Search - Tom Conway :: Hot Gypsy Nights

Vintage Guitar Magazine sez: Cool!

12/07/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an album of Gypsy jazz covers---and many of them timeworn covers at that. But Hawaii-based guitarist Tom Conway and his trio of friends breath life, energy, and flash into these songs, making them new and exciting. Conway's trio may just be the hottest Hot Club-style band in the United States, following in the pyrotechnical fashion of Titi Winterstein's Quintett, Stochelo Rosenberg, and Angelo Debarre. The band is tight and right. Conway grew up in Detroit listening to the usual whitebread selection of classic rock: Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Johnny Winter. By high school, he was into Pat Martino and George Benson as well as Wes Montgomery, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Return to Forever. With guitar in hand, he moved to Los Angeles in 1984 to study privately with Ted Greene and Jorge Strunz of Strunz and Farah. It was Strunz who turned him on to Gypsy jazz. Now based on Maui, he says his is the sole band there playing the music. Conway's trio also includes Willy Wainwright, a violinist who has toured the United States with Ricky Van Shelton and Patty Loveless and was based in Nashville for years. Marcus Johnson adds bass, and they are joined on some cuts by pianist Gene Argel. Conway's favorite musicians in the genre include Stochelo and Jimmy Rosenberg, Boulou Ferre, Angelo Debarre, Tchavolo Schmitt, and Romane's modern compositions. These influences show through strongly in the band?s arrangements and Conway's solos. Along with the usual batch of Django Reinhardt tunes and a handful of Romane's songs, the band?s repertoire here includes Lulu Reinhardt's "Noto Swing" and "Swing 85" and Sonny Rollins' "Pent Up House"---all part of today's typical Gypsy jazz lineup. Both Conway and Wainwright quote freely from modern takes on these songs, but they then venture off to add their own spice and flavor to the music. Conway's licks are sure and strong and impressive with swinging phrasing and hot licks. And the sound of his Dell'Arte Dark Eyes guitar could make you a convert to this California-based luthier. Wainwright's jazz violin playing is equally hot, although his fiddling background shows through at times and some of the highest notes border on the brink of being out of tune. This album might not break any new ground, but Conway, Wainwright, et. al. prove they can play the music with the best. And that album cover and liner booklet also receives kudos for their 1960s kitsch as well."

Hot Gypsy Nights is amazing

12/11/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You can't keep your foot from tapping even after you stop listening to this CD. This CD was my first experience with Gypsy Jazz. It is a very smart and moving CD. If you have never listened to Gypsy Jazz, you have to do yourself a favor and pick up this CD."