Want some fun with your frets? Try this Paris-based guitarist Joscho Stephan, who’s put out two recent albums that swing and sway in a winning way. He’s got the Hot Club of France feel, but he doesn’t let it constrain him-he uses it as a starting point for these releases:
The first one is in a small group setting with Sebastian Gahler/p, Nico Brandenburg/b and Thomas Kukulies/dr along with a guest flutist on the pretty “Bolero.” Most of the time, you get cooking material like George Benson’s “Weekend in LA” that sounds like it came out of a gypsy caravan, while Juan Tizol’s Caravan” includes some percussion that delivers an infectious groove for Stephan’s fingers do dance with the strings. A funky “Work Song” gets the toes tapping, while Kukulies’ piano massages the ears on “Rosemary’s Baby.” A bouncing “Blackbird” has the rhythm team humming on all cylinders, while the team pops the clutch into overdrive on ”Acoustic Rhythm.” Lots of joy bouncing off the walls on this one.
Just when you think you’ve got this guitarist pegged, he teams up with clarinetist Helmut Eisel for a meeting of minds and worlds, combining sounds of the gypsy with the shofar. Eisel makes the licorice stick wail and moan like a cantor on the traditional Israeli pieces “Josef Josef” and “Itamar Freilach,” with Staphan strumming away to make you want to join the line and start clicking your heels. Vintage Hot Club of France material such as “Minor Swing” and “Dinette” turn into the Left Bank into a Shtetl with some Middle Eastern harmonies popping in here and there. Wonderful folksy feelings are emitted when the two work together on the rich take of Edvard Grieg’s “Danse Norvegienne” and a bouncy and bopping read of “The World is Waiting for the Sunrise” shows the digital dexterity of Eisel’s B flat beauty. The closing “Ballad of a Lonesome Maestro” is filled with glorious long tones, with both musicians making each note felt in the gut. These guys know how to mix it up on both sides of the tracks.
Get this guy out here!
Inakustic Records