Vintage sounds from six strings com in various sizes and shapes. Here are a couple new releases that take and expand traditions.
Violinist Daniel Weltlinger composes and plays new material in the tradition of Django Reinhardt, but with a look to the future. He teams up with a hot club of comrades in Lulo Reinhardt/g, Christiano Gitano/g, Taylor Paucken/g, Jermaine Reinhardt/g, Roman Reinhardt/g, Harald Becher/b, Winfried Schuld/acc while the leider himself hands the violin in the homage and style of Stephane Grappelli. His tone and vibrato is rich as exemplified on the solo “Alone” while he fills the room on the intro to the two stepping “Les Enfants de Django.” The guitars dance on “La Femme sophistiquee” and “Ghosts” while the chugging chords create a wonderful stampede during “Samois” and have some fun with harmonics on the dramatic shadows of “3am Melun.” Pizzicato pleasures form a Paganini’d finale on the title track, making this must for those with a gypsy heart.
Guitarist and composer David Gilmore has a more electric, abstract and modern tone which he has honed with the likes of Steve Coleman and Wayne Shorter over the years. Here, he teams up with earth toned Mark Shi/ts, Victor Gould/p, Carlo DeRosea/b and EJ Strickland/dr and a couple cameo guests for advanced post bop. With vibist Bill Ware, he gets busy and frantic on Bobby Hutcherson’s intricately swinging “Farralone while chromatic harmonica master Gregoire Maret does some sleek with along with DeRosa’s bass for a reworking of Toots Thielemans’ “Bluesette.” Gilmore’s acoustic guitar works well with Shim’s breathy tenor on the dreamy “Both” while the rest of the album focuses on kinetic and frenetic work on electric guitar. Exciting unison with with Shim results in a driving “End of Daze” and “Beyond AL Limits” while the Strickland works overtime on the underflow of the intricate “Blues Mind Matter.” Heady, but not sterile.