Tchavolo Schmitt - Seven Gypsy Nights
Label: Le Chant Du Monde
Catalog#: 274 1520
Format: CD, Album
Country: Europe
Released: 2007
Genre: Jazz
Style: Gypsy Jazz
Tracklist
1 Twelfth Year 4:36 Written-By - Django Reinhardt
2 It Had To Be You 4:27 Written-By - Isham Jones
3 Dans La Vie 5:29 Written-By - Andrй Tabet , Pierre Louiguy*
4 But Not For Me 4:12 Written-By - George Gershwin , Ira Gershwin
5 Julia At Midnight 2:20 Written-By - Tchavolo Schmitt
6 Lyola Bossa 6:48 Written-By - Tchavolo Schmitt
7 Swing 48 5:16 Written-By - Django Reinhardt
8 Manoir De Mes Rкves 6:50 Written-By - Django Reinhardt
9 Appel Indirect 5:00 Written-By - Django Reinhardt
10 Paul At Midnight 4:20 Written-By - Tchavolo Schmitt
11 Undecided 4:49 Written-By - Charlie Shavers
12 Summertime 6:52 Written-By - George Gershwin
13 Mire Pral 3:19 Written-By - Mandino Reinhardt
14 Tchavolo's Spleen 3:38 Written-By - Giani Lincan
Credits
Cimbalom - Giani Lincan (tracks: 2, 6, 12, 14)
Double Bass - Claudius Dupont (tracks: 1 to 4, 6 to 9, 11 to 13)
Guitar - Tchavolo Schmitt (tracks: 1 to 13)
Guitar [Rhythm] - Mayo Hubert (tracks: 1 to 4, 6 to 9, 11 to 13)
Mastered By - Nicolas Baillard
Recorded By, Mixed By - Gйrard De Haro
Violin - Costel Nitescu (tracks: 1 to 4, 6 to 9, 11 to 13)
Notes
Recorded 26/2-2/3/2007, mixed 7-8/5/2007, mastered 9/5/2007 Studio La Buissone, Pernes-les-Fontaines.
(p) & © 2007 Le Chant Du Monde.
Made in Austria. Distributed by Harmonia Mundi.
Un nouveau CD de Tchavolo Schmitt, c'est а coup sыr un йvиnement.Et puis, il ne nous encombre pas avec ses disques, le bougre. Cette musique a йtй enregistrйe au dйbut de l'annйe; Costel Nitescu,violon, Mayo Hubert,guitare, Claudius Dupont, contrebasse et Giani Lincan, cymbalum (prйsent sur seulement 5 morceaux) complиtent le groupe.
Lors de la sйance d'enregistrement, la traditionnelle question du choix du rйpertoire s'est posйe. Les producteurs souhaitaient une quinzaine de thиmes de Django ; refus catйgorique de Tchavolo: "mon frиre, crois m'en, зa ne sert а rien...passer aprиs Django,pourquoi faire? Ca va кtre moins bien, y faut pas!"
Lucide, Tchavolo, c'est йvident. Passer aprиs Django, ou aprиs Monk, ou aprиs La Callas, c'est une mission parfaitement impossible. Tant de guitaristes de jazz manouche, profitant de la vogue actuelle pour cette musique, nous ont assйnй quantitйs de reprises de Django, et gйnйralement toujours les mкmes thиmes ( qui reprendra un jour "nymphйas"?),plusieurs nous faisant le cйlиbre coup du repiquage note pour note des versions du Maоtre. Et il faut bien considйrer que, malgrй le talent des interprиtes, cela devient lassant.
Alors, mкme si Tchavolo est aujourd'hui le plus talentueux, mкme s'il est peut-кtre le seul а pouvoir jouer Django en apportant quelque chose de nouveau, nous n'entendrons que quatre compositions de Reinhardt dans ce cd: "swing 48", enregistrй au cours des rйpйtitions; "manoir de mes rкves",dans lequel Nitescu brille; "appel indirect", thиme rare; et "twelfth year", que Tchavolo reprit car il йtait mйcontent de la version parue sur le CD "mйmoires", avec Angelo Debarre.
Tout ici est somptueux, on s'en doute; la seule petite faiblesse est la version de "mire pral", qui n'atteint pas le niveau de celle figurant dans la bande originale du film "swing" ( dans laquelle Tchavolo conversait avec Mandino Reinhardt ).
Tchavolo, la cinquantaine, confirme son statut de meilleur guitariste actuel de jazz manouche, surclassant tous les autres, Debarre, Mandino, Dorado Schmitt. L'adjonction de Giani Lincan au cymbalum, engin diabolique s'il en est, apporte une note d'Europe centrale qui s'harmonise parfaitement avec le discours des autres musiciens.
Two years have gone by since the sessions for Loutcha (Le Chant du Monde 274 1330) and here we are back in the Studios La Buissonne once again. The same group of us or nearly, Martin Limberger wasn't able to be here this time round. Giani Linkan will be joining us in two days' time in Pernes-les-Fontaines, tucked away out of sight, far from the madding crowd, the telephone, urban life... friends too. Like a bull who climbs out of the lorry when he's finally brought back to his field, Tchavolo emerges from the TGV in Avignon ready to light up immediately, no doubt, as Sine* would have done, but a gesture designed to show his determination too. This second album for Le Chant du Monde should have been recorded in autumn 2006 but the concerts, tours and availability or otherwise of those involved decided otherwise...So Tchavolo is raring to go! I'm almost completely in the dark about the programme we're about to record. Tchavolo has already warned me we won't be recording the fifteen or so compositions by Django Reinhardt (as I'd suggested) that we'd selected mainly amongst the least well-known ones of his repertoire. If he were the only one involved, he would never play any Django... "Well, brother, take my word for it, there's no point following on the heels of Django... What would that do ? It'd just be less good - no, it shouldn't happen..." For Loutcha he'd only accepted to do a new version of 'Stomping at Decca' together with 'Chez Jacquet', a waltz that Django had never recorded, to highlight his violinist, Costel Nitescu.
In his first real personal album, Miri Familia, there's no hint of any piece by Django. Last week, he was seen leaving a jam with his fellow-musicians ("brothers", as he calls them) because of the bad performance of 'Minor Swing'. "You understand, brother, you'd have thought it was machine guns out there, that's not Django's music at all..." Tchavolo is always ready to set the place alight but not with any old match. He's got all of Django in his head, the result of hundreds of hours spent with his ears plastered onto the little cassette player listening to that - and just that - over and over and over, preferably at night. Tchavolo doesn't talk about Django either; whenever his name is mentioned, he puts his hand on his heart and says, "He's in there, Django, he's always there". So much so that later on I noticed he actually has a portrait of Django tattooed on his chest.
We did manage to record four compositions by Django Reinhardt during these sessions, but more by ruse than by persuasion. The first one is 'Swing 48', the first theme we recorded at all (there are two takes in fact). It was a question of rehearsing to "get the right sound"; we weren't supposed to be doing any recording. But ever since we made Loutcha, I've learnt that Tchavolo's idea of rehearsing is very special - as soon as he rests his guitar on his knee, anything can happen - and it does! Even if he hasn't taken his jacket off or the sound engineers are still bustling about around him to get the balance just right, no red light is going to stop him. "OK, off we go!" Tchavolo plays as soon as he gets the right feeling, or whenever it seems the right moment, whenever he likes in fact! 'Manoir de mes reves' is a present for Costel Nitescu who offers a sober but lyrical version here, expressive but not excessive. 'Appel indirect' is a test piece for Mayo Hubert, a loyal guitarist usually providing the rhythm but capable nevertheless of stepping forward any time to play a brilliant solo. He takes the exposition here before launching into the first solo. Twelfth Year', on the other hand, is a very deliberate choice on Tchavolo's part, he wanted show that it was possible to do much better than the rather hasty version (2'35") recorded live with Angelo Debarre and released in 2003 on the album Memoires/Memories of Django (Le Chant du Monde 274 1230).
A final word to say how wise it was to include the talented cymbalom player Giani Linkan in this exciting venture. He's surely the only person with such unerringly adroit fingering to make this special instrument swing, and what's more, he introduces tones and colours from Central Europe, the home of all the gypsy music, into the performance - it's their rightful place, after all.
Alain Raemackers Translation Delia Morris
* Sine: a free-thinking cartoonist with three mottoes in life: "Neither God Nor Master", "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing", "Cigarettes, Plonk and Chicks".