Danny Fender was one of the great guitarists you may never have heard. He died December 3, 2024, at age 54.
Fender was well-known among his people, the American Roma. He recorded sporadically including several live recordings as Danny Fender and the Caravans, released by L.A.’s Festival Records, including his 2006 album, A Band of Gypsys. Standouts among his repertoire included a blazing version of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Flight of the Bumblebee,” anything by his hero, Elvis, and Fender’s original composition, “Dartanian,” later recorded by Seattle’s Rumba Kings.
Fender’s grandfather had a chance meeting with Django Reinhardt in a New York City nightclub during Django’s U.S. tour with Duke Ellington in 1946. That meeting between fellow Roma in part inspired Fender’s family and its musical legacy.
“We brought our music with us from the old country,” he once said. “We bring it everywhere we travel.”
Fender learned to play with help from his uncle, Johnny Guitar, a fitting stage name. With his band, the Fantastics, in the ’60s he recorded several traditional folk songs with a modern surf-rock touch, released as 45s. His other influences included Les Paul, Lawrence Welk guitarist Buddy Merrill, the Ventures, and fellow Roma guitarist Johnny Adomono. Another little-known (but stellar) guitarist, in the ’60s and ’70s, Adomono cut a number of successively more bizarre LPs ranging from Balkan songs to lounge music, often with far out effects.
Fender’s version of Django’s “Minor Swing” was an amalgam of Gypsy jazz, rockabilly, surf guitar, the Gipsy Kings, and more.
“People say we Gypsies are robbers and thieves – and I agree,” he once said. “We steal everyone’s music, and make it Gypsy music!” – Michael Dregni
This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
