Baro Ferret

Baro Ferret
Baro Ferret
Background information
Birth name	Pierre Joseph Ferret
Born	1908
Died	1976
Genres	Romani music, gypsy jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Guitar
Years active	1930s–1970s

Pierre Joseph "Baro" Ferret (1908–1976) was a gypsy jazz guitarist and composer.^[1] He was known by his gypsy nickname "Baro," which meant "Big One" or even "King" in Romany. Through his brother Jean "Matelo" Ferret, Baro met Django Reinhardt, and the two men became both friends and rivals.^[2] From 1931, the Ferret brothers, along with their third brother Etienne "Sarane" Ferret, and cousin René "Challain" Ferret, were favorite sidemen of Reinhardt. Baro recorded around 80 sides with Reinhardt. The Ferret brothers played with musicians including Didi Duprat.

Baro retired as a full-time musician during World War II and devoted himself to running bars and to black market businesses during the German occupation of Paris, an activity he continued into the early 1970s.^[3]

As a composer, Baro's "valses bebop" were years ahead of the times. His works such as "Panique...!," "La Folle" ("The Madwoman"), "Swing Valse" (written with Belgian-French button accordionist Gus Viseur), and "Le Depart de Zorro" were modernistic, surreal, and dark, part Musette, part modern jazz.^[4]

His nephews, Jean "Matelo" Ferret's sons Boulou and Elios Ferré continue to perform gypsy jazz.

References[edit]

^ Dregni, Michael (2008). Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing. Oxford University Press. pp. 146–161. ISBN 978-0-19-531192-1.
^ Dregni, Michael (2004). Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend. Oxford University Press. pp. 41–46. ISBN 0-19-516752-X.
^ Dregni, Michael (2008). Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing. Oxford University Press. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-0-19-531192-1.
^ Dregni, Michael (2008). Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing. Oxford University Press. pp. 99–101. ISBN 978-0-19-531192-1.

External links[edit]

Pierre "Baro" Ferret - Panique - Paris, 20 January 1949 on YouTube
Pierre (Baro) Ferret at discogs.com

[1] Dregni, Michael (2008). Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing. Oxford University Press. pp. 146–161. ISBN 978-0-19-531192-1.

[2] Dregni, Michael (2004). Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend. Oxford University Press. pp. 41–46. ISBN 0-19-516752-X.

[3] Dregni, Michael (2008). Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing. Oxford University Press. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-0-19-531192-1.

[4] Dregni, Michael (2008). Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing. Oxford University Press. pp. 99–101. ISBN 978-0-19-531192-1.

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Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	France BnF data Germany United States
Artists	MusicBrainz
Other	IdRef