When you think of Django Reinghardt
’s music, sounds of gypsy guitars and violins come to mind. Well, did you know most of these songs had lyrics? Chicago vocalist Christy Bennett brings the lyrics back to where they belong, and joined with a caravan of Don Stierngerb/mand, Art Davis/tp, Don Stille/acc and Christian Dillingham/b bring the music out of the campfire and back into the smoky nightclubs, where it belongs.
Bennett has a suave lilt to her reading of the Francis Blance and Jacques Larue lyrics, gracefully bohemian on “Crepuscule” and fun and bouncy during uptempo jaunts like “Swing 39” and “Swing 42” as Stirnger’s mandolin has the perfect flair. Trumpet work by Davis is a wise choice, taking away any Hot Club Quintet comparisons, and he’s brilliant O “Django’s Castle.” Stille sighs and gasps with bohemian rhapsody during an elegant “Nuages” and Bennett is able to change from chanson to chanteuse with aplomb. This is a treat! Any tours coming around?