 Alfonso Ponticelli
& Swing Gitan > > > www.swinggitan.com
ALFONSO PONTICELLI & SWING GITAN is Chicago's premier Gypsy Jazz ensemble.
The group recently returned from triumphant performances in Paris and at the 25th Annual Django Reinhardt Festival in Samois-sur-Seine, France, on the same bill with Stochelo Rosenberg, Moreno, and Angelo DeBarre. Along with Bireli Lagrene, they played at the inaugural Chicago Gypsy Jazz Festival in 2003, and this fall, they will be returning for the second time to the DjangoFest Northwest in Seattle, where they have played along with Angelo Debarre, Patrick Saussois, and the Robin Nolan Trio. This year also marks Swing Gitan's second performance at the Midwest Gypsy Swing Festival near Madison, Wisconsin. The group has been featured on many occasions at the Chicago Cultural Center, the Field Museum, the Terra Museum of American Art, and the Chicago Summerdance Festival, among other prestigious events. Swing Gitan was honored to perform at Chicago's Millennium Park on its opening night, and will be performing at the 2004 Chicago Jazz Festival.
A gypsy flamenco guitarist as well, Alfonso has been to Cordoba, Spain to study with the great flamenco guitarist Vicente Amigo. Alfonso is a multi-instrumentalist, having won the 1994 U.S. National Mountain Dulcimer Championship, and playing both banjo and guitar with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. He brings a wide and colorful repertoire from his many adventures in Spain, Italy, France, and all over the United States, including the Iridium in New York, where the legendary Les Paul invited Alfonso to play as a special guest with his trio. Alfonso is also a music educator in Chicago and introduced Django's music to the midwest United States nearly a decade ago, when he began teaching a weekly Django Guitar Styles Class at the Old Town School of Folk Music, one of the largest and most renowned folk music centers in the US. Alfonso is often invited to teach his popular workshops at festivals around the country.
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