The John Jorgensen Quintet...

John and his band.

John plays the music of Django Reinhardt and he talks of him as "the man" in this style of music. He has even played the part in a movie about him. In 2005, the movie 'Head in the Clouds" was released starring Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz, the movie features John on camera as Django Reinhardt, complete with burned hand and gypsy moustache.

My take on John? Well if you look back through time in my blog I have seen him quite a few times and even have pictures of him performing on stage with Elton John a mere 15 feet from my camera. I have seen him perform acoustic and electric. John freakin' burns the strings off a guitar. His band members are usually over-the-top technical players who are so tight you wonder if they are not going to explode at some point. I will go on record as saying he has exceeded anything Django Reinhardt ever played. This man is a master.

You be the judge. Here's Django and his band:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iJ7bs4mTUY&feature=related

Here is John with Tommy Emmanuel on stage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XK-wzrLpNo