The compilation of Django tunes - 24 in total, including "Minor Swing", "Nuages", and his works with singers.
Django Reinhardt was the first hugely influential jazz figure to emerge from Europe - and he remains the most influential European to this day, with possible competition from Joe Zawinul, George Shearing, John McLaughlin, his old cohort Stephane Grappelli and a bare handful of others. A free-spirited gypsy, Reinhardt wasn't the most reliable person in the world, frequently wandering off into the countryside on a whim. Yet Reinhardt came up with a unique way of propelling the humble acoustic guitar into the front line of a jazz combo in the days before amplification became widespread…
Guitarist Bireli Lagrene spent his teenage years sounding very close in style to Django Reinhardt. For this German import, his second recording, the 14-year old romps in Djangoish fashion on such tunes as "Djangology," "Lady Be Good" and "Nuages" but also was starting to show some individuality on his own originals. Most of the selections are performed with one or two rhythm guitarists and a bassist, all Europeans. Lagrene has since grown as a player; if only he had had the opportunity this early to record with violinist Stephane Grappelli before his own style changed.
American guitarist Frank Vignola fronts this contemporized version of the classic Django Reinhardt-Stephane Grappelli combo, joined by 58-year-old Uruguayan violinist Federico Britos, second guitarist Eric Bogart and bassist Phil Flanagan. They swing through several of the original Hot Club's classics, American popular standards, and a couple of unexpected asides. Of the repertoire joined at the hip to Reinhardt and Grappelli, the well-swung "Djangology" shows Vignola as a mad hatter with triple time and twiddling phraseology, even at slower tempos. The gypsy anthem "Dark Eyes" has the two guitarists rumbling in flamenco style, Britos soloing all alone before Vignola wrests the swing away from him. Vignola is a furious demon of strummed chords, churning up a storm during the bookended selections "I Found a New Baby" and the hot, hot, hot "Stompin' at Decca"…
The Django Experiment is the Stephane Wrembel Band's unique way of performing the music of Django Reinhardt. A perfect blend of the original Gypsy sound with the New York City voodoo. Mainly Django's music, and a few compositions by Stephane Wrembel.