Live!

£6.99£12.00

Live!

£6.99£12.00

2014 – LJCD14
Django a la Creole's 3rd recording, ‘Live!'. A recording by Dylan Fowler of Studio Felin Fach of the last four concerts of the 2012 Autumn tour, and arranged into a concert-length experience.

SUNDAY TIMES top 10 jazz albums of 2014
DAILY TELEGRAPH top 30 jazz albums of 2014
THE SCOTSMAN top 10 jazz albums of 2014
CTLIVE top 10 jazz albums of 2014
OFFBEAT MAGAZINE top 50 Louisiana Album Releases Of 2014
JAZZTIMES top 50 CDs of 2014
Annual Jazz Critics Poll 2014

Live!

TRACKLIST & AUDIO

Check out the album HERE
https://www.clarinetroad.com/

LIVE! PRESS

Is there a more graceful band at work at the moment?
THE SUNDAY TIMES UK
[Evan] is, in my estimation, not only the greatest jazz clarinetist alive, but one of the greatest of all time
AHMET ERTEGUN, FOUNDING CHAIRMAN OF ATLANTIC RECORDS
A forthright sound and a hungry energy
NEW YORK TIMES
repertory music of the best kind
WALL ST JOURNAL
in the history of jazz, he will be amidst the greatest of all times
JAZZ CLASSIQUE FRANCE
He makes close-encounter music
NEW YORK TIMES

 
 

LIVE! REVIEWS

Syncopated Times USA 26.12.2019
Django à la créole live
CD REVIEW
What would the music have sounded like if Sidney Bechet and Django Reinhardt (who were both in France in the early 1950s) had recorded together, or if Django had spent time playing in New Orleans? While clarinetist Evan Christopher and electric guitarist David Blenkhorn are not copies of Bechet and Django, they are certainly very aware of the historic figures who inspire their group Django à la Créole.
On Live, Christopher and Blenkhorn are joined by the Dime Notes’ rhythm guitarist Dave Kelbie and bassist Sebastian Girardot. The music often sounds like a meeting between Bechet and Django circa 1950.
Some of the songs, such as “Douche Ambiance,” “Feerie” and “Manoir de Mes Reves,” are from the later repertoire of Reinhardt. Both Bechet and Reinhardt were strong admirers of Duke Ellington so there is Johnny Hodges’ tribute to Ellington (“One For The Duke”) and Rex Stewart’s “Solid Old Man” plus “The Mooche.” The band jams with spirit on “Riverboat Shuffle,” Christopher plays a touching solo on a slow and emotional version of “Dear Old Southland,” and a pair of Jelly Roll Morton piano solos (“Mamanita” and “The Crave”) are adapted and expanded for the quartet.
Throughout Live, Evan Christopher and David Blenkhorn blend together very well, make strong individual statements, and inspire each other while Kelbie and Girardot are tasteful and swinging in support. The result is a highly enjoyable outing.
SCOTT YANOW

The Scotsman UK 09.03.2014
Evan Christopher’s Django a La Creole
CD REVIEW
Star rating: * * * * *
This international group has a loyal following thanks to its exhilarating fusion of Evan Christopher’s exotic clarinet sound with the Hot Club format of the trio, and invariably provides a five-star live listening experience, so it’s no surprise that this selection of numbers recorded during their autumn 2012 tour is nigh on sensational. As ever, Christopher thrills with his dynamic, dramatic soloing and exciting interplay with guitarist David Blenkhorn. While most of the titles feature on the quartet’s previous CDs, there is a handful of new tunes – among them One For The Duke, a sublime take on the Ben Webster-Johnny Hodges number I’d Be There.
ALISON KERR

Djangostation FRANCE 14.03.2014
Django à la créole live
CD REVIEW
Si vous n’étiez pas au Duc des Lombards, club où les conditions sont idéales (proximité, intimité, ambiance, communication entre public et musiciens), et bien précipitez vous sur ce live ; vous y retrouverez la plupart des titres ci-dessus nommés mais aussi une version de 9’ de Dear Old southland, morceau emblématique des jazz funérailles à la Nouvelle Orléans, d’abord interprété comme un cantique religieux puis à la manière des vieilles fanfares, One for the Duke de Johnny Hodges, dans un traitement bluesy, Mamanita et The crave, deux compos pour piano de Jelly Roll Morton représentatives de la syncope latine (dixit JRM cité par Evan dans les notes de pochette) que le groupe interprète à sa manière. Voilà une musique et un disque qui rendent heureux et devraient être remboursés par la sécurité sociale.
FRANCIS COUVREUX

Sunday Times UK 23.03.2014
Evan Christopher’s Django a La Creole ‘live’
CD REVIEW
Is there a more graceful band at work at the moment? On a mission to celebrate the legacy of Django Reinhardt and olde New Orleans — not forgetting Duke Ellington — the American clarinettist Evan Christopher adds plenty of Jelly Roll Morton’s “Spanish tinge” to the drummerless quartet’s repertoire. Morton’s tune The Crave is one gem among many on a disc recorded on the road in the UK. The bassist Sebastien Girardot and the guitarists Dave Kelbie and David Blenkhorn are their usual debonair selves, but have no trouble turning up the heat on a glorious version of Duke’s standard The Mooche.
CLIVE DAVIS

Offbeat Magazine USA 01.04.2014
Evan Christopher’s Django a La Creole ‘live’
CD REVIEW
Now this is a fun record that never falters in its energetic vibe or superior musicianship. Recorded at the end of a 2012 tour in the United Kingdom, Evan Christopher and the band Django a la Creole explore both popular and obscure cuts from the traditional, swing, and gypsy jazz repertoire. All the musicians here are at the top of their game.
Music seems to be pouring non-stop out Christopher’s clarinet, its husky, dark tone with quick interjections and long runs allowing his ideas to come to great conclusions. He can make his horn sound pretty, blow some high, winnying notes such as on “Dear Old Southland,” or almost turn his clarinet into percussive bird calls at the end of “Songe d’Automne.”
Guitarists David Blenkhorn and Dave Kelbie play with intricacy and lyricism as the tunes call for it. Their heavy strumming on “Riverboat” pushes Christopher to even greater heights.
The band also plays two entries from the Jelly Roll Morton book, “Mamanita” and “The Crave,” where, despite lack of percussion or piano, they keep Morton’s unique sense of rhythm and melody. Their take on Duke Ellington’s “The Mooche” adds an almost Cuban section that adds to their interpretation of this standard. It has an energy that is prevalent on every song here.
The band has that loose, intimate feeling where it is easy to hear how much the musicians are enjoying the music and each other, but it is tight in that there is a precision in their playing. Christopher and his band get better every record, and this one is their best yet.
DAVID KUNIAN

Jazzman FRANCE 06.05.2014
Evan Christopher’s Django a La Creole ‘live’
CD REVIEW
Un des musiciens le plus passionnants de son époque
Qu’Evan Christopher soit le meilleur clarinetiste actuel dans le Style New Orleans, digne en tous points des grands ancêtres pour ce qui est du swing, du son , de l’inspiration ; qu’il s’inscrive sur son instrument, tous styles confondus, parmi les meilleurs techniciens de l’histoire de jazz, pas un amateur qui n’en convienne. En témoigne le succès de ses albums précédents, en particulier « Django à la créole » (Frémeaux, 2008) dont le titre pourrait laisser penser qu’il en propose aujourd’hui une resucée. Erreur. En dépit des apparences, il ne s’agit nullement d’un doublon. D’abord parce que si la formation reste identique, le répertoire, lui, ne conserve que les deux compositions de Django, Douces Ambiance et Manoir de mes rêves, dans des versions largement renouvelées. Pour le reste, outre Féérie du même Django, deux thèmes de Jelly Roll Morton, Mamamita et The Crave, des standards du jazz traditionnel, tel Dear Old South, et des morceaux au climat ellingtonien signés par Duke, Jonnhy Hodges et Rex Stewart. Deuxième différence de taille, la captation live lors de quatre concerts durant une tournée au Royaume-Uni en 2012. Elle produit sur les musiciens une incontestable stimulation et tout le disque baigne dans une atmosphère chaleureuse. S’en trouve magnifié l’énergie de chacun, singulièrement de David Blenkhor, auteur de quelques solos superlatifs de guitare électriques, et de Sébastien Girardot, en valeur dans Riveboat shuffle, The Mooche et Solid Old Man, blues que Django enregistra en son temps avec des musiciens d’Ellington. Une musique généreuse, tour à tour explosive et recueillie, swingante, mariant avec bonheur des influences et des couleurs diverses. Elle porte la marque d’un des musiciens le plus passionnants de son époque.
JACQUES ABOUCAYA

Jazz News FRANCE 01.06.2014
Un disque remarquable
CD REVIEW
Dans son excellent ouvrage « Swing Under the Nazis, Jazz as a Metaphor for Freedom », Mike Zwerin, tromboniste et critique de l’ “International Herald Tribune” décrit autant qu’il imagine un jeune Django Reinhardt âgé de dix ans, vers 1920, faisant la manche en jouant sur banjo déglingué au marché du Kremlin-Bicêtre : « Sa musique était, disons, étrange. On avait l’impression que quelqu’un d’autre que lui grattait les cordes. Quiconque ayant fréquenté La Nouvelle-Orléans aurait même pu reconnaître des bribes d’un phrasé rappelant le blues. Vraiment étonnant car Django, bien sûr, n’y avait jamais mis les pieds. » Quatre-vingt-dix ans plus tard, le clarinettiste louisianais d’adoption, Evan Christopher accompagné de deux guitaristes, David Blenkhorn et Dave Kelbie, et d’un contrebassiste, Sébastien Girardot, ressuscite, développe, réinvente ce lien ténu et miraculeux qui semblait unir le génial improvisateur manouche aux talentueux pionniers créoles de Tremé et de Back O’Town. Ce premier « live » du groupe capté au Royaume-Uni reprend standards de l’entre–deux guerres (Jelly Roll Morton, Duke, Johnny Hodges) et quatre thèmes de Django tel « Douce ambiance » où la rythmique marquée par la clave caribéenne permet à la mélodie de planer avec une grâce infinie. Et un « Songe d’automne »débridé conclut en véritable apothéose ce disque remarquable. A signaler que le guitariste et banjoïste Don Vapie remplace désormais David Blenkhorn au sein du groupe ce qui devrait « créoliser » un peu plus cette belle aventure.
JEAN-PIERRE BRUNEAU

Djam La Revue FRANCE 28.06.2014
Les reprises du maître manouche offrent toutes un regard nouveau sur son œuvre
CD REVIEW
Le manouche a tout d’une secte, où on oblige les guitaristes à jouer à trois doigts, où l’on récite des accords diminués comme autant de je vous salue Marie, où ne pas connaître son Minor Swing vous conduit au bûcher. Depuis quelques années, la secte a réussi (c’est donc une religion) et le manouche s’est fait quelque peu envahissant, donnant aux plus fidèles l’impression qu’il tournait en rond dans une carriole publicitaire du tour de France. Blasphème des blasphèmes ; Django m’a soûlé. Il fallait juste l’envoyer boire du rhum et manger du boudin créole sur des accents swing néo-orléanais. Depuis 2007, les hérétiques de l’ensemble « Django à la Créole » dirigé par Evan Christopher s’y emploient, accueillant le premier guitar hero de l’histoire dans leur univers marqué par le swing et de lointains relents de biguine. Leur premier album live fait bien ressentir le mariage travaillé entre la musique de Django et le paysage sonore de la Nouvelle-Orléans. Evan Christopher revendique trois héritages : Ellington, Armstrong et Reinhardt. Cet album rend hommage aux trois, quitte à tomber parfois dans une musique nostalgique qui sonne comme des clichés sépia en hommage aux trois maîtres du jazz. La reprise de Johnny Hodges, (« One for the Duke »), impeccable et lumineuse, fleure ainsi bon les années 50. Le band impressionne, y compris dans ces sets classiques, par sa clarté et le soin mis aux mélodies. La reprise de Jelly Roll Morton « Mamanita » impose ainsi un blues aérien où les improvisations syncopées de David Blenkhorn à la guitare et le phrasé quasi céleste d’Evan Christopher font léviter longtemps. L’évidence technique et mélodique du set est toute entière mise au service du projet de rencontre entre deux univers musicaux, le manouche et le swing de la Nouvelle-Orléans. La reprise du classique « Douce Ambiance » de Django en ouverture est d’une lenteur audacieuse et rafraîchissante pour qui a trop entendu le titre. Les reprises du maître manouche offrent toutes un regard nouveau sur son œuvre, revigorée par la rencontre avec ces sonorités New Orleans. Seul véritable bémol dans ce paysage enchanteur : le caractère live de l’album est atténué par une production qui a sélectionné des extraits de quatre concerts différents, comme cela devient de plus en plus systématique pour les enregistrements live. Ce choix réduit l’ambiance d’une musique jouée en publique à quelques secondes d’applaudissements éparpillées çà et là, alors que les improvisations collectives qui font l’originalité du groupe renvoient un aspect très « studio », dans leur maîtrise et leur propreté. Il ne faut pas pour autant bouder une musique fidèle à son credo de « rendre les gens heureux » dans la lignée des grands noms du jazz, qui retrouvent dans ce paysage sonore inédit une nouvelle jeunesse. Il ne faut surtout pas ignorer le talent de clarinettiste d’Evan Christopher, à qui son phrasé mélodique et syncopé donne des ailes retros qui en font un grand monsieur de l’instrument.
PIERRE TENNE

Jazz Journal UK 01.07.2014
Evan Christopher’s Django a La Creole ‘live’
CD REVIEW
The first live album by this remarkable group contains performances recorded in the UK in 2012, towards the end of a lengthy international tour. As the group’s name and instrumentation suggests, it’s style basically applies a broad-based traditional New Orleans Creole approach to Reinhardt’s gypsy swing. But the talented New Orleans clarinettist Evan Christopher (whose mentor, surprisingly, was Tony Scott) is at pains to point out, in his earnest sleeve notes, that many other seasonings are added to this multicultural musical gumbo.
The “Spanish Tinge” advocated by Jelly Roll Morton is honoured specifically in detailed arrangements of Mamanita and The Crave. Both tunes are recreated afresh with sensitivity and skilled attention to Morton’s rhythmic dynamics capturing the strong emotional groundswell which permeates the expressive melodies.
Although the quartet is clearly inspired by the classic jazz of such masters as Morton, Ellington and Reinhardt, it’s commendably ambitious integration of other influences indicates a forward looking interest in reinterpretation and meaningful development. Diverse rhythms incorporate at times the style of a Cuban bolero, a Brazilian samba, a tango, a bossa nova, or a blues shuffle, whilst straightahead driving 4/4 is no problem. Tonal texture is constantly varied, prominence is swapped around in practised interplay.
Christopher’s piquant Creole style is vibrantly expressive, notably so in imaginative interpretations of Dear Old Southland and The Mooche. His colleagues are similarly impressive, contributing colourful solos and close rapport in ensemble. Blenkhorn’s guitar in Manoir De Mes Reves is quite outstanding. An exceptionally fine album, thoughtfully planned with unusual care, and very skilfully performed.
HUGH RAINEY

Jazz Da Gama USA 28.08.2014
Evan Christopher: Django à la Créole Live!
CD REVIEW
Evan Christopher’s band, Django à la Créole is a band like no other. To begin with the music fostered by Mr. Christopher and his band pays homage to his roots—New Orleans. Now there are many bands that pay tribute to New Orleans, some better than others. But truly, there is no ensemble like Evan Christopher’s. That’s because New Orleans, to most would mean Congo Square and Gumbo and Bourbon Street. But New Orleans is much more than that. There is a part of Spain in it when begat the Spanish tinge in contradanzas; and France, in gigues and bourées, some say long before jazz was born; it is Africa, because like Nigeria, slaves were brought from everywhere and the most primordial music that throbbed with visceral energy was born; it is the Caribbean and murderous slavery there too, but despite which, as in New Orleans a rhythm took root and a music took shape and it was like nothing on earth. All this in a relatively little place—the Congo Square—where African worship took place in the guise of a never-heard-before music: Jazz. This is the music of Evan Christopher’s Django à la Créole, a band like no other.

Django à la Créole was created by a group of musicians faced with the duress of digital distribution. However, it is no secret that they wanted the same thing: to make music that paid tribute to the real roots of jazz and to exemplify two things: The dignity and elegance of Duke Ellington and the visceral energy of Louis Armstrong, who just could not stop spreading good cheer through the music of jazz. On Live Mr. Christopher does exactly that. This is the third of the group’s recordings, and seven years down the road the band sounds just as effervescent and creative and inventive as the day the music of New Orleans was born. Sounding old—in a sense—and brand new and contemporary is no mean achievement. And yet it is not just notionally named after Django Reinhardt, because that Gypsy legend was as much a part of the history of Jazz and New Orleans as anyone else. And so the clarinet of Mr. Christopher meets the guitars of the two Dave’s—Blenkhorn and Kelbie—who return his every phrase with vivacity and sensuous abandon as well as with a risqué move or two.

Evan Christopher is in a class of his own. His burnished woody tone is melded with the primeval whelp of early musicians. Albert Nicholas comes to mind, but Mr. Christopher is a singular voice. His lines are sophisticated and crafted with great intellect. And yet he has a visceral energy that comes from sliding through the New Orleans grassroots. Mr. Christopher can also create brilliant inversions in his mighty soli, sometimes drawing the guitar of Mr. Blenkhorn and the bass of Mr. Girardot in its wake. And he is a master of beginning a solo improvisation in the middle of a melodic phrase, as if the melody came from in his pocket. His own soli are sensuous; almost sexually inviting and if the other instruments were women, then they are most certainly seduced. Just listen to “Douce Ambience.” And listen to when he steps in the shadows and Dave Blenkhorn steps into the limelight… It is almost as if he were preening himself at such a seduction. The record is full of performances such as these and it is almost a shame to stop at mentioning just one of them. But there are also great performances by the other band-members. For instance Sebastian Girardot has an astounding solo in “Riverboat Shuffle.” And of course Mr. Kelbie is the backbone and the anchor of the ensemble sitting in for a drummer as much as he does for a rhythm guitarist. He is, quite simply, the best rhythm guitarist in the world. Just as Django à la Créole is one of the best bands in the world playing any kind of repertoire.
RAUL DE GAMA

INFO ON THE BAND

Additional information

Weight 75 g
Dimensions 16 × 15 × 1.5 cm
Technical

Recorded ‘live’ in the UK 24/26/27/28 October 2012
Engineered by Dylan Fowler of Stiwdio Felin FachMixed by Dave Kelbie at Stiwdio Felin Fach 17/18/19 December 2012, 09/10/11 January 2013, 11/12 February 2013
Mastered at Stiwdio Felin Fach 13 February 2013
http://www.taithrecords.co.uk

© & P 2014 Lejazzetal Records
produced by Lejazzetal Records, London
package design & artwork by Dave Kelbie
assisted by Kathryn at Prestset
http://www.prestset.co.uk
Package production by Lejazzetal https://www.lejazzetal.com
Manufactured in the EU by The Digital Audio Co
http://www.the-digital-audio.co.uk

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