DjangoBooks.com
Welcome to our Community!
Categories
- 18.1K All Categories
- 440 General
- 281 Welcome
- 11 Archtop Eddy's Corner
- 82 CD, DVD, and Concert Reviews
- 38 FAQ
- 9 Gypsy Jazz Italia
- 19 Photos
- 25 Gypsy Picking
- 4 Unaccompanied Django
- 4 Pearl Django Play-Along Vol.1
- 1 Gypsy Fire
- 26 Gypsy Rhythm
- 603 Gypsy Jazz University - Get Educated
- 117 Gypsy Jazz 101
- 190 Repertoire
- 143 History
- 96 Technique
- 40 Licks and Patterns
- Daniel Givone Manouche Guitare Method Users Group
- 17 Eddie Lang Club
- 1.1K Gypsy Jazz Gear
- 692 Guitars, Strings, Picks, Amps, Pickups and Other Accessories
- 345 Classifieds
- 39 Recording
- 39 Other Instruments
- 17 Violin
- 3 Mandolin
- 6 Accordion
- 3 Bass
- 10 Woodwinds
- 223 Gypsy Jazz Events
- 87 North America
- 87 Europe
- 49 International
In this Discussion
Who's Online 0
Today's Birthday
Toucas - Erranza
Cuimean
Los AngelesProdigy
Now seems to be a good time to be a jazz accordion fan, what with the recent releases of Marcel Loeffler's Source Manouche, Azzola/Caratini/Fosset's Trois Temps Pour Bien Faire, and now Christian Toucas's Erranza. Erranza features Toucas on chromatic button accordion, backed by Romane and "Doudou" Cuillerier on guitars and Pascal Berne on contrabass. Romane and Toucas wrote the album's ten tunes, and their individual interests combine to make some really interesting music. Toucas is of Portuguese descent and names fado, along with Cuban and Brazilian rhythms, as some of his key influences. Romane, of course, brings the music of Django and musette to the table. Mixing all of those ingredients into the stew of jazz produces something that's a little difficult to define. There are Latin rhythms, but nothing as obvious as a tango or bossa. There are waltzes and swing tunes, but approached from a slightly different angle than I'm used to hearing.
The musicianship on this disc is top notch. I have some other Romane stuff, but his playing on this album really stands out. It says to me that even while playing in the Django style, he really has his own voice, both as a soloist and a composer. He also understands that it's Toucas's show and takes care not to steamroller over his playing. And it's excellent playing. Christian Toucas is very technically proficient and has a great ear, knowing when it's appropriate to play "in" stuff and "out" stuff. I wouldn't call him "experimental" or "avant garde," but he does employ a slightly bigger musical vocabulary than someone like Marcel Loeffler (and that's not a dig...Loeffler is awesome). Toucas does not, to my ear, have the confidence of players like Marcel Azzola or Jean Corti. There are two or three tentative moments on this disc, but the rest of the playing and writing is so excellent that they're easy to forgive.
All original tunes, interesing rhythms, and excellent players definitely make Erranza a disc to seek out.
The musicianship on this disc is top notch. I have some other Romane stuff, but his playing on this album really stands out. It says to me that even while playing in the Django style, he really has his own voice, both as a soloist and a composer. He also understands that it's Toucas's show and takes care not to steamroller over his playing. And it's excellent playing. Christian Toucas is very technically proficient and has a great ear, knowing when it's appropriate to play "in" stuff and "out" stuff. I wouldn't call him "experimental" or "avant garde," but he does employ a slightly bigger musical vocabulary than someone like Marcel Loeffler (and that's not a dig...Loeffler is awesome). Toucas does not, to my ear, have the confidence of players like Marcel Azzola or Jean Corti. There are two or three tentative moments on this disc, but the rest of the playing and writing is so excellent that they're easy to forgive.
All original tunes, interesing rhythms, and excellent players definitely make Erranza a disc to seek out.
Comments
'm