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THE GUITAR

Saga's Tribute To Jazz Legend Django Reinhardt


Gitane's flawless reproduction of classic Gypsy jazz guitars creates a rich new market niche while introducing a new generation to the genre
ichard Keldsen has difficulty separating what he loves from what he does. This helps explain why his company. Saga Musical Instruments, dove headfirsttwiceinto manufacturing a highly specialized instrument that other major manufacturers avoided or ignored. Keldsen's fascination with the relatively esoteric musical style of Gypsy jazz ultimately led to his founding the Gitane brand, which exclusively serves that genre. Gypsy jazz was originated in 1930s Europe by legendary Belgium-born guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt and French violinist Stphane Grappelli in their Ouintette du Hot Club de France. In this, the 100th anniversary of Django's birth, he is still revered by guitarists for his virtuosity as well as the harrowing elements of his life story and eccentric personality. When just 18 Reinhardt sulTered "careerending" bums that paralyzed his right leg and two fingers on his left hand. But over time he leamed to walk with a cane and developed a new approach to playing melodies and solos with just two fingers. Despite his Romani ethnicity, the Nazis were so enamored of his musical talents they let him keep playing in occupied France. After several failed attempts to

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Django Reinhardt, one of the most influential guitarists of all time, and Gitane's DG-300, inspired by one of the guitars he made famous.
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THE GUITAR

flee, Reinhardt encountered one Nazi who recognized him and granted him safe passage out of the region. The guitars Django played were almost as unique as the man. The flrst Gypsy jazz guitars were designed around 1930 by classical guitarist, mandolinist, and master luthier Mario Maccaferri. In 1932 Maccaferri helped Selmer set up its factory in France to have the instruments mass produced. To facilitate bending the wood for the cutawayan industry flrstlaminated wood was used for the sides as well as the back. The guitar's solid top was subtly arched, like that of a mandolin, not through carving but by being bent or "sprung" upward by pressure. Ladder bracing, then the norm for French and Italian guitars, was used rather than the X-bracing of Martin's ubiquitous dreadnought. The original Maccaferri instruments featured a large D-shaped soundhole to accommodate an internal resonator. When Maccaferri left the company just 18 months later, Selmer abandoned the resonator and introduced the "petite bouche" (small mouth) oval soundhole. (In the late '70s and early '80s Maccaferri partnered with Ibanez to produce a limited run of guitars with his original D-hole design.) Selmer's "Modle Jazz" guitars also featured a

longer (26-5/8") scale with 14 frets clear of the body compared with the original design's 12. Saga CEO Richard Keldsen's fascination with Gypsy jazz guitars dates back to the 1970s. Set in motion by a Guitar Player article on the instruments by his friend and retail store customer Paul Shelasky, Keldsen discovered that even in "simply awful" condition '30s-era Maccaferri and Selmer models fetched huge sums in the vintage instrument market. Even in the '30s Gypsy jazz guitars were fairly expensive due to the cutaway's production costs and highend features such as the world's flrst sealed oil-bath machine heads. Forty years later, Keldsen found modem-day instruments made by small-production luthiers easily topping $4,000and vintage instruments for ten times as much. To Keldsen, this revelation represented ripe opportunity in a largely unexploited market niche. He reasoned that the the genre's small but passionate and price-restrained audience might explode if Saga could make the instruments affordablewhich has always been Saga's mtier. He was also intrigued, as both a musician and a manufacturer, by the Gypsy jazz guitar's unique sound qualities.
MUSIC TRADES OCTOBER 2010

"You can't really play the music properly with a classical guitar or dreadnought," he insists. Keldsen and Saga Marketing and Artist Relations Director David Gartland explain that the instrument's defining laminated back and sides, ladder bracing, "floating" bridge, jazz guitar tailpiece, domed top, long scale, and special light-gauge strings (steel core wound with silk or silverplated copper, typically played with a very heavy-gauge pick) combine to produce a sound that is distinctly "crisp, punctuated, and percussive, facilitating great separation between notes, with surprising volume and projection." The large D-hole instruments deliver a warmer, richer tone, though some players favor the oval mouth design's brighter, more aggressive voice for lead work and soloing. Partly because Reinhardt played both types, both are prized by collectors and Gypsy jazz enthusiastsso naturally both arc represented in the Gitane product lineup. The line also includes electro-acoustic models featuring Fishman's advanced Aura Acoustic Sound Imaging system. In the mid-'80s Saga introduced the Django line of Gypsy jazz guitars under the Saga brand. Early sales of the line, which was manufactured in Japan, were encouraging, but a sudden near-doubling in the yen's value put the once attractively priced instruments out of many players' reach. Also, Keldsen admits, Django guitars' design wasn't fully evolved, and the supplier was "unable or unwilling to make the necessary commitment to manufacture the instruments properly." Within a year or two that factory closed. In Europe the genre's embers never died out, and in the U.S. they were repeatedly fanned by Hollywood. In the same way Bonnie & Clyde and Deliverance renewed interest in banjo playing in the '70s and three decades later O Brother Where Art Thou spurred the bluegrass instrument market, awareness of Django Reinhardt and Gypsy jazz guitars was promoted by a number of feature fllms including Swing Kids (1993), Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown (\999), and Chocolat (2000). Meanwhile, festivals dedicated to Gypsy jazz continued in Europe and sprang up in several major U.S. cities.

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THE GUITAR

But as before, growing guitar , community interest was sup- , pressed by the high cost of available boutique instruments. In late 1999 Saga began offering a stamped Gypsy jazz guitar tailpiece that sold well enough to encourage Keldsen to revisit production of a full Gypsy jazz guitar line. Recognizing that merely sending instrument drawings to Saga's chosen factory in China would be inadequate to capture the guitar's design intricacies, Keldsen sent Shelaskyalong with his priceless 1932 Maccaferrito China to develop a prototype. The Gitane brand was launched in 2001 with a redoubled dedication to quality construction, attention to detail, and authentic design. Causing a sensation at the 2002 Winter NAMM show. Gitane fortuitously caught the attention of celebrated guitarist John Jorgenson. Jorgenson won acclaim with country rock bands Desert Rose (in which he was

three-time Academy of Country Music Guitarist of the Year) and the Hellecasters (whose debut release was Guitar Player magazine's 1993 Album of the Year and Country Album of the Year). He also spent six years touring and recording with Elton John, additionally performed or recorded with artists as diverse as Johnny Cash, Luciano Pavarotti, and Barbara Streisand, and in 2008 snagged his first Grammy award. But since he discovered Reinhardt's recordings in 1979, the type of music he played for his own enjoyment was Gypsy jazz. Though Jorgensen wasn't impressed with the Japanese-made Django guitars.
The Modle John Jorgenson DG-330 "Tuxedo" Gypsy jazz guitar

he immediately appreciated Saga's "second act" on several levels, dubbing Gitane "the acoustic guitar for shredders." First, it was a well-constmcted, credibly designed instrument he could take on the road with him. Second, its price would make it accessible to many new players, thus growing the audience for the music he loved to play. Already a fan of Saga's Blueridge bluegrass guitars, Jorgenson collaborated with Saga on a few design tweaks and was soon rewarded with the first of three John Jorgenson signature model Gypsy jazz guitars. Recently Jorgenson recorded Istiqbal Gathering with a full orchestra. Not knowing which of his guitars he'd use for the session, he recorded the same phrase with two Gitanes, his vintage Selmer and a high-end French-made Dupont. In a "blindfold test" he selected his Gitane DG-300. "I'm not saying it's a better instrument than the Selmer or the Dupont," he states, "but on the microphone, it was the right guitar for that music."

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MUSIC TRADES OCTOBER 2010

"The alliance between John and Saga really lit a fire," says Keldsen, citing the artist's official endorsement, numerous Gypsy jazz album releases, and performances ranging from NAMM show appearances to jazz club and concert dates around the world. Jorgensen even played Django, the manas well as all the guitar partsin the 2004 feature film Head in the Clouds. Inarguably, he has become North America's foremost proponent of the genre. But to Jorgenson, promoting Gypsy jazzand indirectly Gitaneto guitarists comes naturally. Recalling the day he first heard Reinhardt's music, he says, "I couldn't believe the tone colors and fire and emotion Django could bring out of an acoustic guitar. I was hooked. And since then I've seen that happen to a number of friends; 1 call it 'getting bit.'" Some of the higher-profile players who "got bit" by Gypsy jazz guitar include Peter Frampton, Vince Gill, the Cars' Elliot Easton, David Bowie's Earl Slick, several guitarists with the Grand Old Opry, Whitesnake's Adrian Vandenberg,

Keldsen was inspired to recreate the Maccaferrl Gitane guitar when he found that vintage models, even in unplayable condition, fetched huge sums.
and Paul McCartney. (Sir Paul requested a left-handed model. Saga obliged.) Some, explains Gartland, wanted to recapture the sounds of their parents' Django Reinhardt records they'd heard decades earlier. Others are simply enthralled by Django's technical mastery and ability to play lines with two fingers that challenge them using all of theirs. '"Django kicked assV says Gartland, "Leaming to play this music challenges and inspires guitarists. It makes them better blues players, better rock players, better metal players." Among major manufacturers. Gitane has become the dominant producer of Gypsy jazz guitars in part because it devoted considerable human and mate-

rial resources to develop the niche. "We like to do the things that other companies don't do," says Keldsen. But he quickly adds that product afTordability remains key to the line's success. To than end, in 2007 Saga introduced its Cigano line of even lower-priced Gypsy jazz guitars aimed primarily at students and budget-minded musicians. Both Gitane and Cigano tap into guitarists' curiosity and penchant for owning multiple instruments. With the lowering of the price barrier, all playersfrom dedicated beginners to the best guitarists in the worldcan afTord to explore this captivating genre. With a touch of bemused wonder Keldsen concludes, "I've been able to make a business out of almost all of the things I've ever been interested in. As musicians, David and 1 are passionate about Gypsy jazz music. As a manufacturer I'm excited by its market potential and proud that Gitane is playing a major role in promoting this wonderful style of music." www.sagamusic.com

MUSIC TRADES OCTOBER 2010

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