Coco Briaval Quartet
The authenticity of Gypsy jazz.
About this event
The three Briaval brothers are the children of Yenish, a descendant of the Sinti of Hungary, and Rose Glaudio, an authentic Manouche of Piedmontese origin and a singer in Django Reinhardt’s circle. The Briaval family lived in the Provençal village of Eygalières in Bouches-du-RhôneArles, then in Avignon with Loulou Aprin, who accompanied Colette Renard, and they began performing in the south of France.
On their first record for the Philips label, the three brothers received support from the double bass of Diego Bernal, a traveling Spanish musician who was 19 at the time. For a few years, he was the fourth member of the Coco Briaval Quartet, before the Manouche group decided to play without a double bass—a choice that gave them their originality and distinctive style for at least two decades.
Like all Manouche guitarists and Gypsy musicians, Coco was initially constrained by the style established by Django, but he soon managed to go further, notably by adopting some of the octave technique associated with Wes Montgomery and borrowing the wildness of Charlie Christian’s playing, ultimately freeing his own personality.
Zézé Briaval - saxophone
Coco Briaval - guitar
Pascal Briaval - guitar
Gibert Briaval - drums
