Good Stuff at Amoeba in LA

Cuimean · February 2006

Southern Californians:

If you're at all like me, Amoeba Music on Sunset is already getting half of your paycheck. However, if you haven't been there in a while, I'd recommend stopping by. In the "jazz" section, they have the new Grisman/Wrembel CD (which I just picked up today...I'll post a review sometime soon), Wrembel's first CD, almost everything Robin Nolan's put out, some of Tom Conway's stuff, some Fapy, and more. In the "French" section, you can grab Sanseverino's latest and used copies of two Samarabalouf CDs. Their "gypsy" section has a bunch of Romane stuff as well.

Happy hunting!

Tom Conway · February 2006

It's interesting you mention Amoeba - the owner Dave Prinz is a big fan and supporter of gypsy jazz. He's on Maui right now and yesterday he called me for a lesson so I got to play his D hole Dupont again.

Dave just started a new label at Amoeba and he recently produced two CD's. The Wrembel/Grisman one you mentioned and also one featuring Robin/Kevin Nolan, Simon Planting, Grisman and a vocalist named Brandi Shearer who's on most of the cuts I believe. He gave me a copy of each but I have only listened to them briefly. He also played me some live cuts from Wrembel's in-store shows that he did at Amoeba. Anyway, it's great to know that a big store like Amoeba loves and supports gypsy jazz!

TC

Bachelorno2 · February 2006

I've been waiting too longfor the new Wrembel CD. Any ideas as to how a brit like me can obtain the CD? I take it Amoeba have it only in their stores? I'm dying to listen to some new Wrembel material

Tom Conway · February 2006

Amoeba man Dave came to our gig tonight and told me for now the Nolan & Wrembel CD's are only available through their stores. He did say they will be doing an official release this Spring and that the CD's should be more widely available at that time. You might try contacting Wrembel directly in the meantime to get one personally from him. His CD is titled 'Gypsy Rumble'.

TC

sockeye · February 2006

Note: the Grisman/Wrembel CD "Gypsy Rumble" is now available from amoeba via eBay. Price is $12.23 incl. postage in the US.

sockeye · March 2006

sockeye wrote:

Note: the Grisman/Wrembel CD "Gypsy Rumble" is now available from amoeba via eBay. Price is $12.23 incl. postage in the US.

Has anyone else heard this CD? It's good, but I was really disappointed in the tone of Wrembel's guitar. It sounds very tinny, almost banjo-like. It's quiet in the mix too. Grisman's mandolin sounds great.

Odd.

Cuimean · March 2006

Yeah, I was waiting to write a review until some other folks chimed in about this. There are players like Baro who could play loud and hard and achieve a bright, diamond-hard sound. The lead guitar on "Gypsy Rumble" is obviously being played hard, but it sounds, I don't know, flabby or something...like the strings are flapping against the neck in some weird way. The note choices are great, but I can't get into the tone. I wonder how much of that is a result of the recording.

While I'm at it, I might as well state that I don't care for Dave Grisman's playing on this CD. I have and enjoy some of his other stuff, but he sounds a bit lost on a good portion of "Gypsy Rumble." I almost started to agree with the assertion some have made that mandolin just can't shake off the bluegrass, but I recently found some Homer and Jethro footage on YouTube that changed my mind. Perhaps if "Gypsy Rumble" had been recorded after the tour that Grisman and Wrembel did, it would have coalesced into something greater than the sum of its parts. As it stands, it's still pretty good and worth checking out.

Carter O`Brien · March 2006

I got it and do like it a lot (incidentally, it sounded a million times better on a hojme stereo than my monitor speakers, try that if you haven't already).

but I was almost offended by the packaging- jeez, I'd pay an extra buck to get a package that actually kept the CD from falling out.

Bachelorno2 · March 2006

Hi! The CD came through a couple of weeks ago, I purchased it off ebay. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed by the sound, I thought Stephane's tone didn't sound as good as it should've because I felt the album was a little overproduced. His tone sounds a lot similar to his first album. The playing wasn't that much of a step forward from the first album either! I've heard him play much better, what gives? However, after saying, the version of Swing 48 and Milko sounded phenomenal. Wrembel and Grisman make a great partnership.

After hearing the clips on his website and the three songs at Sonicbids, I was hoping it would be an album very much in the same vain as those, so yeh, i was a little disapointed. But that's not to say that it isn't a good album, the playing is consistent and enjoyable. 8)