Koen De Cauter (soprano saxophone, clarinet & vocals), Fapy Lafertin (guitar), Jon Birdsong (cornet), Myrddin De Cauter (clarinet), Waso De Cauter (guitar), Bart Vervaeck (guitar), Dajo De Cauter (bas), Lionel Beuvens (drums)

Django Reinhardt is considered by many to be the greatest musical personality that European jazz has produced. Koen De Cauter, who has been the defender of gypsy jazz for almost four decades, pays tribute to an incomparable genius with this octet.

Django Reinhardt was born in a caravan in Liberchies, near Charleroi. This gypsy-manouche became one of the greatest guitarists in jazz. In his body of work we find an unparalleled intensity. Many guitarists, beginning with Toots Thielemans and Philippe Catherine, have picked up some of the essence of Django. As a child he started playing music on the banjo. While his younger brother Joseph went around with a hat, Django played on the street. He was virtually illiterate. Django Reinhardt was quickly noticed and his career took shape, but he had serious setbacks as well. When he was eighteen years old fire broke out in his caravan. Along with a burned leg,  he lost use of two fingers on his left hand. Django practiced for two years to learn to play again. In his new style he also used his crippled fingers.

In southern France, Django was noticed by the noted painter Savitry, who introduced him to Louis Armstrong’s music and that of Duke Ellington and Earl Hines. Django had found his musical peers. He wanted to play jazz. In Paris he ran into the violinist Stéphane Grappelli. Le Quintette du Hot Club de France was born. 'He was so influential that he created a musical genre by himself, called variously Jazz Hot Club de Jazz or Gypsy Swing. He took elements from jazz, musette and gypsy music and created a timeless and new genre', Koen De Cauter says. Rhythm, melody, harmony, inventiveness, originality, nerve and especially balance, he had it all. They always speak of his left hand, but his right hand was also famous. That physical convenience, many Gypsies have. That is why they are so good on the pinball machine.”

Koen De Cauter has been the standard bearer of the genre in Belgium for almost four decades. In 1975 he began playing the music of Django with Fapy Lafertin and the Waso Quartet. Fapy Lafertin is one of the most important and 'pure' representatives of the Django style. In 2003, fifty years after Django’s death, De Cauter started the Django Project. For the 100th anniversary of Django’s birth, there’s a worthy sequel.

In 2004 the album ‘DjanGo! – A tribute to Django Reinhardt live at the AB’ was released on the Belgian W.E.R.F.-Label. In the summer of 2010, a second album will be released on the same label.

In the band there’s Jon Birdsong, an American immigrant. His lyrical sound fits this music perfectly. Myrddin De Cauter is the youngest son of Koen and was spoon-fed this music. His two other sons, Waso and Dajo De Cauter, have over 15 years of stage experience and together with guitar player Bart Vervaeck and drummer Lionel Beuvens they form the rhythm section. This octet wants to pay tribute but does not want to copy Django Reinhardt. With their own interpretation they want to bring the genre back to life. The group attempts to take the audience on a journey through the musical landscape of Django Reinhardt.