Matelo Ferret

Jean Pierre "Matelo" Ferret (1918 – 24 January 1989) (also spelled Matelot, Matlo and Matlow, surname also later spelled Ferré on occasion) was a French musette and gypsy jazz guitarist and composer. He was an associate of Django Reinhardt and the youngest brother of guitarists Baro and Sarane Ferret. He recorded with his own sextet in Paris in the 1940s and continued performing there, with occasional recording sessions, until his death in 1989. He was noted for a musical style that incorporated Russian and Hungarian influences and lived long enough to see a resurgence of interest in gypsy jazz in which he was recognised as one of the great surviving players of the genre. Two of his sons, Boulou and Elios Ferré, continue to play a more modern and individualistic form of gypsy jazz-based guitar music in Paris.

Matelo died of cancer on 24 January 1989, aged 70, a contemporary of Django who survived long enough to see the revival of interest in gypsy jazz and related music and to leave several modern filmed performances. Two of his sons Boulou and Elios Ferré continue to perform. A third son, Michel "Sarane" Ferré (nickname after his uncle Sarane Ferret), has also performed and recorded with his father.

Matelo Ferret was the youngest of the three Ferret brothers, Gitan gypsies from Rouen, France who made their way to Paris and there made the acquaintance of Django Reinhardt in 1931. He was known by his French nickname "Matelo," which meant "sailor". He replaced guitarist Gusti Malha alongside accordionist Émile Vacher and later played with Guérino, another well known accordionist.

From 1931, the Ferret brothers Matelo, Baro and Étienne "Sarane" Ferret, and cousin René "Challain" Ferret, were favorite sidemen of Reinhardt. At that time, Django and his companions frequently played at the Russian cabarets in Paris, notably the Casanova and the Shéhérazade and, while Django moved away into a more jazz direction for the major part of his career, Matelo spent much of his subsequent time in the Russian cabarets and developed a unique guitar style incorporating many Russian and Romanian gypsy (Tzigane) elements as well as musette-style waltzes and jazz.

After recording as a sideman on various sessions in the 1930s and early 40s, his first sessions under his own name were cut in 1944 (as "Jean Ferret et son Sixtette"); he recorded sporadically through the 1950s and 1960s (including notable guitar contributions to the famous "Manouche Partie" LP) and summed up his life's work with the 2-LP set Tziganskaïa recorded for Charles Delaunay in 1978 (re-released on CD along with 4 unrecorded waltzes by Django Reinhardt which Matelo recorded in 1960) on which he was accompanied by his son Boulou on rhythm guitar, along with cimbalom (a favourite instrument of the Tzigane gypsy style) and double bass.