Drom Blanchard
Biography Drom Blanchard
Drom Blanchard
Native of the Jura (East of France), Drom started to learn the guitar very young thanks to his father who taught him the basics of jazz and gypsy music. Raised in the culture of the gypsies, he later developed his technique by ear (repeating on his guitar what he heard on the records of Django Reinhardt by himself), as well as with his friends in manouche camps. He played many years with Ritary Gaguenetti and Stéphane Neidhardt , two guitarists who taught him to improve his playing and to understand jazz harmony. His influences are varied and have been accumulated over the years by his many trips abroad, particularly in Spain, Morocco and the United Kingdom - Long journeys that have given him the opportunity to play with great musicians such as Tchavolo SCHMITT, Samson and Dorado SCHMITT, Mandino REINHARDT, Angelo DEBARRE, Romane MANETTI, Thomas DUTRONC, Hank MARVIN, Niño JOSELE, Costel NITESCU, and many more...
Thus we feel in his music the footprint of the Rosenberg Trio, and we find in his songs the soul of Paco de Lucia. He admits to being also heavily influenced by artists of soul, funk and bebop such as Paul Jackson Jr, Joe Pass, Georges Benson, Pat Martino or Mike Reinhardt.
If his guitar today remains largely imbued with the legacy of Django, it appears that many mediterranean, flamenco, blues and funk harmonies come out of his instrument... In short, a mix of influences that allows him to have now a proper and diverse style.
