s Parisian café jazz, yet that influence persists through guitarists such as Boulou Ferré. Born in Paris in 1951, just two years prior to Reinhardt’s passing, Ferré maintained a direct tie to the earlier era: his father, Pierre “Matelot” Ferret (1918-1989), and his uncle, Baro Ferret (1908-1976), both performed alongside Reinhardt in the Quintet of the Hot Club of France. “The link between Django and my family is an artistic one,” Ferré has said. “Django, with my father and my uncles, was a bit like the Pope and his bishops. Something like a trinity, religious and ritualistic.” His younger brother, Elios Ferré (b. 1956), likewise emerged as a respected guitarist.
Ferré began formal guitar study in childhood and, by age seven, was already adapting Charlie Parker solos to the instrument. He made his concert debut at eight and released his first album under his own name at twelve. Early recordings drew praise, much as Bireli Lagrene’s work would later, for their close resemblance to Reinhardt’s approach. In 1963 he entered the Conservatoire National de Paris, where he pursued classical training for several years. At thirteen he appeared with John Coltrane at the Antibes–Juan Les Pins Jazz Festival; afterward he met the saxophonist, who, despite Ferré’s limited English, demonstrated several musical phrases.
In 1978 the brothers formed a duo that toured and issued numerous recordings across three decades, among them Pour Django and Relax & Enjoy, the latter credited to the Boulou Ferré Quartet. Although both players preferred the compact Selmer acoustic guitars their father had used with the Hot Club of France, they explored electric instruments on New York, New York. “You must learn to play acoustic guitar first,” noted Ferré. “But electric guitar is also great because it allows you more coloring to your music.” Additional collaborations include the album Three of a Kind, recorded with Babik Reinhardt—Django Reinhardt’s son—and Christian Escoude.
Ferré’s playing rests on a firm Reinhardt foundation yet extends the original Hot Club idiom in unexpected ways: he rarely adopts the characteristic “boom-chucka-boom-chucka” rhythm-section pulse and avoids hurrying his solos. Reinhardt nevertheless remained central to his conception of jazz guitar. “Django was a guru for all of us,” he has said. “A master...we listened to him all the time—it’s part of our history, our world, our culture, our lifestyle.” Beyond that core influence, Ferré draws from an unusually wide range of sources. “If I was stuck on a desert island with my heroes,” he has remarked, “there would be four: Mozart, Handel, Shakespeare, and Django.”
Ferré began formal guitar study in childhood and, by age seven, was already adapting Charlie Parker solos to the instrument. He made his concert debut at eight and released his first album under his own name at twelve. Early recordings drew praise, much as Bireli Lagrene’s work would later, for their close resemblance to Reinhardt’s approach. In 1963 he entered the Conservatoire National de Paris, where he pursued classical training for several years. At thirteen he appeared with John Coltrane at the Antibes–Juan Les Pins Jazz Festival; afterward he met the saxophonist, who, despite Ferré’s limited English, demonstrated several musical phrases.
In 1978 the brothers formed a duo that toured and issued numerous recordings across three decades, among them Pour Django and Relax & Enjoy, the latter credited to the Boulou Ferré Quartet. Although both players preferred the compact Selmer acoustic guitars their father had used with the Hot Club of France, they explored electric instruments on New York, New York. “You must learn to play acoustic guitar first,” noted Ferré. “But electric guitar is also great because it allows you more coloring to your music.” Additional collaborations include the album Three of a Kind, recorded with Babik Reinhardt—Django Reinhardt’s son—and Christian Escoude.
Ferré’s playing rests on a firm Reinhardt foundation yet extends the original Hot Club idiom in unexpected ways: he rarely adopts the characteristic “boom-chucka-boom-chucka” rhythm-section pulse and avoids hurrying his solos. Reinhardt nevertheless remained central to his conception of jazz guitar. “Django was a guru for all of us,” he has said. “A master...we listened to him all the time—it’s part of our history, our world, our culture, our lifestyle.” Beyond that core influence, Ferré draws from an unusually wide range of sources. “If I was stuck on a desert island with my heroes,” he has remarked, “there would be four: Mozart, Handel, Shakespeare, and Django.”
Albums
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