Emmanuel
Kassimo:Solo
Guitarist
Born in 1971, Emmanuel
began learning the guitar at 10 years old from his father,
grandfather and uncles, all of whom are guitarists. Until
the age of 20, he only played guitar within the family.
In the mid-90s, Emmanuel moved to the central region of France
where he met Retcha Robin – a guitarist and renowned
composer in the traveler (Sinti) community. It was Retcha’s
influence that was directly responsible for Emmanuel’s
shift in musical direction toward Manouche (Romani) songs.
Pablo
Robin:
Rythmic Guitarist
Pablo learned guitar from his father, Retcha, a Manouche guitarist
and composer of songs about the life of the traveler communities.
Coming from a family whose members are mostly singers, Pablo
would often perform with his father and cousins at congresses,
pilgrimages and other Manouche (Sinti) gatherings. After his
fateful meeting with Emmanuel Kassimo, who was playing with
Stéphane Wrembel and Ti’frere Ziegler at the time,
he decided to dedicate himself to Manouche “pump”
and began playing with Emmanuel and a few other musicians in
central France, which is precisely how “Am Ketenes Swing”
came into being.
Jean-Charles
Bavouzet:Double Bass
A professional bass player since 1989, Jean-Charles’ musical
odyssey is filled with rock, pop, funk and song as part of various
bands including WEASTCOAST, GROOV’INQUATTRO and TNTN.
He studied jazz for a year with Theirry Valliot in Tours. This
led to other meetings with the François Sauzet Quartet,
RBH with Gerome Rateau, Larry Tomko and Cosmocooler among others.
Caroline
Bugala : ViolinistCaroline@amketenes.com
In 1984, Caroline Bugala was born
into an artistic family consisting of a musician father and
a painter mother, so it’s no surprise that she picked
up violin very quickly and at a very young age. After winning
first prize at the national music competition in Lyon in 1994,
she continued her studies in classical violin at Lyon’s
National Music Conservatory, where she won the gold medal at
only 17 years of age. From 2003 to 2005, Caroline studied jazz
at CMDL with Didier Lockwood as her professor.
Her unquenchable thirst for musical discovery has led her to
collaborate with many different artists including the violinist,
Gilles Apap. She has also performed with Hungarian cymbalist,
Ion Miu; Didier Lockwood; and the European InterConservatory
Orchestra. She has also participated in many concerts with Caroline
Casadesus, Guy Marchand, Roby Lakatos, Maxim Vengerov and Denis
Guivarch.
