Practice English Speaking&Listening with: The Rosenberg Trio Documentary - sensitve strings: 10th anniversary [HD] English subtitles

3 Knights of the Order of the Dutch Lion living at the caravan camp in the village Brabandse Neunen.

From here they have conquered the last 10 years the world with their gypsy swing.

As music nomads, they are still almost daily on their way to concerts.

Nonnie with his big bass traveling alone.

His brother Nouche and nephew Stochelo Rosenberg share the other car.

The Rosenberg Trio can look back on a stormy career.

The festivals are like their home's.

From Montreal to North sea jazz.

They stood in the progamme of Andre Hazes, Shirley Bassey and Luciano Pavarotti and played with Jan Akkerman , Toots Thielemans and Jaap Van Zweden.

They doing well now but that was in the past different.

Pfoe, I've done a bit of auto trade but that was not much.

I've trade a little bit of old iron and metal, but the same here, it was not much.

I did everything, realy everything where we could make money of.

A little bit in the furniture trade and antique.

Or i bought me a car where i maked my profit of.

The truth about where Gypsy's come from is from India.

The Roma Gypsy's settled on the Balkan, and they are mostly playing violin.

The Sinti, what the Rosenberg trio and Django Reinhardt is, settled in West Europe and playing mostly guitar.

A tradition, going from father to son.

We had a caravan that was not big, a meter 5/6.

And that was very small, i think mayby 2 meter wide.

(Reporter): For how any people ?

Uhm, my father and mother and 4 children.

My father and mother slept on the floor.

And we slept on the bed.

In my younger years it was not easy.

We need to collect old iron or went knocking on doors.

It was just poverty.

Who learnt me to play the guitar ?

That was my family i must say.

When i was 10 i started to play the guitar.

My father had a old gramophone recorder, he practiced on it so he kept playing well.

When my father was done playing the guitar and i was alone with my brother we did the same with the guitar.

I don't went to school to write and learn, i Always want to play the guitar. When i play the guitar i can travel over the world and give concerts.

(Reporter): Can you read music notes ?

No.

(Reporter): Went to a music school ?

No, but if i went to a music school it was a little bit easier to play.

(Reporter): So you never went to a music school ?

No, no i also can't read music notes.

It is very easy when you can read music notes it makes music easier.

Then it is easy, you just put the music notes in front of you just read the notes, and you play.

(Reporter): Can you read music notes ?

No i can't.

(Reporter): No music notes ?

No, no music notes.

(Reporter): Do you miss that ?

Well with The Rosenberg trio not.

But when we playing with a other band then it is very difficult.

(Reporter): A few years ago the Rosenberg trio played together with classic violinist Jaap Van Zweden.

You can call it a handicap that 1 person can read music notes and the other person can't.

I read music notes and the Rosenberg trio not.

So they need to listen to my music and then trying to play my music to built the same thing around my music, and then we look how it sounds.

And that is the difficult part.

1 more time ?

I can't hear anything ?

I'm a little bit deaf haha ...

(Reporter): Jaap Van Zweden records a tape, then the Rosenberg trio needs to make something thats sounds perfect.

I think that i have a good memory, and that is because i do everything with my hearing.

So i need to listen very good what they are playing.

And then i try to play the same with my guitar.

When i listen to a song i already see the chords in my head.

That on the end that is for me difficult.

I learn a number in the beginning, part for part and then i replay the song again in the beginning then the first part is done, then i start with part 2.

And that is how i learn myself a song.

When i start a part of a song it is for them not easy to play, just like take the K or the D, it is for them very frustrating. So they have to play with their hearing.

The first 2 cd's that we made. If you ask me now to play a number of that cd i can't do it right now i must learn it again.

With 1 song i can do it and with a other song i can't.

All the cd's that we made is all played on feeling and hearing without music notes. When you play music with music notes it makes a song much easier to play it again.

(Reporter): Stochelo comes from a musical family.

(Reporter): He visits his mother who living with Stochelo's 4 other brothers and 1 sister in a house.

(Reporter): His mother has the family archive.

(Reporter): The memory's from many many years ago.

And here is my little brother Mozes, he is giving here his first signature on his first song called Seresta.

Here is my little brother again.

And here we are with 3 of us.

(Reporter): A very musical family.

Yes absolutely yes.

And that is when we sold 50 Thousand copie's with the Rosenberg trio.

Here is the first golden plate for 50 Thousand sold records from Gypsy Summer.

(Reporter): Was Stochelo when he was yonger also musical ?

Yes, he started very young with music and for hours learning and learning in his room.

He remember that.

That is how it started, and then he won in a tv show.

Hello, that was good !

Did you liked it ?

Yes !

No cold fingers ?

No.

What is your name ?

Stochelo Rosenberg.

My little brother, so you can see. He started also on very young age.

(Reporter): Ah, there is the old caravan !

Yes.

We still have this caravan.

This is my grandfather.

The beautiful old time is over.

When we traveled with our caravan's and horses.

Going everywhere.

That was just a very very nice life !

(Reporter): They never could say goodby to the caravan. The caravan is still standing in the garden.

He was Always proud.

This is a nice picture with Stephane Grappelli.

(Reporter): The legendary French violist Stephane Grappelli called the Rosenberg trio his children.

(Reporter): the Rosenberg trio went to America to play with Stephane Grappelli.

(Reporter): Stephane Grappelli also played on 1 of the Rosenberg trio's cd.

Yes that is my grandfather and the one with the violin is his brother

This picture was taken just after the WW2 somewhere in Belgium.

(Reporter): They survived the WW2.

Yes.

(Reporter): The biggest inspiration for the Rosenberg trio was Django Reinhardt, He has started the Gypsy swing.

(Reporter): In the France, Django Reinhardt started a new type of music mixed with Gypsy music and American jazz.

(Reporter): In 1931, Django Reinhardt started Du Hot Club Du France with violist Stephane Grappelli.

(Reporter): Through a fire in his caravan Django Reinhardt's 2 left fingers was seriously burned.

(Reporter): But still he was able to playing the guitar with 2 fingers left.

(Reporter): Django Reinhardt developed a almost magical sound with his 2 fingers. That until today a inspriration is for the Rosenberg Trio.

(Reporter): They not only wanted to play like Django Reinhardt, they also learnt to improvise like Django Reinhardt.

He had a amazing improvisation.

Stephane Grappelli told me once, when they recording a song in the studio, Django Reinhardt played and then they listened to the song.

Then they recorded again. Then when they listened again it was like Django Reinhardt played a complete other style in that song.

So Django Reinhardt could make from the same song a new song just like that.

(Django Reinhardt in Den Haag Netherlands)

It swings, and the music makes me happy.

He can also make sentimental music, but the most of his music is swing, it is swing and happy. It is alive.

(Reporter): Stochelo plays on a unique guitar, a French selmer guitar from 1940. With the name of his hero on it.

(Reporter): Django Reinhardt.

This guitar has the name on it of Django Reinhardt. It is a little boys dream that come true.

(Reporter): So you are sure that this guitar was of Django Reinhardt ?

There are story's that this guitar was his guitar, but i have no prove that this guitar was Django Reinhardt's guitar.

But i'm already happy that i have this guitar, it is a Django Reinhardt guitar.

We play it again, but now just a little bit softer.

(Reporter): the Rosenberg trio playing the song Bolero Triste from Django Reinhardt.

(Reporter): But they also playing other style, from jazz to classic, pop and flamingo.

(Reporter): One of their success was, To the night, with spanish sounds.

(Reporter): Their success in the Netherlands was in 1992 in Den Haag on the North sea jazz festival.

(Reporter): They already played 5 time in this festival with success.

(Reporter): the Rosenberg trio playing everything, together or with other people, like here with Denise Jannah.

(Reporter): Also performances on national and international tv are a success.

We have played a lot with different people, and that was the key to our success, that we also played other style music and not only the Django Reinhardt music, what i of course really appreciate.

But as musician you want to push your limits, and you want to try different style.

Brazilian music was also a inspiration for me, and Bibob jazz.

You can hear it in my other cd's.

(Reporter): Is the Rosenberg trio playing Gypsy music or not ? Musically they continue like a Gypsy.

(Reporter): Can you tell me, whats is your feeling when you are playing ?

When i play then i become a different person, i forget many things when i play.

If we play a song that is very fast then i become a totally different person.

If we are on stage and playing the song Nuages from Django Reinhardt, when we playing i'm totally gone, i become one with the music and the people who's listening to us.

Your feeling just goes totally in the music when i'm playing. why i don't know. On that moment you don't see the people but still you want to try to give the same feeling to the people.