ABOUT EVA
Eva Slongo was born in Switzerland to a family of classical musicians. She first trained as a professional classical violinist.
One day, by chance, she tried to improvise with musicians in a bar; she felt such euphoria that she spent a sleepless night … It was then that she decided to do everything she could to practice improvisation on the violin.
After her classical diplomas, she changed direction and started from scratch … She studied jazz violin with Pierre Blanchard in Lausanne, then with Didier Lockwood in Paris, where she decided to stay and live for music. She also practiced improvisation on vocals, which led her to create her very noticeable unique color: improvising on the violin and scatting simultaneously.
In Paris, Eva Slongo met renowned musicians from the world of gypsy jazz with whom she shared the stage: Biréli Lagrène, Wawau Adler, Sébastien Giniaux, Ninine Garcia, and many others …
In 2011, she won the Prize for Best Improvisation at the Stéphane Grappelli International Violin Competition sponsored by Didier Lockwood. In 2016, she obtained the 2nd prize of the Golden Jazz Trophy with her quartet.
After all these years of experience, she was led to give masterclasses internationally. She needed to share more of her learning of the jazz violin, but struggled to find the time and method to do so. Her first pregnancy forced her to slow down concerts… but it led her to do what she would never have imagined: create a new educational concept on the internet, the blog “Learn Jazz Violin” which has become the 1st Google search result in French jazz violin, and finally a method “The new way to learn jazz violin.”
Eva Slongo’s new album “Souffle” was recorded in collaboration with pianist Giovanni Mirabassi, with whom she shares the stage regularly.
Charles Fréchette
Born in 1988, Charles Fréchette is a musician and composer originally from Montréal, Canada.
Professional musician since 2004, Charles is known mainly as a guitar player, but also as a composer, singer, mandolin player and music teacher. This exceptional musician got an international reputation while playing extended tours around the world totaling thousands of concerts in more than 30 countries with his band Tcha-Badjo. Twice winner of the Jazz guitar grant of the International Jazz Festival of Montreal in 2011 and 2012 and also of the Montréal Guitar Grand Prix in 2012. Charles graduated 7 years of Jazz studies at University of Montréal and Cegep de Drummondville in 2012 and his now studying a master degree in music teaching at l’HEMU in Lausanne in 2018. In parallel of his musical carrer, Charles is also director and programmor of the concert hall of l’Auberge des Vergers in Meyrin since 2018. Charles now lives between Lausanne and Berlin and plays regularly with his bands Tcha-Badjo, Echoes of Django, Samy Daussat & the 12th Street Rag and also playing alongside other artists such as Tcha Limberger, David Boulanger, Giacomo Smith, Sebastien Giniaux, Antoine Boyer, Bina Coquet, Les poissons Voyageurs and many others. Charles is sponsored by the luthiers Alain Mazaud and Esteban Gonzalez.
About Jimmy
Jimmy Grant, hailing from Northern California, discovered Django Reinhardt's vibrant sounds while touring with his dad’s bluegrass band. His unique style, shaped by influences like Bach and Joe Pass, was honed under the mentorship of guitarists Jim Nichols and Howard Alden.
Jimmy has performed with renowned artists such as David Grisman, Gonzalo Bergara, and many more showcasing his talent at prestigious events like Djangofest Northwest and The New York Hot Jazz Festival, as well as venues throughout the US & Europe.
As an educator, he teaches across the U.S. and hosts "Camp Django" in Ashland, OR. He contributes to "Gypsy Jazz Secrets Magazine" and has recorded two albums. His original composition "Insomnia" was a finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition.
ABOUT MANU
Manu Hagmann is born in Geneva in 1980 surrounded by a traditional jazz context thanks his father René, musician deeply impregnated by the first decades of the american jazz. After several years of playing the electric bass, he started to play the double bass at the age of 17 as an autodidact first, with the strong styles of some first jazz bass giants like Milt Hinton, Slam Stewart or the legendary Jimmy Blanton in mind. Quickly he had numerous gig opportunities in different jazz combos from new orleans to bebop styles. A
At the age of 26 he joined the Jazz departement of the Bern High School of Arts HKB as previously known as « Swiss Jazz School » where he had the chance to learn alongside from musicians like Thomas Dürst, Patrice Moret, Bert Joris, Andy Scherrer or Billy Brooks and achieve his Bachelor of Arts.
On the strength of this new learning and the many contacts he made in news parts of Switzerland, he explored the paths that led him to a more contemporary jazz, in particular weaving special complicities with the pianist Florian Favre and the harpist Julie Campiche, which led him to record numerous albums and to perform internationally.
Since this he began to teach the double bass mostly privately, and recently, he completed his pedagogical training at the jazz department of the Lausanne High School of Music HEMU where he also perfected his instrumental skills with the amazing double bassist and teacher Bänz Oester. He achieve his Master in Arts, Pedagogy in 2018 and currently he’s teaching bass and ensembles at the pop/jazz music school ETM in Geneva.
In parallel to this he kept a passion for the jazz tradition, he still playing numerous swing gigs in small and big bands. In 2011, he has been invited in a personal capacity to take part of the Withley Bay Classic Jazz Party (UK). He take part of several Vernier Jazz (CH) musical tribute shows with the Swiss Yerba Buena Creole Rice Jazz Band where he shared the stage with masters of old school styles like Matthias Seuffert, David Lukacs, Olivier Franc or Jean-François Bonnel.
Since 2012 he began to have frequently opportunities to play in gypsy jazz contexts, including many years collaboration with the quartet Les Manchots and gigs with Tcha-Badgo and Baiju Bhatt Gypsy Jazz Sessions.