It’s guys like Stephane Wrembel that remind me why I gave up playing the guitar; after 4 years of practicing, I realized I’d NEVER play like Django Reinhardt. Wrembel has it down better than I could have dreamed of, with this 5th volume teaming him with a rhythm section of Thor Jensen/g, Ari Folman Cohen/b, Nick Anderson/dr and a front line of Daisy Castro on violin and reedmeister Nick Drisoll.
Wrembel mixes and matches group settings, even going solo on a deft “Improvisation #1, while giving a rich duet with Castro on an exotic jaunt around the campfire during “Caravan”. Driscoll’s soprano sax is jovial as Wrembel picks and grins on “Honesuckel Rose” and the team is gorgeously schmaltzy on “I’m Confessin’ That I Love You”. The band sways easy to clarinet and strings on “Nymphees” and an assertive take of “Nuages” has a buoyant optimism. Is this guy ever coming to LA?!?