Angelo Debarre Guitar

The biggest stars of gypsy jazz guitar heirs of Django Reinhardt counted on the fingers of one hand. With this new album Complicity, Angelo Debarre wanted to compose four hands with violin virtuoso Marius Apostol. Beyond the obvious technique, the works? Reach heights of lyricism proving if necessary talents of composers of these two musicians.

Le qualité de jeu d’Angélo Debarre, savant mélange de tradition et de modernité, relayée par le jeu virevoletant et tout en nuance de Ludovic Beier, donnent à ce disque un son et une énergie flamboyante. L’accordéon, loin du musette et plus proche du jazz est un fameux ingrédient à cette musique. Pour cette deuxième rencontre le plat prend de la saveur et c’est très bon!

Chilltimes album by Ludovic Beier was released Jun 12, 2006 on the Le Chant du Monde label. A great CD with the participation of Angelo Debarre (guitar) and more, highly recommended.

This is a very hot gypsy jazz CD. The band is a straight gypsy jazz lineup with Angelo Debarre on lead guitar, Ludovic Beier on button accordeon, with two rhythm guitars and a double bass. The tunes are mainly gypsy jazz standards (Douce Ambiance, Yeux Noirs, Troublant Bolero, China Boy) with a few originals including solo tracks by each of the lead musicians. Once you get past the opening number, in which Debarre on guitar and Beier on accordion chase each other around like a couple of hyperactive squirrels, their vast expressive and technical range is very impressive. From the manic high spirits of Swannee River to the deep melancholy of Ton doux sourire, they manage it all to perfection. This is a style of music that grew out of jazz and now pursues a kind of parallel existence, living by its own rules and speaking its own language.

If the Parisian aesthetic is about anything, it is about joy, elegantly packaged. This disc of swing tunes embodies that, being unfailingly exuberant but never uncontrolled. This is hot and sexy gypsy jazz pulled together by the extraordinary musicianship of Angelo Debarre and Ludovic Beier. The clear twang of the guitar scales the melodies up and down like a monkey, and the accordion thrums its way around the story and back again. The solos in "Le danseur de Charleston" pull you deep inside, waiting to see what on earth they might pull out next. But for those moments of strolling down the boulevards, there is also the relaxed sway of "Sous le Soleil de Paris," where the quick pattering of the guitar bounces like raindrops off the pavement…

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.