It's an incredible honour and a serious coup to have the legendary Fapy Lafertin join us as a teacher for the retreat. You couldn't find a better instructor or in fact guitarist, in the world of gypsy jazz, the man has magic in his fingers.

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Students from across the world have long sought out Fapy Lafertin as THE eminent instructor of Django Reinhardt style jazz guitar.  He has an unprecedented reputation as a teacher of Hot Club swing guitar.

 

Fapy Lafertin was born in Courtraie (Belgium) into the Manouche gypsy community. From a very young age he played all kinds of instruments. In the seventies and early eighties he starred in the group WASO which was so succesfull it re-popularized Django’s Hot Club Jazz worldwide. After leaving the group he embarked on a solo career, playing with big bands and well-known jazzmen in England.

 

In this period he co-starred with Stéphane Grappelli, Charlie Byrd, Scott Hamilton, Al Casey, Benny Waters and Milt Hinton.

 

In 1985 he started his own Quintet inspired by the sound of Django Reinhardt’s famous 1930s group.

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“Fapy has a sound that might even have made Django envious … a mature guitarist at his peak”

(Michael Dregni, Vintage Guitar Magazine, USA)

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“Lafertin delves into the realms beyond Django”

(Guitar Techniques Magazine, USA)

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“The legitimate heir to Django’s crown”

(clarinettist Bob Wilber)

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