Un concert d’Angelo Debarre dans un club londonien que Frémeaux a eu l’excellente idée de publier en CD. Un concert de club que la tradition jazz connaît bien. Le jazz qui, peut-être plus encore que d’autres musiques, a besoin du public pour être top. Cet enregistrement est une merveille. On ne sait qui, d’Angelo Debarre ou du violoniste Christian Garrick, est le plus émouvant dans ce splendide album. Nous préférons en général réserver le mot « génial » pour les grandes occasions, afin de ne pas déprécier la valeur symbolique de ce « gros mot » si galvaudé (mais comme tant d’autres). Ça tombe bien, c’en est une. Le charme est total. Il y a comme d’habitude une originalité chez Angelo qui surprend toujours, même lorsqu’on le connaît bien. Comme sur Artillerie lourde, un thème de Django. Angelo déborde du jazz manouche, tout comme Christian Garrick. Des émanations ectoplasmatiques du grand Charlie Christian, et ce swing que les musicologues et ethnomusicologues n’arrivent jamais à définir conceptuellement mais que l’on reconnaît dès la première mesure lorsqu’on le rencontre… Il est là, présent dans les quatorze thèmes de l’album, notamment dans Vamp et Lentement mademoiselle. Le Patron, c’est toujours Django. Mais Angelo se rapproche de Dieu…Et Christian Garrick des grands (Eddie South, Michel Wariop).
MICHEL PLISSON

An Angelo Debarre concert in a London club which Frémeaux had the excellent idea to put out on CD. A typical Jazz club gig. Jazz which, perhaps even more than other types of music, needs an audience to be at its best. This recording is marvellous. It’s hard to say if it’s Angelo Debarre or Christian Garrick who is the most moving on this splendid album. We generally prefer to reserve the word “brilliant” for really great moments, so as not to cheapen the symbolic value of this “big word”, which has become so clichéd like so many others. It fits here, it’s a great moment. It’s spellbinding.
As usual, Angelo’s originality is always surprising, even when you know him well. As in Artillerie lourde, a Django theme. Angelo is overflowing with Jazz manouche, just like Christian Garrick. From the ectoplasmic expressions of the great Charlie Christian to the swing that musicologists and ethnic musicologists never manage to define conceptually, but that is recognisable from the very first beat when you hear it... It’s all here, present in the album’s fourteen tracks, notably in Vamp and Lentement mademoiselle. Django will always be the boss, but Angelo is like God... And Christian Garrick like the greats (Eddie South, Michel Warlop)
MICHEL PLISSON

Voila vingt ans qu’Angelo Debarre fit paraître Gypsy Guitars, son premier album. Il n’a cessé depuis d’illustrer avec panache ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler la musique manouche, que ce soit en duo avec l’accordéoniste Ludovic Beier ou avec son trio Tout à Cordes. Ce qui le distingue de ses collègues Biréli Lagrène, Romane, Stochelo Rosenberg, Tchavolo Schmitt ou Fapy Lafertin, c’est une élégance et une décontraction naturelles qui se rient de la technique et préservent un chant d’une articulation et d’une précision impressionnantes. Voyez en particulier son intervention sur Féerie. Christian Garrick se confirme prodigieux violoniste dans la lignée de Stéphane Grappelli et la pompe de Dave Kelbie est sans doute l’une des meilleures au monde. Bref, ce disque n’émerveillera pas seulement les amateurs de manouche mais tout mélomane sensible à la musicalité et à l’élégance.
JOHN-PIERRE JACKSON

There are 20 years now since Angelo Debarre issued Gypsy Guitars, his first album. From that moment he has never stopped to illustrate with flair what is commonly called “Gypsy music”, whether in duo with accordionist Ludovic Beier, or with his “Tout à cordes” trio. What distinguishes him from his colleagues Biréli Lagrène, Romane, Stochelo Rosenberg, Tchavolo Schmitt or Fapy Lafertin, is an elegance and a natural ease that laughs at technique whilst preserving his individual voice of impressive structure and precision. Listen particularly to his solo on Feerie. Christian Garrick is confirms himself as a prodigious violonist, in the same vein as Stéphane Grappelli, and Dave Kelbie’s rhythm guitar is undoubtedly one of the best in the world. In short, this CD will not only fill with wonder the Gypsy swing’s lovers, but any music lover sensible to musicality and to elegance.
JOHN-PIERRE JACKSON

Biréli Lagrène's concert was cancelled because of ill health. Fortunately Angelo Debarre, another virtuoso Gypsy jazz guitarist, was free. And the musicians booked with Lagrène were the regular members of Debarre's quartet, so this was a polished show by a band with an easy improvisational rapport and sharp arrangements. What's more, they really swing, using the musical blueprint sketched out 70 years ago by the Quintette du Hot Club de France, led by Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. Who could have guessed that this fleet, drummerless genre would prove to be so robust?

Dave Kelbie's rhythm guitar is the motor tonight, providing a strict, subtle pulse - whatever the tempo. Pete Kubryk-Townsend's bass parts are rarely flashy, but take advantage of the freedom provided by Kelbie's solid four, with occasional vocalised arco playing. Christian Garrick has settled on a violin style compatible with the idiom without pastiching the sweet tones of Grappelli.

Debarre is something else: a lean, dark, seated figure, cradling his guitar - motionless apart from his hands and fingers, which fly around the instrument at speed. Such virtuosity is not a decoration, but essential to Debarre's artistry, turning sentimental swingers such as I'll See You in My Dreams into bittersweet sonatas.

The set list draws heavily on the early jazz repertoire: Limehouse Blues, Ol' Man River and fine Reinhardt compositions such as Tears and Place de Brouckere. The three-part Porta Cabello demonstrates Debarre's assured playing at a slow tempo before charging into hot solos for guitar and violin. A version of the Sheik of Araby prompts a quirky, clipped outing from Debarre, while Impromptu provides the starting point for another dazzling display.
JOHN WALTERS

Within 30 seconds of the opening Honeysuckle Rose, it didn’t matter the ‘infant Django’ Bireli Lagrene had cancelled at the last minute due to ill health. The night belonged to Angelo Debarre and the crowd willingly gave it to him.
It was one of those gigs that leaves you with a big dappy grin and bubbling with the kind of excited, hyperactive “that was brilliant” feeling you haven’t experienced since you were about eight. I’m still smiling now, and will be for days.
The entire concert oozed class and swung with a Continental feel, wearing on its sleeve the French origins of gypsy jazz, a style made popular by guitar legend Django Reinhardt and violin pioneer Stephane Grappelli.
The quartet featured Dave Kelbie on rhythm guitar, who held the whole night together with some great chord work, and Pete Kubrick Townsend, who displayed great taste and sympathy for the genre. His bowed solo was real highlight.
Violin player Christian Garrick played with immense passion, took some amazing solos and supported Angelo diligently.
But the night belonged to the visiting French gypsy, who’s been playing since the age of eight.
All the fire and passion he put in to his playing scooped up the audience and carried them with him. There were some truly breathtaking solos, and not just at breakneck tempos, the ballads were melodic and heartfelt.
His accompaniment for Christian’s solos were a masterclass in chord substitutions and he really injected energy and movement into pieces.
In a genre of jazz so dominated by Django, Debarre manages to put his own stamp on the music. And there are not many you can say that about.


No other genre makes you laugh out loud with joy and delight like Gypsy jazz, whose guitarists' and fiddlers' unfeasibly flying fingers provoke astonished reactions of disbelief again and again, even though one soon takes impossible virtuosity as the norm. Guitarist DeBarre is regarded by many as the best of his ilk, and this Hot Club de France-styled band, with star violinist Christian Garrick playing Grappelli to DeBarre's Django, provides the perfect holding form for the soloists' show-off runs and spurts. Recorded at the titular London club last summer, this recording is authentically live and dangerous.
PHIL JOHNSON

***
Recorded before an enthusiastic audience at this converted pub just south of the Thames on Battersea High Street, this is a typically thrusting Hot Club session. There’s no room to dance in this homely bar-restaurant, but everybody in the place comes for the music. So naturally, fortified by Sylvia Rushbrooke’s cooking and a glass or two of muscular vin rouge, visiting fireman Debarre gives of his best, supported in storming style by violinist Garrick and two other Brits, Kelbie on rhythm guitar and Crowdy on double bass. The versatile Garrick, who now bases his young family in a hilltop village near Barcelona, is a significant bonus. Those who know only his scintillating work in contemporary jazz-fusion will be surprised to find him also a natural and ever-improving interpreter of the Grappelli style. ‘Limehouse Blues’, ‘Impromptu’, and ‘Place de Brouckere’ really stean along, but there’s much more to this group than four-to-the-bar rhythmic thrashes. Debarre can be an unusually lyrical player and shows his tender side on such originals as ‘Vamp’, ‘Lentement Mademoiselle’ and ‘My Serenade’, where Garrick’s top-string notes also sing sweetly.
JACK MASSARIK

****
There’s a strange mix of the rather naff and the adventurously discordant in Gypsy jazz – something that Django Reinhardt almost seemed to acknowledge in his wry smile in photographs (one of which peeks out avuncularly over the musicians’ backs on the CD’s sleeve). And it’s there in spades on ‘Bolero’, one of this album’s many irresistible moments: it’s cape-twirling pomp, but doesn’t take itself seriously; it’s dissonant but whistleable
So it’s unfair that Gypsy jazz is rarely heard outside car adverts or wine bars. Especially in the case of the formidable guitarist Angelo Debarre and his swashbuckling quartet. You can’t help but share the crowd’s audible gasps of amazement and delight at the his lightening-fast fretboard flights of derring-do. His sideman, Christian Garrick, is no less impressive, slipping in the occasional bluegrassy slide or two on ‘Django’s Tiger’ and sawing thickly away on ‘Speevy’, a tune that manages to sound jaunty yet slightly queezy at the same time. Dave Kelbie and Andy Crowdy take a gentlemanly, self-effacing back seat, providing an unintrusive backing and the occasional solo that concisely says all it need to say.
The ensemble passages delight, both Debarre and Garrick scrabbling around like two mice racing each other. Every new solo seems to set itself new challenges; diving-bombing fiddle-runs and rattling guitar tumbles dare each other to try something a little faster and more fiddly next time. The speed and execution are expert, but it still sounds thrillingly like anyone could trip over themselves and flat on their face at any time. Not, of course, that they ever do.
MATTHEW MILTON

French guitarist Angelo DeBarre is one of the artists appearing at the inaugural Fife Jazz Festival (see preview, page 79), and is no stranger to Scottish audiences. This set with his current band of UK-based musicians, guitarist Dave Kelbie, violinist Christian Garrick and bassist Andy Crowdy, opens quietly with a relaxed ballad, ‘Fantasie’, but the fireworks quickly kick in on ‘Django’s Tiger’ and continue to fizzle through the set.
In stylistic terms DeBarre’s gypsy roots and the Hot Club-influenced approach is familiar enough fare, but his facility and invention ensures that the energy levels remain high. Garrick shares solo duties with the guitarist in his usual impressive fashion, with Kelbie and Crowdy laying down a buoyant rhythmic carpet under the soloists. They turn up the heat on cuts like the venerable ‘Limehouse Blues’ and ‘Impromptu’, and reveal an equally adept touch with a sultry ballad on ‘Lentemente Mademoiselle’.
KENNY MATHIESON

Enregistré live au Quecumbar à Londres les 6 et 7 juin 2007, ce CD nous présente Angélo avec ses habituels complices d'Outre-manche : Dave Kelbie, guitare d'accompagnement, Chris Garrick, violon, et Andy Crowdy, contrebasse. Comme il ne s'agit pas d'un groupe réellement constitué, pas de compositions originales et quasi pas de répètes; tout ce beau monde se retrouve sur les standards habituels; sur les 13 titres on en retrouve d'ailleurs trois qui figuraient déjà sur le CD enregistré en studio en 2002 avec la même équipe. Conjuguant virtuosité, précision du phrasé et sentiment, Angélo est impérial, comme toujours (cf. son long chorus sur "vamp") et les anglais ne font pas de la figuration: rythmique très efficace, violoniste inspiré. Django est à l'honneur: "Artillerie lourde", "Place de Brouckère", "Lentement mademoiselle", "Porto cabello", "Troublant boléro"... qu'Angélo porte à un haut niveau d'interprétation sans copier le maître. Bref, le frenchy est à l'aise dans toutes les formules instrumentales et celle là n'est pas la moins intéressante.
FRANCIS COUVREUX

Recorded live at Le Quecumbar in London on the 6th and 7th of June 2007. On this CD Angelo reintroduces us to his regular English band; Dave Kelbie on the rhythm guitar, Chris Garrick on violin and Andy Crowdy on bass. As they are not a full time group there is no original music and hardly any rehearsing so these wonderful musicians find each other through standards. Of the 13 titles we find three already recorded in a studio by this same band in 2002. Combining virtuosity, phrasal precision and feeling, Angelo is, as always, imperial (his long solo on Vamp) and the English are not just extras: a very efficient rhythm section with an inspired violinist. It’s all about Django; "Artillerie lourde", "Place de Brouckère", "Lentement mademoiselle", "Porto cabello", "Boléro"... and Angelo takes it to such a high level of interpretation without copying the master. In brief, the French guitarist feels comfortable in musical configuration, and this one isn't the less interesting of all.
FRANCIS COUVREUX

Oh, oh... Hyperactif, cet Angelo ! A peine sorti des feux de la rampe médiatique pour la sortie de son récent Parole de Swing, voilà que notre guitar-héros national replonge sous les sunlights de la renommée, britanniques cette fois, avec ce pétillant Live enregistré cet été en Albion.
Un nouveau disque, qui au delà de la qualité exceptionnelle du jeu d’Angelo est au moins indispensable pour deux autres bonnes raisons. D’abord c’est un disque "live", enregistré au fameux Quecumbar londonien, haut lieu du jazz manouche outre-manche devenu en un temps record "la" scène incontournable de nos taquineurs de jambon nationaux partis conter fleurette aux anglaises. Et donc une chance pour tous (et pas seulement pour ces veinards de parisiens) de pouvoir apprécier la virtuosité exceptionnelle d’Angelo en concert ; d’autant que l’ambiance du club y est particulièrement déchainée, on les entend même casser des verres (de plaisir, on n’en doute pas...).
Et un album indispensable aussi pour le répertoire abordé ce soir là : jetez-y un oeil, (voire une oreille pour les plus audacieux), il n’est pas banal : hormis un Limehouse blues joyeusement déjanté, on n’y trouvera que des compositions de Django. Mais pas de celles qu’on entend le plus souvent : Vamp, Speevy, Impromptu, Féerie, Porto Cabello, Bolero (non, pas le Bolero troublant, le Bolero tout court...), My serenade... Tous ces magnifiques morceaux du génial manouche sont aujourd’hui largement sous-joués. Parfois même sous joués par Django lui même qui ne les enregistra pour certains qu’une seule fois... Et pourtant, quelles merveilles que ces titres aux harmonies souvent très modernes (certains datent de la dernière époque, la plus passionnante pour nombre de djangophiles...).
Angelo leur rend là un très bel hommage en se les accaparant et en les rejouant à sa propre manière, virtuose et inspirée. A ses côtés, le violoniste Chris Garrick, un des plus fins archets du Royaume déjà entendu chez Angelo ou chez Gary Potter, montre qu’il a du répondant et constitue un parfait alter ego au jeu du guitariste. Enfin, n’oublions pas la pompe enlevée de Dave Kelbie (quels tempis... !) et la contrebasse d’Andy Crowdy, qui a eux deux constituent la crème (anglaise) de la rythmique britannique.
Bref, un disque qui donne envie de passer le Channel pour y voir de plus près, et casser nous aussi quelques verres au Quecumbar !
God save the swing !
SEBASTIEN LEGE

My, my… Angelo is an hyperactive ! Barely out of the limelight since the release of his recent “Parole de Swing”, our national guitar hero meets the sunlight of fame – british for this occasion – with this sparkling Live recorded last summer in England.
Apart from the outstanding quality of Angelo’s guitar playing, this new CD is indispensable for two good reasons. First of all, this is a live recording, from London's famous Quecumbar, a high place for gypsy swing across the channel, and has become the place that can't be ingored by any of our national guitarists if they wish to flirt with the English. And therefore a chance for us all (and not only these lucky parisians) to appreciate the amazing virtuosity of Angelo during a live performance. Especially since the atmosphere of the club is particularly excited, one can even hear them smash some glasses (by joy, without doubt...).
This CD is also essential for the repertoire played this evening, which is not banal: Expept for a happily wild Limehouse blues, one will only found compositions by Django. But not the one you usually hear: Vamp, Speevy, Impromptu, Féerie, Porto Cabello, Bolero (no, not Troublant Bolero, just Bolero), My serenade... All these beautiful tunes from the genius Gypsy are today mostly “underplayed”. For some of them even by Django, who recorded some of them only one time... And yet, these harmonically often very modern titles are such gems (some of them date from the last period of Django, the most fascinating for many Django lovers...).
Angelo pays a great tribute to these tunes, playing them is own way, with both virtuosity and inspiration. At is side, Chris Garrick, the violonist, one of the finest bows of UK, already heard with Angelo or Gary Potter, proves that he has a talent for repartee, and is a perfect alter ego to the guitarist. At last, lets not forget the lively “pompe” (rhythm) by Dave Kelbie (these tempis... !) and Andy Crowdy’s doublebass, the both representing the cream of British rhythm.
In short, this is a CD that makes you want to cross the Channel, so that you can have a closer look - and smash some of the Quecumbar glasses too!
God save the swing !
SEBASTIEN LEGE

The English Guitarist Dave Kelbie is offering a service to mainly French stars, providing them with a platform to play in England, providing them with a band as well as producing and distributing the CDs.
He is also working on behalf of Angelo Debarre. This CD, which was recorded live at the Quecumbar, London, has Kelbie himself on Rhythm guitar, Andy Crowdy on bass and Christian Garrick on violin. Debarre very obviously sounds comfortable in the company of his English accompanists. The repertoire also shows how flexible and securely the musicians work together. Apart from Django's Tiger and Limehouse blues, there are many little played gems of gypsy swing such as Vamp, Place de Brouckere, Speevy, Portocabello, Feerie etc.

This CD is recommended with no reservations
BERHARD GIERSTL

Enregistré en public en Juin 2007 dans un club de Londres, ce CD montre que le quartet d’Angelo Debarre est l’un des tout meilleurs groupes actuels de musique manouche. Outre le chef à la guitare, la formation comprend un très bon violiniste, Christian Garrick, et deux solides accompagnateurs, Dave Kelbie à la guitar et Andy Crowdy à la contrebasse.
Le défaut couramment recontré chez les guitarists de style manouche, consistant à jouer trop vite, à faire beaucoup de notes au lieu d’articuler leur discours en le faisant respirer, ne se retrouve que très peu chez Angelo Debarre, tant dans son jeu personnel que dans les tempos adoptés.
Speevy, sur un tempo medium ideal, constitue le sommet du disque, mais le swing est aussi à son maximum dans bon nombre d’autres morceaux: Limehouse Blues. Artillerie lourde, Impromptu et Féerie notamment.
Au violin, Christian garrick se révèle un disciple direct de Stéphane Grappelli. Il singue avec vigueur, tandis que sa superbe sonorité lui permet de mettre remarquablement en valeur les ballades, en particulier My serenade, Vamp, le célèbre Lentement mademoiselle joué avec beaucoup de retenue, et les plus mélancoliques Fantasie et Boléro.
En definitive, un seul morceau, Django’s Tiger, m’a paru inférieur dans cet excellent recueil.
F.A.

Recorded live in a London club in June 2007 this cd shows that the ADQ is one of the best current groups for manouche music. Apart from Angelo the formation comprises an excellent violinist, CG, and two solid accompanists, DK & AC. The problem that you find with manouche style guitarists - that they play too quick and play alot of notes instead of articulating the discourse and allowing it to breath - is only found very little with AD, both in his playing and in the tempos he uses. Speevy, in an ideal medium tempo, is the highlight of the disc but swing is at its best in a good of number of other pieces too: Limehouse Blues. Artillerie lourde, Impromptu and Féerie. On violin CG reveals himself to be a direct disciple of SG. He soars with vigour, while his superb sound allows him to really show off the ballads to their absolute best advantage, in particular My Serenade, Vamp and the celebrated Lentement Mademoiselle, played with lots of retraint, and also the more melocholic Fantasie & Bolero. Only one piece, Django's Tiger, seems inferior in this excellent collection.
F.A.

Angelo DeBarre sat motionless on stage, said nothing and the only expression that crossed his face was a rare smile.
He didn’t need to be more animated because passion, vitality and excitement poured from his guitar as his fingers moved at high speed around the neck.
The French guitarist, considered the foremost gypsy jazz musician, is renowned for his interpretations of the music of Django Reinhardt and the Quintette du Hot Club de France.
With his band of British musicians, including violinist Christian Garrick, he devoted most of the night to re-workings of Django’s music. The set was fast and furious with displays of incredible virtuosity from DeBarre and Garrick, especially in Django’s Tiger and Minor Swing. But there were moments of beauty and simplicity, especially in Debarre’s Hot Club-style composition Vamp.
Rhythm guitarist Dave Kelbie produced such a solid percussive rhythm you could hear why the original Quintette didn’t use a drummer, and double bassist Andy Crowdy was inventive.
The packed crowd in this unusual Harbourside venue (comfortable seats and even free canapes) enthusiastically cheered every solo and gave the quartet a standing ovation.
KEITH CLARK

This album showcases the virtuoso playing of Angelo Debarre – regarded by many as the world’s finest exponent of gypsy jazz guitar and a worthy heir to Django Reinhart’s crown. There’s plenty here for fans of the genre and newcomers could do a lot worse than listen to this album. De Barre’s playing is simply stunning, ranging from restrained, tastefully melodic tunes to simply jaw-dropping performances as he traverses the fingerboard at speeds that would make a Formula One driver distinctly nervous. This is the real deal. Wonderful stuff.
RICHARD THOMAS

Angelo DeBarre is a brilliant gypsy guitarist who plays in the style of Django Reinhardt. Hailing from just outside Paris the Frenchman has joined forces with three excellent British musicians to form this exceptional quartet. Violinist Christian Garrick is cast in the Stephane Grappelli role with Andy Crowdy on double bass and Dave Kelbie on rhythm guitar completing the line up.

I saw this line up give an enthralling performance to a packed house at the intimate Wyeside Art Centre in Builth Wells recently. Many of the tunes featured there appear on this excellent live album recorded at London’s prestigious Le Quecumbar venue.
The quartet specialise in covering some of Reinhardt’s less famous pieces, many of them coming from the later stages of his career. The arrangements are all by the quartet themselves and their imaginative interpretations help to keep the spirit of Django alive whilst at the same time appealing to contemporary audiences. It was good to see such a wide range of ages enjoying the music at Builth-from children to pensioners.
At Builth as on the album the quartet opened up gently with the delicate strains of “Fantasie” . Only with the following “Django’s Tiger” are the furious rhythms of the archetypal “Hot Club” sound unleashed, their effect heightened by the contrast with the relaxed nature of the opener.

“Limehouse Blues” keeps the energy levels up on the album with Garrick sawing and soaring and DeBarre also taking flight. He is a dazzling guitarist with his lightning fast runs, breakneck rhythms and astonishing string bending.

The quartet’s imaginative arrangement of “Artillerie Lourde” contains a strong blues element and throws in a quote from “Tuxedo Junction”. It’s also the vehicle for more DeBarre pyrotechnics plus a spot in the limelight from bassist Andy Crowdy who proves to be an inventive and sometimes humorous soloist as well as a fine rhythm player.

It’s not all hundred mile an hour stuff. The lovely “Vamp” is another example of the quartet’s ability to play effectively at slower tempos. The quiet intensity of DeBarre and Garrick’s playing reveals considerable emotional depth.

“Place De Brouckere” restores the momentum with solos from Garrick, Crowdy and DeBarre. Garrick is a remarkable violinist seemingly at home in any genre of jazz from Grappelli to Jean Luc Ponty. In the DeBarre Quartet he sticks to acoustic violin but he is more than happy to unleash the electric model in his own bands. Even here he throws in some modern pizzicato flourishes adding yet another dimension to this uniquely string driven format. Such is his versatility that he’s due to go out on tour with Van Morrison next year. The following “Speevy” offers yet another example of his talents.

“Lentemente Mademoiselle” slows things down again with DeBarre and Garrick intertwining over Kelbie’s gentle rhythmic impetus. As rhythm or “second” guitarist Kelbie is often overlooked. He never solos, leaving this to the sharply dressed DeBarre. Nevertheless he is the backbone of the band, his chording providing the springboard for DeBarre and Garrick’s flights of fancy. Kelbie maintains the pulse flawlessly at any speed from zero to a hundred and twenty, as demonstrated by the following “Impromptu”. But he is the backbone in other ways too, handling the announcements at concerts and manning the merchandise desk. Then there is his role as label boss and administrator of the Lejazzetal organisation. He fills the rhythm guitar role in several other bands too, among them Evan Christopher’s Django A La Creole, the oddly named George Washingmachine Quartet and the Fapy Lafertin Quartet. His love of Django Reinhardt and his music has taken him all over the world spreading the jazz gospel “Hot Club” style.

“Bolero”, “Portocabello” and “Feerie” continue to stoke the fires, the enthusiastic Quecumbar crowd spurring the musicians on. There is more bravura playing from the band as a whole with DeBarre and Garrick in particularly dazzling form. The relaxed tones of the closing “My Serenade” close the album and bookend it in pleasingly symmetrical fashion.

As in London so it was in Builth with the audience responding warmly to a well paced programme full of virtuoso musicianship. The “Hot Club” style has maintained a remarkably high level of popularity over the years, thanks in no small part to the efforts of people like Kelbie. As a result there are a lot of musicians playing in this style but few can do it with the skill and élan of the Angelo DeBarre Quartet. These guys are the real deal.
IAN MANN

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