FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT
AMATI SCHMITT

October 20, 2023 | by Rusty Aceves

Amati Schmitt at SFJAZZ, 11/10/19 (photo by Richard Gelfand)

The legacy of Roma guitar icon Django Reinhardt is in good hands with the great Dorado Schmitt and his sons, Amati Schmitt and Samson Schmitt, as keepers of the flame. We look forward to their return to the Miner stage with special guests (11/24-26). Here are five things you should know about the 28-year-old master Amati Schmitt:

1. He was born in August 1995 in the small city of Thionville, located in the historic Moselle area of northeastern France near the borders with Germany and Luxembourg.
2. Amati began on piano at age six and guitar at age eight, showing so much ability that he was performing on stage with his father by nine. 
3. His reputation had grown to that of a major young talent by his early teens, and in 2010 he performed for six nights with Dorado Schmitt at New York’s Birdland club, and in appearances around the world.
4. At sixteen, he headlined with his own band at the annual Django Reinhardt Festival in Samois-sur-Seine, France — the final home of Django Reinhardt.
5. In 2012 Harmonia Mundi distribution released Schmitt’s debut recording Sonny Day on their Le Chant Du Monde label, featuring his father Dorado and older brother Bronson on rhythm guitars along with bassist Xavier Nikq. Dorado and Amati recorded two co-led albums, Amati and Dorado Schmitt (2014), and Sinti Du Monde (2016).

Dorado Schmitt, Amati Schmitt, Samson Schmitt, and special guests perform 11/24-26. More information available here.

Originally posted 11/5/19