About Django à la Créole

Clarinetist Evan Christopher was among over four-thousand culture-bearers exiled from New Orleans in 2005 when inadequate levies failed flooding the city. With little more than his clarinet, the California native who first moved to the Crescent City in 1994, accepted an invitation from the City of Paris for an artist residency, funded by an American program called French-American Cultural Exchange, he worked diligently to raise awareness about the musical culture of New Orleans through concerts and masterclasses and formed two groups, the JazzTraditions PROJECT and Django à la Créole.

The primary inspiration for Django à la Créole was the legendary guitarist's collaborations with American musicians, that included New Orleans clarinetist, Barney Bigard. Anchored in the distinctive Creole clarinet tradition, Christopher frames his signature sound within the Hot Club texture enriching it with sultry grooves and rhythms from New Orleans, Cuba, the Caribbean and Brazil.

Django à la Créole debuted in August 2007 with performances in Great Britain and small international jazz festivals. They released their self-titled CD, "Django à la Créole," in New Orleans during the 25th anniversary of the famous French Quarter Festival and the quartet's second outing, "Finesse," was the number one jazz pick of 2010 in the Sunday Times, UK. Six seasons later, the band is still rolling strong with a third "live" CD due in 2013.

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Django à la Créole: David Blenkhorn, Dave Kelbie, Sebastien Girardot & Evan Christopher

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