Customer Reviews

Gypsy Project

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Gypsy Project is the soundtrack for the story of the return of the prodigal son. Alsatian Gypsy guitarist Biréli Lagrène first wowed the world in the 1980s as a child prodigy playing the music of Django Reinhardt, as well as his own Gypsy jazz compositions. Upon hearing Lagrène?s stylish melody lines and innate sense of swing, the legend goes that Django?s brother, Joseph Reinhardt, broke down in tears and declared him the true successor to Django.
Lagrène released his first album, Routes to Django, in 1980 when he was but fourteen years old. He followed this debut with a never-ending cycle of tours and a handful of other LPs, including 15, Down in Town, and Swing ?81. By the mid-1980s, he was burnt out on emulating his cultural and musical hero, and began looking for new challenges.
Lagrène set aside his Favino-built Selmer copy and picked up an electric guitar. Alongside bass wonder Jaco Pastorius, he crafted an electric jazz-rock fusion sound that made Lagrène a star to a whole new galaxy of fans.
Beginning in the mid-1990s, Lagrène wearied of fusion as well. He turned his hands to a more mainstream style of jazz and released several records, including Acoustic Moments, My Favorite Django, Duet with Sylvain Luc, and Blue Eyes, a Gypsy tribute to Frank Sinatra. In addition, he teamed up with the Jimi Hendrix of the accordion, Richard Galliano, on albums such as New York Tango.
Now, Lagrène has suddenly returned to his roots. At the urging of his old fans and after seeing the growing commercial success of Gypsy jazz prodigies such as Jimmy Rosenberg, Lagrène is back with an album of glorious Django-style jazz.
Lagrène is joined here by a stellar cast. Accordionist Galliano and Romanian jazz violin virtuoso Florin Niculescu add their touch to several tracks. The rock-solid rhythm work of guitarists Hono Winterstein and Holzmano Lagrene as well as bassist Diego Imbert also shines.
But it?s Lagrène who is in the spotlight, and his guitarwork is creative, fun, energetic, and emotionally charged. Part of Lagrène?s genius in playing Gypsy jazz was that he didn?t seek speed at the expense of melody and swing. This holds true on this new album as well, with many songs played at Django?s original tempo?which is a good bit more relaxed than many pyrotechnicians play them today.
Gypsy Project is also Lagrène?s first Gypsy jazz studio recording, as all of his early albums were live releases. It?s good to have the opportunity to hear Lagrène loud and clear.
Part of the beauty of his sound lies in his choice of guitar. He first sought to borrow the Selmer #504 of Django, but when that proved impossible, he selected one of the new ?legacy? guitars built by French luthier Maurice Dupont. Using aged, forty-year-old woods and the original Selmer tooling, Lagrène?s top-of-the-line Dupont has a sound that is full, warm, and majestic.
With Gypsy Project, the prodigal son has returned. Welcome back!

This album is so well played, so respectful of the Django tradition and in the meanwhile innovative, so romantic, so meaningful, so intense, so technical, so satisfying, so clever, so funnyyyyyyyyyyy, so well recorded, it's such a value in the end it is ridicolous. It is absolutly breathtaking and spectacular!! I did buy this one, the other Bireli's album "live with friends" and the dvd. Bireli is stellar but Niculescu the violin player, man he's a monster musician (really). Consider that I really DON'T like violin but he plays magnificiently and I can't do nothing but change my mind about violin. This Django project it's one of the most satisfying jazz event of the recent years. When I think how much boring has become Jazz lately I find this album of music which has 60 years (!!!!) incredibly refreshing. Compare the Joy you feel in this album with a lot of sad, minimalist, sterile albums from some "modern" Jazz record companies...(I don't want to point out any of them but you know how many boring recent Jazz albums are out there on the shelves). This one blow them away!!!
WOWWWWWWWWWWWWW UN-BE-LIE-VA-BLE, FUN FUN FUN!!

There have been many who've tried to play in the style of the great Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, but Bireli Lagrene and Florin Niculescu are among the very few who can actually pull it off and make it sound natural. Far from being mere imitators, these are great musicians in their own right, and they have the self-confidence to just be themselves and simply play great music --- rather than shooting for any new speed records, like many overawed Django imitators tend to do. Lagrene actually sounds more like Django on guitar than any other modern-day musician I've heard, and Niculescu is no slouch on violin either. Whether or not you're familar with the music of Reinhardt and Grappelli, this CD stands on its own. If you like "gypsy jazz," or just old-time "string swing" music, you're sure to love Lagrene and Niculescu. If you haven't heard Reinhardt and Grappelli, though, that's the place to start --- and you're in for a treat! Check out the wonderful (and bargain-priced) 5-CD box set called "Django Reinhardt: The Classic Early Recordings in Chronological Order," or at the very least the single-CD "Best of Django Reinhardt."

I keep a pad with me while driving around, listening with a keen ear to my radio on WBGO (the infamous jazz station in Newark, NJ). Every so often, there's a piece that just floors me to the point of pulling over and cranking the stereo up to unsafe levels. I don't recall which track it was exactly, but one track from an album the announcer called "The Gypsy Project" from some guy I've never heard of made me scribble "BUY THIS ALBUM!" in said pad.

A few monts later, here I am with the full album, having listened to it over and over again, it's appeal growing on me with every listen. The guitar-driven pulse swings, grooves, and just generally rocks in a completely acoustic way. Not only does it offer immediate gradification, but it just keeps getting better.

I would reccomend this album to anyone who likes music... at all.

Bireli Lagrene, along w/Florin Niculescu, has put together a HOT band / tour that successfully recreates the Hot Club vibe of Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli... Bireli & Florin provide tons of fun w/ great soloing over a really full rhythm section that just BURNS a groove... one of the BEST-EVER modern gypsy jazz recordings !!!! catch their live show when its' caravan comes your way- it's the real deal !!!!

The hottest thing since sunburn! You MUST have this cd even if you are a 'casual' listener of the genre. If you're a guitarist, set your ears to STUN!!!!!

Bireli Lagrene,36 years old, and still 22 years of musical career.This french manouche,born in the north east of France,near Germany,recorded at 14 two extraordinary albums,"Bireli swings '81" and "routes to Django".I loved these albums,made by a young prodige who was born the same year as me.Then,I stopped listening to him.I didn't like his years with,among others,Jaco Pastorius.And when this CD was issued in France,a few months ago,I missed it.But a friend of mine,a devoted gipsy-jazz lover,talked me about it,and I decided to buy it.
And I was really knocked out.Bireli's guitar playing here is among the most amazing things I've ever heard in more than twenty years of jazz practice.I mean,a total mastery of the instrument,an oustanding technique,but most of all,a terrific sense of swing,something that french gipsy players master perfectly.
The repertoire of this CD is made of tunes played or composed by Django Reinhardt.There are the incredible "Blues clair",the well known "Belleville","Daphné","swing 42",all written by Django;there are beautiful french songs like "Si tu savais"("if you knew"),"Je suis seul ce soir"(I'm alone tonight"),"Vous et moi"("you and me"),or Charles Trenet's hit "La mer" ("the sea").And some american standards,"Limehouse blues","What is this thing called love",and "Embraceable you".And Fletcher Allen's "Viper's dream" (not referring to the snake).In the thirties,a viper was a guy who used to smoke some (still) illegal products.
I've been deceived by Bireli for years,but this CD made me consider him as one of the greatest french gipsy players.I think that my favorite one will still be Tchawolo Schmitt,but Bireli will come after,with Angelo Debarre,Mandino Reinhardt,Moreno Winterstein,and the elders,Joseph "Nin-Nin" Reinhardt,Matlo,Baro,Sarane and Challin Ferret,Patotte Bousquet and Tchan-Tchou Vidal.
You,american lovers of french gipsy jazz ,will surely have incommensurable troubles to find Vidal's,or Bousquet's,or even the Ferret brothers' recordings.It's a pity,for these guys really were some of the most incredible guitar players of all times.But don't be too disappointed,because neither Vidal or Bousquet were reissued in France.Their original Lp's are currently sold at $ 100,or even more.
But if you can't get the elders, you can have the younger generation.So,if you're a Django Reinhardt's addict, don't miss this record,it's one of the greatest things you'll ever hear.You can also buy Bireli's "gipsy project & friends",which is as necessary as this one.Bireli's playing will amaze you.This is music at its highest level.As beautiful as Billie's "All of me",or as Pres' "These foolish things",or as Coltrane's "My favorite things".
Simply,this is essential music.

This was my first introduction to Gypsy Jazz and I was to say the least pleasantly surprised. I first heard of Bireli Lagrene from his work with Dider Lockwood on "Tribute to Stephane Grapelli" and bought this album on impulse which is something I very rarely do. Clean bright guitar solos dominate this album but the rhythm section is also stunning and I think there's lots on this album for any guitar player (or violinist) to aspire to.

Gypsy Project is the soundtrack for the story of the return of the prodigal son. Alsatian Gypsy guitarist Biréli Lagrène first wowed the world in the 1980s as a child prodigy playing the music of Django Reinhardt, as well as his own Gypsy jazz compositions. Upon hearing Lagrène's stylish melody lines and innate sense of swing, the legend goes that Django's brother, Joseph Reinhardt, broke down in tears and declared him the true successor to Django. Lagrène released his first album, Routes to Django, in 1980 when he was but fourteen years old. He followed this debut with a never-ending cycle of tours and a handful of other LPs, including 15, Down in Town, and Swing '81. By the mid-1980s, he was burnt out on emulating his cultural and musical hero, and began looking for new challenges. Lagrène set aside his Favino-built Selmer copy and picked up an electric guitar. Alongside bass wonder Jaco Pastorius, he crafted an electric jazz-rock fusion sound that made Lagrène a star to a whole new galaxy of fans. Beginning in the mid-1990s, Lagrène wearied of fusion as well. He turned his hands to a more mainstream style of jazz and released several records, including Acoustic Moments, My Favorite Django, Duet with Sylvain Luc, and Blue Eyes, a Gypsy tribute to Frank Sinatra. In addition, he teamed up with the Jimi Hendrix of the accordion, Richard Galliano, on albums such as New York Tango. Now, Lagrène has suddenly returned to his roots. At the urging of his old fans and after seeing the growing commercial success of Gypsy jazz prodigies such as Jimmy Rosenberg, Lagrène is back with an album of glorious Django-style jazz. Lagrène is joined here by a stellar cast. Accordionist Galliano and Romanian jazz violin virtuoso Florin Niculescu add their touch to several tracks. The rock-solid rhythm work of guitarists Hono Winterstein and Holzmano Lagrene as well as bassist Diego Imbert also shines. But it's Lagrène who is in the spotlight, and his guitarwork is creative, fun, energetic, and emotionally charged. Part of Lagrène's genius in playing Gypsy jazz was that he didn't seek speed at the expense of melody and swing. This holds true on this new album as well, with many songs played at Django's original tempo---which is a good bit more relaxed than many pyrotechnicians play them today. Gypsy Project is also Lagrène's first Gypsy jazz studio recording, as all of his early albums were live releases. It's good to have the opportunity to hear Lagrène loud and clear. Part of the beauty of his sound lies in his choice of guitar. He first sought to borrow the Selmer #504 of Django, but when that proved impossible, he selected one of the new "Legacy" guitars built by French luthier Maurice Dupont. Using aged, forty-year-old woods and the original Selmer tooling, Lagrène's top-of-the-line Dupont has a sound that is full, warm, and majestic. With Gypsy Project, the prodigal son has returned. Welcome back!

As everyone has said, this is a very fine CD.

I fell in love with the music of Django Reinhardt forty years ago and an LP of the Hot Club de Paris music was one of my very first jazz LP purchases. If I had a reservation at all it was simply that the quality of recording from the thirties and forties was not as good as it might have been, even though the music still amazed and delighted.

Thus it makes a lot of sense to buy a recording by a modern master of the genre, which Lagrene is without question. Here you have Lagrene and co. playing with superb virtuosity in a studio setting and this may be the finest CD of its type.

My only reservation, and it is a small one, is that this kind music is often more enjoyable in live performance, and you may wish to consider first buying the live DVD of Bireli Lagrene and Friends--Live Jazz in Vienna, which is a brilliant 3-hour long concert that really catches the atmosphere of group of wonderful musicians playing and improvising in similar vein to this recording. (There is also a similar--and excellent--live concert available to listen to at the NPR Jazz Website.)

The DVD is a few dollars more, but then you get much more music.