Search - Pearl Django, Michael Grey :: Souvenirs

Vintage Guitar Magazine Review

11/06/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Most fans of the Hot Club de France have a shelf full of CDs paying tribute to Django Reinhardt by guitarists around the globe from Tokyo to Norway to the USA. With the recent passing of Stephane Grappelli, it is now time to pay tribute to Django's famous foil and his revered role as one of the foremost pioneers of jazz violin. Seattle-Tacoma-area violinist Michael Gray and Pearl Django offer this fine remembrance of the man who made the violin swing. This album is the now-venerable band's fifth CD and the third one to feature Gray. The band's penultimate album, Mystery Pacific, marked a musical highpoint for the group---but amazingly this new release continues their climb in quality. Pearl Django's lineup features Neil Andersson, Dudley Hill, and luthier Shelley D. Park on guitars, Rick Leppanen on string bass, and Gray's violin. The band's first albums were released on Ian Cruickshank's Fret Records out of England, but for their most recent CDs, the band has sparked its own label, Modern Hot Records. A handful of cuts here feature Gray leading the New Stories group, a modern and electric jazz ensemble. David Lange also adds his heartfelt accordeon playing to a number of tracks. On this new CD, Pearl Django has created arrangements for the 10 cuts with a straightforward simplicity that harkens back to the Hot Club. The guitar and violin solos may be the band's best yet: They play with a confidence and spontaneity that has been hard won by years of working together. The choice of tracks is also excellent. The group jams on classic Grappelli numbers from all aspects of his long and storied career: "Minor Swing" and "Tears" from the Hot Club days, "Souvenirs de Villengen" and "Pent-up House" from his later years. As the band states in its liner notes, these were all songs Grappelli "owned." Souvenirs is a worthy tribute to Stephane Grappelli as well as being a worthy addition to the resumé of Pearl Django."