xcitement among immigrant communities. Some night spots actually staged mock police raids to help maintain the illusion of intrigue.
Following the War, new musical forms were arriving in Paris like American jazz and the Argentine tango. These sexy new influences left their mark on bal-musette with dances like the waltz, tango, mazurka, pasodoble, beguine, foxtrot and java. Later, new instruments were added including the banjo, clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, mandolin and bandoneon.
Oscar Marcelo Aleman 1909-1980
The tango also brought an awareness of other forms of Argentine dance music and musicians: Oscar Marcelo Aleman was born in Northern Argentina on February 20th, 1909. At the age of 6 he was dancing and singing with his family’s folk ensemble, the Moreria Sextet. At the age of 10, following his mother’s death, his father committed suicide. Oscar was suddenly alone and worked sporadically as a dancer and musician on the streets of Santos.
In 1924 Oscar began working with Brazilian guitarist Gaston Bueno Lobo. The duo was signed to the Argentine Victor label and performed under the name ‘Los Lobos’. They would occasionally add violinist Eleven Verdure and record under the name ‘Trio Victor’.
During the late 1920s Oscar discovered American Jazz by hearing recordings of Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti. He was hooked. He had already been exposed to Louis Armstrong and the beginning of ‘Swing’ but hearing the music on guitar was new. Oscar developed his own style of swing jazz and caught on with the Argentine public. Oscar saw an opportunity to broaden his appeal and moved to Paris where he was immediately hired by Josephine Baker to lead her band: ‘the Baker Boys’ at the Cafe de Paris. This provided him the opportunity to play with American Jazz musicians who would come to see Josephine and sit in with her band.
Oscar later formed his own nine piece band and played nightly at the Le Chantilly, across town from where Django Reinhardt and his partner violinist Stephane Grapelli would soon be performing at The Hot Club of France with their Quintet. Although these two geniuses of the guitar never recorded together, they became friends.
Oscar relocated to Buenos Aires in the early 1940s and continued to record and perform with both a swing quintet and a nine piece orchestra. He continued to teach and perform until his death in 1980 at age 71.
In Paris during the 1920s many of the dance hall musicians were gypsies. They traveled most of central Europe without allegiance to any particular country. Some remained nomadic and some settled in and around were they could find work. They brought many musical influences with them and infused the regional popular music with their own styles. String and wind style playing included influences from Russia, Italy, Belgium, Spain, and the Middle East as well as the Balkans.
Jean Baptiste “Django” Reinhardt 1910–1953
Jazz Manouche (Gypsy Jazz) is said to have begun with the nomadic Gypsy guitarists between Belgium and France in the late 1920s. Many of them were employed by Auverge-style bal musette ensembles that supplied music for public dances.
Django Reinhardt was born on January 24th, 1910 at Liberchies Belgium in an open Gypsy camp. At the age of 8, his mother’s Manouche tribe settled near the belt of fortifications that surrounded the old Paris near the Choisy gate. He never wore a suit or lived in a real house until he was 20 years old. The Manouches were a world unto themselves, medieval in their beliefs and distrustful of modern science. Django grew up in this world of contradictions; one foot in the urban world of Paris and the other in the medieval life of the nomadic gypsy.
Music surrounded the Gypsy community; it was part of everyday life. At age 12 Django received a banjo-guitar from a neighbor who noticed his interest in music. He quickly learned to play. Before he turned 13 he had begun a musical career by playing with popular accordionist Guerino at a dance hall on the Rue Monge. He went on to play with numerous other bands and musicians and made his first recordings with accordion