Search - Ludovic Beier Angelo Debarre :: Come into My Swing

Modern gypsy jazz that doesn't come from the cookie cutter

brandoneon | Ithaca, NY USA | 07/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a fan of gypsy jazz for a few years now, and I particularly like finding worthy new entries. One problem I have is that many artists are traditionalists and they end up sounding like they came from the same gypsy jazz school.

What's interesting about this album (and their other two, Swing Rencontre and Entre Amis) is that Angelo and Ludovic seem to resist sounding like other modern proponents of jazz manouche. Maybe it's the accordion, a welcome addition to any gypsy jazz line-up (see Note Manouche, Tchavolo Schmitt's "Alors...Voila", or Les Pommes de ma Douche). At any rate, with their arrangements and sincere playing, these guys raise the bar for modern gypsy jazz music."

Great swing work in modern Gypsy style

Marco Vienna | Rimini, Italy | 10/28/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Other than a swing, jazz and Gypsy guitar fan and a guitarist myself, I've always been a great accordion lover (I've played often with Italian greats as Simone Zanchini and Emanuele Rastelli), so this encouter between the one and only Angelo and the French virtuoso Ludovic Beier got my attention. The music presented here follows the classic Gypsy swing path: fast tempos, la pompe, well known repertoire without too many surprises. The best part is surely Angelo, in my opinion one of the very best jazz guitarists ever in the Gypsy field: tons of swing, great supple and flowing phrasing, immaculate tone, deep knowledge and wise mix of classic and modern language, smart and pleasant use of virtuosity... if it was just for him, I'd have rated this CD 5... thousands stars. But it's Ludovic Beier who doesn't convince me entirely: sure he is a strong player with a great sense of time, and his comping shows respect for the other players and good taste, but his soloing here is often just a boring neverending flowing of fast scales and arpeggio.... ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta. Often accordionists tend to overdue in virtuosity and fast flurries of notes at expense of phrasing and suitable style... and this is what happens (in my opinion of course) here. In spite of that, the music in this CD flows effortless, the rhythm section is flying high, most of tunes shines and Angelo is really worth listening to again and again. Definitely a recommended buy."