Customer Reviews

Bireli Lagrene & Friends- Live Jazz A Vienne

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
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This was a slam dunk for me as I am very familiar with Bireli's work. If you have not heard him, you are really missing out if you love great jazz guitar. On this amazing DVD, Bireli leads his group through a long program of fantastic gypsy jazz pieces mixing up well worn standards 'warhorses' alongside some great melodic lesser known pieces. Of course the requisite "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Nuages" are there. Through it all, Bireli solos with fierce abandon and creativity, using blinding single note runs, octaves, even chord fragments, whatever his mood at the moment dictates. He is one of the few players that I don't hear any limitations in his playing. Of equal interest is violinist Florin Niculesciu (sorry, I know I butchered the name). He is the best improvising violinist I've heard since Mark O'Connor, and their styles are very similar. If you enjoy the gypsy jazz style, this is a no brainer. The show is 240 min. long, very generous to be sure, and some of the extras are cool. It is fun to see a very young (probably 10-12 years old at the time) Bireli play solo at Montreaux jazz fest, and people are almost falling out of their chairs, he is so good even then! Suffice it to say, Bireli Lagrene has become THE modern Django Rheinhardt, taking the brilliant style he developed and modernizing it (just a bit) to be the ultimate player in this style. Their are numerous virtuosos in this style:Jimmy Rosenberg, Angelo DeBarre, John Jorgenson,Gary Potter, but I still feel that Bireli is the top of the heap for this (and many other styles). Essential.

Having been a jazz fanatic for more than 30 years I describe this concert as 3 hours of the most joyous, beautiful, swinging, virtuosic music I've ever heard. Bireli Lagrene is not, by a long shot, the only phenomenal musician here, although he organized the program and invited the guests. You will also be blown away by Florin Niculescu who must scorch violins on a regular basis, incredibly swinging father and son Dorado and Samson Schmitt, the blazing Angelo Debarre, the totally original Sylvain Luc, Stochelo Rosenberg who must have been playing guitar before birth, and the ever-so-cool Serge Krief. These are just the highlights for me, everyone on the stage is a true master.
It's man versus guitar, and violin, and accordion, and the poor instruments are shown no mercy. Chunks of rosewood and spruce are flying everywhere. That funny smell you notice when you put this DVD on is the aroma of burning ebony and melting frets. If you're a guitar player, or maybe a fiddler, you'll have to pick your jaw up off of the floor.

the art of manouche gypsy jazz has suffered too long from the lack of an excellent example of one of it's top acts made accessible thru DVD in America... now, American audiences can watch a grrreat gypsy jazz group, led by maestro Bireli Lagrene, showing the contemporary state of modern, post-Django Reinhardt, gypsy jazz master-fully played & well filmed in the state of the art medium of DVD... this DVD should help immensely increase the popularity of the beauty of this musical style with American music lovers !!! as it is broadcast thru BET jazz & Ovation & Bravo, etc,etc,etc,- audiences thoughout America can finally be exposed to the wonder-full beauty of this art-form & some of it's greatest players... Bireli Lagrene, Stochelo Rosenberg, Angelo Debarre & many other tremendous guitarists may now be enjoyed by more than only a cult following- Bravo Bireli !!! this DVD has my highest recommendation... check out the video clips of child prodigy Bireli at the end of this DVD- incredible dexterity & amazing feel- it reminds me of what it might have been like to watch Mozart as a child perform... Essential & Outstanding !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Highly recommended. The level of musicianship is outstanding. All players will amaze with their musicality and technique. The video quality is also excellent. If you are into jazz and improvisation you will enjoy watching this concert many times over.

Bireli Lagrene first appeared in the 80's as a child prodigy ala Django Reinhardt. Amidst the flashes of brilliance his timing was horrendous and phrases were not well constructed.... but after all, he was only 12 yrs old and this isn't classical music.

But Bireli has grown and matured temendously via his collaborations with the likes of the late great Jaco Pastorius and so many other fine musicians. So, it is fitting that he hosted this DVD concert celebrating the manouche (gipsy) jazz of Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grapelli and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France.

As if Bireli and friends weren't sufficient to the task (which they most certainly are) Lagrene invites many of Europe's myriad manouche maniacs to this gipsy extravaganza.... most of them are monster musicans.

Angelo Debarre and many other truly brilliant players join Bireli, Floren Niculescu (violinist extraordinaire) and the brilliant accordianist Richard Galliano to burn the bloody house down in this "free for all manouche music melee".

With gipsy string music clearly showcased, these Certified Django Junkies perform 3 1/2 hours of the best 30 songs of that golden era..... all culminating in an "everyone onstage" riff-rolicking, string breaking, phrase stealing free for all version of Django's signature, "Minor Swing" that burns the house down........ Hell, I'm suprised the Paris Fire department didn't come.

BUY THIS DVD .... IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT...I'LL BUY IT BACK FROM YOU.......

Believe me, if you love gipsy jazz...THIS IS FOR YOU....!!

Timothy A. Di Pietro
Certified Django Junkie

Maybe not, but the spirit of the great gypsy guitarist lives on in this fine musician. The ensemble is as infectious and delightful in their approach and execution as the original Hot Club. Taped at an outdoor concert, this project is superb in it's content and technical quality. The audience is totally in awe of this great group. This DVD is almost 3 hours long and full of the exuberance that defines gypsy jazz/swing. Fans of Reinhardt/Grappelli will not be disappointed!

Alguns visitantes do Jazzseen, em sua maioria anônimos por motivos óbvios, têm manifestado sua repulsa figadal à sanfona e às meninas que dançam o tango. Tadinha da sanfoninha: nenhum instrumento traz em si a musicalidade assim como nem toda moça nasce sabendo dançar o tango. Caberá ao músico dar vida e sabor às mesmas. No caso específico do instrumento seriam inumeráveis os exemplos de perícia, beleza, swing e improviso emprestados ao jazz por esse à primeira vista quão assustador instrumento. Exemplo imediato que vem à mente é a colaboração do levado sanfoneiro Richard Galliano ao Projeto Cigano do violeiro Biréli Lagrène, ex-criança prodígio e atualmente um mestre maior do violão cigano. As colaborações animadas e cheias de inteligência e alegria entre Lagrène e Galliano podem ser conferidas em alguns dvd's, o que dá ainda mais cor ao som desses dois incríveis músicos. De quebra, no dvd abaixo, você ainda conta com a participação do neto de Django. Vá, ditadura cruel do anonimato: permita às meninas dançarem o tango !!!

If only we had this kind of concert in the USA! I'm a lover of gypsy jazz and a devoted fan of the Rosenberg Trio, having met them in The Netherlands a few years back. So I came to this DVD already a "believer." But this concert is FAR more than I hoped for. It is exceptionally well produced and beautifully filmed. I've watched it "edge to edge" maybe 15 times and I'd gladly watch it again! I especially like watching the expressions on the musicians faces as they communicate with each other - they know when a mistake has been made and they laugh about it! They know when the rhythm has become exceptionally fast for the violinist and HE laughs about it! This is why a DVD always beats a CD. There is nothing quite like watching master musicians having great fun as they play in the stratosphere. Nowhere in the USA can one go to witness such great and timeless musicianship. If only!

Watch THE GREAT Bireli Lagrene ripp huge chunks of riff flesh from the surface of your brains! This is acoustic "Django-style" playing of the absolute highest order. Bireli stamps it hard with his unique style and virtuosity!>>>> This guy is communicating with aliens!<<<<<< The Holy Grail of performance DVD. Incredible footage of him as a kid included in the bonus section. The interview questions/topics could have been better but a minor qibble. Great quality/great production High value!!! BUY THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I received this DVD yesterday, and I can assure all acoustic guitar and especially Django Reinhardt lovers, this is some of the best music every played in that style. It has almost 3 hours and 10 minutes of performance time. I first heard about Birelli in 1990 when Al Dimeola introduced him. Since then I have been listening Birelli Lagrene's two CDs mainly. I loved his devotion for Django. And I was always curious in the last few years about how his performance would be with Gypsy bands around Europe.

And this DVD is precisely that. He has some of the finest artists in Europe playing with him in Vienne (Vienna) mainly. There is also a bonus section where Birelli as a small boy playing music, and I found it stunning.

If you love acoustic guitar, especially the Django style and the Gypsy style, or if you love stuff like Strunz & Farah, Al Dimeola, Larry Coryell, you will surely enjoy this DVD.

The quality of the DVD is good. They show a lot of detail on the finger work, and Birelli's friends play equally well.