Bonjour
Mesdames et Messieurs!
My name is
Jon Roniger. I am a New Orleans native. I have been playing music since the 5th
grade when I joined the church choir (on a whim really). I've been addicted to
music ever since. I play over 150 shows a year. I have toured the US and Europe
many times. I have released twelve independent records over the last 20 years
and I’ve written hundreds of songs for pop, folk and country artists.
I am working
on a project called GYPSYLAND where I am collaborating with a French native
living in New Orleans named Thomas Chaze. We first met when he was teaching
French and I was one of his students. We are writing songs in French
(continental French, not Cajun) and combining them with the music of New
Orleans.
I have a
real passion for the musical styles of New Orleans based jazz and Dixieland
music. In recent years I have found that I also really love the Gypsy musical
style of Django Reinhardt. I’ve also been studying French. This project came
about through my passion for all these things! We have named it GYPSYLAND to
capsulate the combining of the gypsy music of Reinhardt and the Dixieland jazz
music of New Orleans.
Thomas is an
educator, a writer, and a sailor, who likes to not be limited to one specific
field. A traveler, but not a tourist, he was born in south eastern France, but
raised in Bordeaux. In New Orleans, he began to explore new ways to creating
through songwriting. Our world, says Thomas, desperately
needs poetry. But poetry, he adds, is too often disconnected from the language
people use on a daily basis, and frequently becomes out of reach for many of
us. Songwriting creates poetic forms in a contemporary way that everyone can
immediately relate to. He and Jonathan are inspired by what makes everyday life
extraordinary.
The two of
us have found it fun and incredibly exciting to create these pieces. We want to
share them with a community that loves all things French and all things New
Orleans.