Gypsy Project

Gypsy Project, Lagrene’s first recording of acoustic, Hot Club-style jazz since his debut as a teenage guitar prodigy in the early 1980s feels like a homecoming. Lagrene’s band may replicate the three guitars, bass and violin line-up of the original Quintet of the Hot Club of France, but this is no mere exercise in nostalgia. Lagrene and violinist Florin Niculescu imbue standards like "Embraceable You" and "Lime House Blues" with a blend of jazzy sophistication and bittersweet romanticism that is undeniably gypsy in character. It’s as if they are hiding the hard lessons learned in centuries of difficult wandering in bonbons like Charles Trenet’s "La Mer". The music on Gypsy Project has a certain charm, but when Lagrene accents the melody with an unexpected string bend or rhythmic flourish, he reveals surprisingly complex emotions lying just beneath the surface. --Michael Simmons

Label: Unknown
Studio: Dreyfus
Released: 2001-11-20
Format: Audio CD

Extras/Features:
Import