AGENTS:
Michael Fatum - michael@arcartists.com
Nicole Muto-Graves - nicole@arcartists.com
“Perhaps the most creative improviser in Gypsy jazz today, Mr. Wrembel plays the guitar with a rich and colorful lyricism.”
“Stephane Wrembel just might be the greatest acoustic guitarist alive.”
“The mind-bendingly rapid melodies Stephane provided to the set’s final song were an exclamation point for an audience that was enthralled for 60 minutes of unforgettable music.”
“... a revelation”
Stéphane Wrembel is quite simply one of the finest guitarists of his generation. Renowned for his unparalleled breadth and depth as a musician, composer, and educator, Wrembel has spent over two decades shaping a sound that transcends genre and borders. Since his debut in 2002, he has released a steady stream of acclaimed recordings, establishing himself as one of the most distinctive and original guitar voices in contemporary music.
His live performances are celebrated worldwide for their virtuosity and emotional range. Wrembel has headlined stages at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Town Hall in New York City, and the Lyon Opera House in France. He has performed and collaborated with musical luminaries including Jean-Michel Pilc, Sam Bush, Stochelo Rosenberg, Esperanza Spalding, and Al Di Meola. His festival appearances span the globe, from the Montreal and Monterey Jazz Festivals to the Django Reinhardt Festival in France, the Ellnora Guitar Festival, and Caramoor Jazz Festival. Internationally, he has toured across Canada, France, Israel, the UK, India, and Nigeria.
Born in Paris and raised in Fontainebleau—the birthplace of Impressionism and home of legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt—Wrembel began his musical journey on classical piano at age four. As a teenager, he discovered the guitar and became immersed in rock, particularly inspired by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. “I had a classical background, a passion for rock music, and then I found out about Django,” he recalls. “I fell in love with the very strong impressionist feel in his music.”
Captivated by Reinhardt’s artistry, Wrembel immersed himself in Sinti culture, spending years learning from the masters of this living musical tradition. “I spent six or seven years going to the camps,” he says. “That’s how you learn this music—it’s specific to a culture. Music is not only the notes. Without the culture, something is missing.” He studied with renowned Sinti guitarists including Angelo Debarre and Serge Krief before moving to the United States to attend Berklee College of Music, where he graduated summa cum laude in 2002.
That same year, he released his debut album, Introducing Stéphane Wrembel, hailed by Vintage Guitar Magazine as “pure dazzle and dash, a stunning storm of notes that blankets the melody in a rain of arpeggiated tones.” After relocating to New York City in 2003, his reputation quickly spread among musicians and audiences alike. His early albums Gypsy Rumble (2005)—featuring mandolin legend David Grisman—and Barbes-Brooklyn (2006) drew critical acclaim. Woody Allen later selected Wrembel’s “Big Brother,” from Gypsy Rumble, for the 2008 film Vicky Cristina Barcelona. His fourth release, Terre Des Hommes (2008), further cemented his growing influence.
In 2003, Wrembel founded Django à Gogo, an annual music festival and guitar camp celebrating the art, culture, and evolution of Sinti-inspired guitar. The event has grown into a weeklong international celebration, bringing together some of the world’s finest musicians to perform at venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Town Hall and Symphony Space. Based in Maplewood, New Jersey and New York City, the festival has recently expanded with editions in Los Angeles, Canada, and beyond. Wrembel serves as its artistic director and driving force, nurturing the next generation of musicians through performance and education.
Wrembel’s global breakthrough came with his composition “Bistro Fada,” the charming waltz that became the theme for Woody Allen’s 2011 Oscar®-winning film Midnight in Paris. The song appeared on his fifth album Origins and on the film’s Grammy®-winning soundtrack. In 2012, Wrembel performed “Bistro Fada” live at the Academy Awards® alongside Hans Zimmer and an all-star ensemble.
He has continued to expand his artistic reach with each project. Dreamers of Dreams (2014) showcased his dynamic quartet, while two live recordings—Live in India and Live in Rochester (2016)—captured his deep rapport with audiences around the world. From 2017 to 2021, Wrembel released six volumes of The Django Experiment, recorded live in-studio with longtime collaborators Thor Jensen (guitar), Ari Folman-Cohen (bass), Nick Anderson (drums), and Nick Driscoll (saxophone/clarinet). These albums reimagined the music of Django Reinhardt and other composers through a modern lens, earning acclaim from DownBeat, JazzTimes, Acoustic Guitar Magazine, Guitar World, The New York City Jazz Record, and more.
In 2019, Wrembel produced Les Yeux Noirs, the debut album by Django’s great-grandson Simba Baumgartner, and released Django L’Impressionniste, a groundbreaking recording of 17 rarely heard solo guitar preludes composed by Reinhardt between 1937 and 1950. Wrembel spent four years transcribing and mastering these works, publishing them in a beautifully bound book of sheet music in 2021—the first complete collection of its kind.
Wrembel also composed the original score for Woody Allen’s 2020 film Rifkin’s Festival, starring Gina Gershon, Christoph Waltz, and Wallace Shawn. In November 2021, he introduced Django New Orleans, a nine-piece ensemble that fuses New Orleans brass and rhythms with the intricate guitar style rooted in his French heritage. The group’s debut at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club sold out eight consecutive nights, followed by Shades of Django in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater, which also sold-out multiple performances. In May 2023, Wrembel released Django New Orleans in conjunction with the Django à Gogo Festival.
In 2024, he unveiled Triptych—a three-part recording (Phases I, II, and III) with celebrated pianist Jean-Michel Pilc—earning glowing reviews in DownBeat, Guitar Player, and Acoustic Guitar Magazine. His forthcoming album, Django New Orleans II: Hors-Série, will be released on November 14, 2025, offering fresh interpretations of timeless classics alongside two new original compositions, including Wrembel’s debut as a vocalist.
Today, Stéphane Wrembel is recognized as one of the world’s preeminent guitarists and composers—an artist who transcends genre while honoring tradition. His music draws from jazz, classical, blues, flamenco, and rock, yet it coalesces into a singular sound: unmistakably, and only, Stéphane Wrembel.
“I just play my own music,” he says. “I like to believe that it is beyond any one genre and that there is something in it for everyone. It’s not only for Django lovers or jazz lovers—it’s for the music lover.”