Search - Romane, Rosenberg :: Elegance

An excellent buy

C. W. Hanna | battle creek, michigan United States | 06/07/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This disk is a great pairing of two superb acoustic gypsy jazz guitarists. Romane, (Patrick Languedoc) is a thoroughly modern leading exponent of, and innovator in this style, and Stochelo Rosenberg, who is in my opinion, technically and emotionally the very best of all the acoustic gypsy jazz guitarists. Together they team up to play songs and melodies that are at once modern but very much steeped in traditional acoustic gypsy jazz. This is not a high speed guitar duel or jam fest. They take the time to share rhythm and lead guitar chores equally. Additionally both guitarists offer new and interesting compositions. This album swings from start to finish. The recording quality is very, very high and every detail and subtle nuance of each instrument can be clearly appreciated. This disk is definately in my top ten for modern gypsy jazz recordings. If this pair recorded together again I'd buy it tomorrow."

Nice duet

Avid | Chicago IL | 01/05/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This recording is matches up 2 fine gypsy jazz guitarists in a modified duet form - Gilles Naturel accompanies on bass, generally staying in the background. Romane is an ambassador of the gypsy style, expanding the genre through projects like recording a CD in Nasnville, recording with strings, orchestra, etc., and releasing some of his music w instruction/tab. Stochelo Rosenberg is one of the brilliant new generation of Django-styled gypsy players who came on the scene in the past 20 or so years. Romane is a tasteful, less technical player; Rosenberg is more of a speed-demon, executing longer runs, and generally soloing more smoothly within uptempo numbers. The playing here is very good, certainly elegant at times, and swings hard. I do not particularly care for the recording quality, however. The bass is somewhat boomy and generally the CD sounds like it was recorded in a basement or maybe someone was heavy handed with the reverb. Additionally, within a duet format, I find gypsy players to be less sophistcated accompanists than mainstream jazz players, so fans of breathtaking chordal stylings will find some fault here. Nonetheless, this is definitely worth checking out."