The 5th Carrboro Django Reinhardt Festival taking place this weekend was organized by Gabriel Pelli, local musician, teacher and composer. The first one, in 2016, grew out of his efforts to promote concerts for French jazz guitarist Stephane Wremble, whose work you may have heard in the soundtracks to some Woody Allen films.
The inaugural festival happened when Pelli contacted Wremble, who was coming through the region, and asked if he would play in Carrboro with Pelli arranging it at Cat’s Cradle and publicizing it. Wremble accepted the offer and christened the event a “festival.” The first festival consisted solely of Wremble’s concert and a guitar workshop, establishing a format that has continued and grown in subsequent years: performances by Gypsy Jazz musicians alongside instructional workshops for all levels, now also accompanied by informal jam sessions.
“Gypsy Jazz” is also called “Hot Club Jazz” after the original Django Reinhardt group, Pelli explained. It can also be called “Gypsy Swing,” “Jazz Manouche,” in France, and “Sinti Jazz,” in Holland. All of these names refer to music created and popularized by Romani descendants in western Europe.
This year's Festival lineup features Voyage Hot Club on Friday, March 20th. Voyage is an international conglomerate of Swiss musicians who live in Spain, along with Sam Farthing from Baltimore who, according to Pelli, “is undoubtedly, the best Gypsy Jazz guitar player from America, ever.” The second night features Paulus Schaefer and his band, who traveled from Holland for this festival.
The musicians are also offering workshops Saturday and Sunday afternoons–at least two guitar workshops and one violin workshop. The final day of the festival is Sunday, March 22nd, and features another performance by Paulus Schaefer at Cat’s Cradle Back Room followed by a free jam session at Lapin Bleu in Chapel Hill.
TICKETS for all Concerts and Workshops: https://catscradle.com
Pelli said it’s fitting to host this festival in “The Paris of the Piedmont” since Paris (France), where Django Reinhardt lived and worked, “is really the epicenter of the music.” He was born in 1910 in Belgium to a French family of Romani descent. His birth name was Jean but his nickname, Django, stuck, with some biographers suggesting a Romani origin (meaning, “I awake”) and others believing it a Walloon version of “Jean.”
He grew up outside of Paris where he learned violin, banjo, and guitar. A friend introduced him to American jazz in the late 1920s and he subsequently sought collaborators with similar musical taste. He started recording music in the mid-1930s and worked steadily in occupied France through World War II, a time when both Romani people and jazz musicians were persecuted or restricted. After the war, Reinhardt toured the U.S. and continued playing in Paris. He died in 1953 at age 43.
Pelli started playing Gypsy Jazz about 20 years ago at a friend’s invitation. “I actually didn't play that style at all, nor any kind of jazz, nor anything but classical,” Pelli said, “And I was semi-retired.”
But his friend convinced him to play in his band, “and it was pretty much love at first listen.” And he hasn’t looked back. Pelli’s current band, Onyx Club Boys, plays Gypsy Jazz.
Only a handful of Django Reinhardt festivals take place in the United States each year, making Carrboro’s event relatively rare. For Pelli, the reason to continue celebrating this music is simple. “It’s great music,” he said. “I’ve rarely met anyone who heard Django’s music and didn’t like it. It’s accessible and familiar sounding, but also exotic. It draws from a lot of influences.”
Before hearing American jazz, Reinhardt was mostly playing folk music and French waltzes called Valse Musettes, the traditional “sidewalk” music usually played with an accordion. His signature sound blends those influences in a way that is still copied and honored throughout the world today.
From the organizer: With world-class performances, hands-on workshops, and community-driven jam sessions, the festival serves as both a celebration and a living tribute to the legendary jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, and his lasting influence on the world of music. This year's concerts are Voyage Hot Club, ft. Sam Farthing & Paulus Schaefer, & Paulus Schaefer and Friends.
Voyage Hot Club, ft. Sam Farthing & Paulus Schaefer (USA, Suisse, Spain, Netherlands) Friday, March 20, 2026, at Cat's Cradle Back Room, Carrboro, NC. Doors at 7pm. Mostly seated show at 8-10:30pm.
Paulus Schaefer and Friends (Netherlands) Saturday, March 21, 2026 at Cat's Cradle Back Room in Carrboro, NC. Doors at 7pm. Mostly seated show at 8-10:30pm.
Paulus Schaefer is coming to us all the way from The Netherlands and is a world- class Sinti (Gypsy) Jazz guitarists!
For all festival information, including full descriptions of the concerts and workshops, visit:
https://onyxclubboys.com/carrboro-django-reinhardt-festival Tickets for concerts and workshops: https://catscradle.com/events/ For all inquiries and communications:
https://onyxclubboys.com/contact
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