Dorado Schmitt
Photo by Guy Le Querrec
Just say the name of Dorado Schmitt to make the gypsy jazz lovers kill themselves!
This Manouche guitar legend, born in Forbach, Lorraine, France, was revealed to the general audience thanks to the film Latcho Drom, for which he created the original soundtrack. Latcho Drom is the story of the Roma (“gypsy”) peoples’ migration from India to the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts.
Raised on traditional music within his family, Schmitt was surrounded by musicians throughout his youth. Dorado picked up the guitar at age 7, though by his teenage years, his preferences began to lean towards the pop/rock music played of Santana or Jimmy Hendrix. His tastes clashed with the influence of his father and with the Great Django’s music, whose style he studied in minute detail by playing all of his songs. In 1978, he created the Dorado Trio with fellow musicians Gino Reinhardt on double bass and Hono Winterstein on guitar, who have continued playing together since that time.
On February 23, 1988, Dorado was involved in a tremendous car accident, leaving him in a deep coma for 11 days. His career could have stopped there, but through sheer willpower and two and a half months of physical therapy, he was able to form his band again in 1990. By now this ‘new’ Dorado was playing violin as well as the guitar, practising both with the same energy. Dorado again showed himself to be an outstandingmusician.
Dorado is a gifted guitarist and inspired violinist who surprises listeners by his ease, his creativity and virtuosity, and last but not least his modesty and generosity. In this regard, since 1990 Dorado has been in high demand as a gypsy jazz artist, playing with musicians in this style all over the world. From this point, it did not take long for managers of major festivals, particularly in the U.S., to recognize that the genius sideman has enough talent of his own to blow the audience down and be placed at the top of the bill. From the mid 90s on, he has not stopped touring. In 2001, during the Django festival of Luttre-Liberchies, hometown of Django Reinhardt, he won the Django Award. He also amazed the people who came and saw him at the “Sons d’Hiver” festival in 2002, playing countless amazing solos featuring explosive rhythmics with a communicative joy.
In spite of the stardom he has enjoyed, Dorado still experiments with other projects. Indeed, he co-formed a new ‘gypsy trio’ with guitarist Christian Escoudé (with the sorely missed Babik Reinhardt). As well, he has represented French gypsy jazz every year since 2001 in New York during the Django week at Birdland, together with Angelo Debarre and the Ferré brothers in 2001 and, in 2002 and 2003, with Paquito D’Rivera, James Carter and Dorado’s son Samson. For the occasion, George Benson joined him for an amazing jam session.
Dorado stands as the great poet of gypsy guitar, so it is no surprise, then, that “Dorado” means “golden.”
