Antoine Boyer - Sita

selmer607

Hi folks!

here follows two videos I shot of young jazz guitarist Antoine Boyer whom I had the pleasure to record in a french castle a couple of months ago. "Sita" is truly an awesome listening experience and I had great fun being part of this adventure. A special thanks to Bob Holo for connecting Antoine's father to myself, and for the wonderful sound of the guitar Antoine is playing on this record.

Antoine Boyer - Sita - Teaser #1


Antoine Boyer - Sita - Teaser #2



Cheers!

André

richter4208

Beautifully shot. This looks to be excellent.

Cheers

frater

Boyer is the best thing happening to this style in years.... and, yes, the Holo "Castellucia" sounds amazing (I should also add you are great at recording great guitars!)

Archtop Eddy

Bravo! Plain and simple, the first song in the second teaster--Sita--is a masterpiece. AE

frater

Ditto. Raffalliesque :-)

spiro

The guitar sounds sick, and Antoine is great, the only player in whose style I can hear a lot of Angelo Debarre phrasings, that doesnt sound as a copy, but implemented well into his own style.

Bob Holo

This album is so solid... "homeruns" top to bottom... every song. It was great to begin with, but they kept working it and refining it till it became a diamond. Brilliant work, Andre... a "Van Gelder" level of work on this recording - an almost vinyl kind of intimacy but yet so big & clear. Of course, hats off to the Boyer gentlemen and guest artists who delivered a truly inspired performance and Antoine in particular for writing original songs that are quite amazing. He has a way of unfolding a melody and revealing it in unexpected turns... phenomenal.

Archtop Eddy

I so agree with Bob's well-stated assessment of the new CD! These recordings are going to go down in the books as classics, and in the case of some songs like Sita, just plain masterpiece works.

On another note, I received word today from Sebastien Boyer--the new Antoine Boyer CD is now officially released and available! The CD is entitled Sita and has 15 tracks including 7 written by Antoine. The CD is available from their website (http://www.esmeraldjazz.com), or as downloads from iTunes or Amazon MP3. The hardcopy CD plus postage costs 18 euros ($23.55) from their website; and around $11 as downloads. To help offset the cost of the hardcopy CDs, when ordered online the CDs will be individually signed by Antoine and Sebastien. As Sebastien noted, "That's the least we can do to thank people for their support!" AE

Craig Bumgarner

Maelstrom....... Whew!

wim

awesome ! great sound and beautiful footage too
Antoine Boyer is the best young player i think .. until the next one comes along

scot

From Djangostation:

"Sita" is the third album from 16-year old Antoine Boyer, and the first under his own name - and rightfully so, because Antoine, who composed 7 of the 15 titles here, is the undisputed leader of this ensemble. At his side for the project: his father Sebastien on 2nd guitar, and two longtime musical companions of Francis Moerman - Pierre Moreilhon on the bass, and special guest Alain Dubreuil, who joins the trio on two of his own unique compositions, "Swing Bach" and the lovely ballad "Decor", and on the opening piece, Francis' "Transparence". "Transparence" is the kind of melody that only Francis knew the secret to composing, and Antoine gives it (and the whole disc, really) a fine nostalgic intro, then moves on to a solid swing interpretation.

If Antoine is fully at his ease with traditional jazz manouche (see "Ternay Swing"), he doesn't hesitate to draw his inspiration from other sources, notably the world of classical guitar, where he's (obviously) been hard at work - see the magnificent "Maelstrom", or his solo reading of "What is this Thing Called Love", an astounding arrangement and performance (played on nylon strings) reminiscent of Boulou Ferre. Moving away from the accepted frameworks of "gypsy jazz", with Antoine we are witnessing the emergence of a musician beyond categories - a musician who who builds his own world, combining inventiveness with serenity and an inner strength quite impressive in one so young. His own complex compositions show a constant inspiration and genuine spirituality - see "Sol Glissant", "Insolitude" and the magnificent "Sita", meditative and musical in a way that would surely have pleased our old friend Francis Moerman.

As for standards, again Antoine leaves his mark with a most personal interpretation of "Out of Nowhere", a remarkable "Laura" and an intelligent and original "Medley for Django", where each chorus is leaned out to the point where every note counts. Antoine is learning and maturing at high speed - we have not finished talking about this guitarist...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The review is by Francis Couvreaux, translation and errors are mine. There are aspects of this recording he does not touch on which are IMO important. One is the overall sound and feel. It was recorded at the Chateau de Ternay, a place with it's own special and unique ambiance. Antoine plays one of Bob Holo's guitars, a Castellucia-type, and this guitar has it's magic too - see "Bob's Way". As a reminder, Antoine and Sebastien are playing tonight at Djangfest SFO in Mill Valley, and next week they will be at Django in June. These rare North American performances are not to be missed.