Remi Harris is widely regarded as one of the UK’s top gypsy jazz guitarists. He’s played live on BBC Radio 2 and at numerous festivals throughout Europe and is now embarking on his first tour down under.
The guitar virtuoso has teamed with the Gypsy Jazz Project, a group of exciting young jazz contemporaries, to strum their strings in the style of the late great Django Reinhardt. From the age of seven, Remi has been sporting the guitar like an extra limb, never letting his love for the instrument waver.
Initially, that love was found in playing rock and blues. It wasn't until later that Remi sought a future in contemporary jazz. “I was always into improvising just generally, and so even when I was playing rock and blues I was into the more jamming elements. During that whole time, without knowing it I was playing jazz, just not jazz repertoire, and I suppose that gradually morphed into wanting to discover other ways of playing the guitar, and the acoustic guitar really appealed to me at that time because it was the antidote to lugging all the amplifiers around. I ended up getting into gypsy jazz that way.”
He first founded the Gypsy Jazz Project during a pilgrimage to Samois-sur-Seine in France to celebrate the Django Reinhardt Jazz Festival where he met likeminded, enthusiastic artists. “We all met there and got along, so that's how it started,” he says. “The Gypsy Jazz Project is always changing.”
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This Saturday, the Brisbane Jazz Club will play host to Remi and his jazz friends, who’ll perform as a full band of three guitars, a double bass and a clarinet. “Hopefully it'll be exciting and it'll be on the edge. There'll be a lot of improvising. We won't know what's coming next so the audience won't either.”
Having played at some pretty prestigious venues across France and the UK, he still tries to treat every show the same, even when entertaining at Buckingham Palace. “I suppose it was like any other gig, just concentrate on playing and show up on time and make sure you're professional and hopefully it all goes smoothly.”
The Remi Harris Gypsy Jazz Project Dates
Wed Jan 29 - Some Velvet Morning, Clifton Hill (Melbourne)Sat Feb 1 - Brisbane Jazz Club
Mon Feb 3 - Bellingen Golf Club
Thu Feb 6 - Camelot Lounge, Marrickville (Sydney)
Wed Feb 12 - Paris Cat, Melbourne
Fri Feb 14 - Czech Club, North Melbourne
Sat Feb 15 - Bennett's Lane Jazz Club (Melbourne)
