Etienne "Sarane" Ferret - Miami - Paris, 30 April 1941

Sarane Ferret et Le Swing Quintette de Paris Andre Lluis, Andre "Sylvio" Siobud (cl); Etienne "Sarane" Ferret (g solo); Jean "Matelo" Ferret (g);Maurice Speilleux (b); Pierre Fouad (d) Paris, 30 April 1941 Today Etienne "Sarane" Ferret is probably the least well known of the famous brothers who performed with Django Reinhardt although he was by far the most famous during the war-time years. He was born in Rouen in 1912 and took very much the same musical route during his early years as his brothers Baro and Matelo and Django himself. He initially played banjo at dances on the outskirts of Paris and then guitar at Parisian musettes with accordionist Guérino. However, once he met Django and Joseph in the early thirties, he became converted to jazz and was consistently more jazz-orientated than either of his brothers who both retained and cultivated strong elements of musette and Tzigane in their playing. He was at his most popular during the war forming his own group the "Swing Quintette de Paris" whose personnel varied but included André Lluis, George Effrosse, Robert Bermoser, Baro Ferret, Matelo Ferret together with the Hot Club Quintet drummer Pierre Fouad and bass player Lucien Simoens. He was also a sideman for Gus Viseur, Charley Bazin, Tony Murena and harmonica player Dany Kaye. Together with Eugène Vées, Sarane had a small part in the Charles Trénet film "La Romance de Paris". The structure and playing of his own quintet of this period indicates what a keen follower of Django and jazz he was although musically much less flamboyant than Reinhardt or his own brothers. On occasions, the rhythm playing of his Quintette is almost indistinguishable from that of the New Quintet of the Hot Club of France formed by Django with Hubert Rostaing after Stephane Grappelli remained in the UK. His preference for jazz (he apparently even liked Charlie Christian) has a parallel in the playing of Joseph Reinhardt who actually began performing on an amplified guitar before Django. Recordings of Sarane are very limited and commercial considerations meant that he later began playing more popular and strongly Country & Western influenced music. He married Gusti Malha's daughter Poupée and continued to perform in Montparnasse and Montmartre, where he lived, up to the 1960's. Despite his popularity during the war, at the time of his death in 1970, he was living in obscurity. One of the enigmas concerning Sarane is why he never recorded with Django although he presumably jammed with him. This omission is particularly surprising since he was so influenced by Reinhardt and was clearly a very competent rhythm player in the Hot Club style. Another is whether it is actually him playing on "Valse Manouche" as claimed by Daniel Nevers in Volume 20 of the Fremeaux Intégrale Django Reinhardt series. Opinions about Sarane Ferret's ability as a solo guitarist vary considerably. He was certainly less "gypsy" than and lacked that "off-the-wall" bravado of his brothers which, to some, may have been a positive asset. However, despite being a measured, tasteful player, the truth is he probably lacked that certain spark required to lift him above the ordinary.