Pisano and Bisharat join for Guitar Night

The first and probably most important European jazz stylist is also proving to be the most enduring. Django Reinhardt, the Belgian Gypsy guitarist created a wholly original way of playing that has captivated audiences and inspired musicians around the world. Reinhardt tribute concerts and festivals are regular occurrences throughout Europe. Gypsy guitarists like Birelli Lagrene may be taken with current styles and contemporary giants, but they all have to come to grips with Django’s style at some point.

The yearly Django Reinhardt Festival at New York’s Birdland just happens to coincide with a more modest local event: John Pisano’s venerable Guitar Night at Burbank’s Viva Cantina celebrates Django Tuesday night.

Reinhardt (1910-1953) forged a swinging blend of hot jazz, Gypsy music and French musette. While rhythm guitars kept an immovable, strummed pulse, he routinely conjured filigreed plucked arabesques in the air. A caravan fire disfigured his left hand, and Reinhardt retaught himself an alternate fingering to make his chords. If anything, his playing got better.

Pisano has done four or five such “Django Nights” throughout his series’ history, but the lure of the music of Reinhardt and his frontline collaborator, violinist Stephane Grappelli, just seems to continually warm the hearts of successive generations. “The idea for Tuesday’s Django Night came about as a lark,” Pisano offers, from his home in the San Fernando Valley. “Cody Bryant, the Cantina’s owner, mentioned that we should use a violin, and I thought it was a great idea. Cody’s a good guitarist, actually, and we’re getting Charlie Bisharat, who’s a great violinist.”

Bisharat is a prolifically recorded studio violinist for artists like Yanni, the Rolling Stones and Sheryl Crow, to name a few, and in continual demand as a featured touring player. “John Leftwich, the bassist, brought me to John,” Bisharat notes, “about a year ago. I’ve played a few of the Guitar Nights and it’s always great to work with John. He’s such a fluid player and we have a great rapport.”

Grappelii’s elegantly swinging style is something that Bisharat says he’s still acquainting himself with. “I’m kind of playing catch-up, though I saw him live a couple of times. Violin is not always easy to write for outside the classical literature, but with Grappelli, all those songs work for the violin.”

Pisano stresses a point: “We don’t try to recreate the Reinhardt and Grappelli style; we’re playing his tunes and having fun with them.”

As a teenager on Staten Island, Pisano idolized Reinhardt and did his best to replicate the style, having nothing but records to go on. On the one occasion that the Gypsy guitarist came to America, a tour with the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1947, Pisano saw the Carnegie Hall concert. “We didn’t have the greatest seats,” he recalls with admiration, “but I can close my eyes and still remember the excitement. I could see that he was able to articulate with one finger, as though he was playing with all four fingers. At one point he went all the way up to high E with that finger!”

As Pisano’s career progressed — from playing in the orchestras of Tommy Dorsey, Doc Severinsen and Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass — he had no place to put his admiration for Reinhardt’s music. Then in 1964, his friend, guitarist Joe Pass, recorded the classic “For Django” album for the Pacific Jazz label. Pisano selflessly arranged the tunes and took on the rhythm guitar role. The result was a classic that has stood the test of time.

“To this day,” Pisano recalls with pride, “I get calls from guys like Larry Coryell, Pat Metheny and John Scofield about that album. They all tell me it’s their Bible.”

--

What: John Pisano’s Guitar Night with Charlie Bisharat

Where: Viva Cantina

When: Tuesday, June 23, 8 p.m.

Contact: (818) 845-2425, vivacantina.com.

--

KIRK SILSBEE writes about jazz and culture for Marquee.