Christian Pégand Productions - Biréli Lagrène

BIRÉLI LAGRÈNE
DJANGO D'OR - VICTOIRES DU JAZZ 2002 - French jazz musician of the year for his album GIPSY PROJECT

Few albums are as troubling as this one.

We've known for a long time that Biréli Lagrène had not finished with Django, but it is evident, as might be expected, from Blues clair to Daphné that Biréli's is not the most commonly known Django.

It is primarily a post-1940 Django, with a predilection for the years 1946-47. Coquette, Belleville and Embraceable You recall the famous post-war London sessions by Django's quintet of string instruments. Nonetheless, Biréli makes a point to distinguish his own solos from the original versions by giving them the unmistakable stamp of "Biréli 2001".

This is true of the eagerly awaited Si tu savais by George Ulmer, whose own talent as a guitarist was evident in the melodic beauty that inspired Django in 1947. It's dangerous territory and a stylistic minefield through which Biréli navigates with aplomb.

It is also true of the ballads in general. Take Seul ce soir, for example, made popular by Léo Marjane and which Django played in 1942 with Fud Candrix's big band. Here the tune gets a superb treatment with violin counterpoint.

Biréli Lagrène - guitar
Holzmano Lagrène - guitar
Hono Winterstein - guitar
Diego Imbert - bass
Florin Niculescu - violin
guest : Richard Galliano - accordion

The guitarist has surrounded himself with a dream team for this outing, without whom such music would not (again) be possible: Florin Niculescu on violin, Holzmano Lagrène and Hono Winterstein on rhythm guitars, and his ever faithful Diego Imbert on acoustic bass. Another treasure is Daphné from 1940, originally played with accordionist Gus Viseur, which justifies Richard Galliano's guest appearance here. Their "trading fours" is likely to drop a few jaws.

La Mer, which, along with the versions of Swing 42 and What Is This Thing Called Love (including the opening phrase of Tadd Dameron's Hot House which was played in those years by the Parker-Gillespie duo), recalls the last sessions in Rome in 1949 of the duo formed by Reinhardt and Grappelli. On La Mer, Biréli's solo evokes at several points (is it the tempo or merely tricks of memory?) another Django ballad, the beautiful Louise.

In closing, Vous et moi occupies a special place and its inclusion in an homage to Django is surely no accident. It is one of the rare tunes, recorded in Brussels in 1942) on which we hear Django on violin. Knowing Biréli's affinity for the instrument, it is no coincidence. Biréli transposes all of Django's poetry to the flavor of today in the guitar introduction.

By evoking these recollections with this project at the limits of audacity, Biréli Lagrène addresses, in his own way, as no one else could, all guitarists' eternal awareness of the presence of Django's legacy.

Max Robin
Translation: Charles Tobermann