Angelo Picardi

The earlier issues on Brilliant Classics of works by Gilardino have shown a highly individual composer whose musical roots are planted around the Mediterranian, breathing its perfumes, colours, rhythms and harmonies. This new recording presents Gilardino’s guitar concertos, evocative and atmospheric music, in which the guitar is in constant dialogue with instruments of the orchestra, as skilfully written as only a guitarist himself can write..

The foremost Gypsy guitarist in the world and a legend amonst European Gypsies, Angelo DeBarre has been astonishing audiences world-wide with his virtuosity for the past twp decades. He is one of the most versatile guitarists of our time and is now the recognised master of the style originated by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli at the Hot Club of Paris . Formed in 2000 this UK based Quartet has been touring the world and is known for their cutting edge approach to the later period of the Reinhardt repertoire. This long awaited 2nd CD catches the band live at the tail end of a 2 month tour in 2007. Recorded live at Le QuecumBar, London's world premier Gypsy Swing venue, the quartet rocks through 13 tracks of mostly little played material and shows the band to be at the top of the pile of current European Swing groups.

Twin Peaks (Music From the Limited Event Series) and Twin Peaks (Limited Event Series Original Soundtrack) will both be released September 8 via Rhino. The soundtracks feature music from original “Twin Peaks” composer Angelo Badalamenti, as well as Chromatics.

Not many gypsy guitarists can truly be considered heirs of Django Reinhardt. However, Angelo Debarre can claim that title. He carries on the gipsy jazz tradition while always renewing the repertoire thanks to his uncommon creativity. On Complicite, Debarre joins forces with virtuoso violinist Marius Apostol, cimbalom player Kosty Lacatus and the band Gipsy Unity. In addition to pieces composed by the leaders, the album also contains three covers of Django originals.

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 Berardi (Sant’Agata Feltria, Urbino, 1630 – Rome, 1694) was a pupil of Giovan Vincenzo Sarti and Marco Scacchi, of the Roman school, the latter a fundamental figure in his training. Committed supporter of the Seconda Prattica, Berardi maintained that modern music had reached “greater perfection compared to the past” and that the practice of music was more important than theory. He asserted, moreover, that a good composition should also elevate the soul to virtuous thoughts.