Customer Reviews

Mémoires: Memories Of Django

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Here we have two of the most respected Gypsy Swing guitarist around: Tchawelo Schmitt is the prototype of the "classic old style" player while Angelo Debarre is one of the younger generation, more gifted technically, who like to mix in the traditional Django Reinhardt derivated licks and style also some more modern ingredients as bebop, latin jazz and modern jazz phrasing. This record let us listen to a selection of very traditional songs from the "standard" Gypsy Jazz/Swing repertoire, so no susprises of any kind... the overall athmosphere is that of a live concert, with no rehearsal (you can easily understand it listening to the intros and the endings, often really "improvised" and messy) and some minor errors here and there. I would advice this record only to the freaks/fanatics of the style, as it doesn't add anything new or really worth of listening to what we already know about Tchawelo and Angelo.

There are some fun moments however, but in the end this cd is not so interesting and exciting in my point of wiev.

Angelo DeBarre and Tchavolo Schmitt have captured the essence of gypsy guitar playing in this live tribute recording to the memory of Django. Both are great technicians on acoustic guitar and I found the pairing of these two musicians very exciting. The performances include many of Django's most famous pieces and are well played. The pieces are live and sound a bit like a spontaneous jam session in that you can tell some details appeared to be worked out on the fly. An example of this is the increasing of tempo throughout the opening cut "It Had To Be You". This is not a negative to me, but I was surprised they included the song in this format on the recording. The pieces sound a bit too stylized for my tastes at times and I wish they could stretch out a bit more improvisationally than they did. In this regard I tend to prefer the playing of Stechelo and Romane Rosenberg a bit better. But this album a joy to listen to and should be considered a classic for those who like the gypsy style of Django. My favorite cuts are "Lady Be Good" and "All Of Me" both of which swing wildly and are infectious to listen to. Both guitarists are masterful technicians on their instruments and a joy to listen to. Recommended!

Is there more exciting, more brave music being made anywhere in the world these days? I doubt it. If you love the old Hot Five of Paris or if you want to learn something about the European (or more precisely, the Gypsy) contribution to this music we call "jazz" you will find here the most definitive example possible. Get this and be happy.