Atlantico by the Fapy Lafertin New Quartet
Fapy Lafertin is a leading light in jazz, a legendary figure and guardian of the flame. He is also a great guitarist. Here he fronts his New Quartet represents the cream of the young guard of “string jazz” in Belgium, with Alexandre Tripodi and Renaud Dardenne (the “Violons de Bruxelles”) and Cédric Raymond, known for his work with Tcha Limberger, Toots Thielemans etc. The album ranges between gypsy jazz — one of the most attractive, animated expressions of swing in continental Europe — and the choro and fado genres of Brazil and Portugal, whose Atlantic melodies are full of romanticism and sensitivity. The guitarist and his companions, all of them tuneful stylists, here invite us to fly through the air on a voyage that defies gravity. Augustin BONDOUX / Patrick FRÉMEAUX
TRACKLIST & AUDIO
https://www.sintimusic.nl/artists/fapy-lafertin/
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ATLANTICO PRESS
COULEURS JAZZ FR
DNA (DERNIERES NOUVELLES D’ALSACE)
JAZZ HOT FR
THE GUARDIAN UK
JAZZ RAG UK
JAZZWISE UK
ATLANTICO REVIEWS
THE GUARDIAN UK
Atlantico by The Fapy Lafertin New Quartet
The clarity and warmth of his [Fapy Lafertin] playing, not to mention his apparently effortless technique, are marks of real artistry. His three companions, especially violinist Alexandre Tripodi, match him to perfection. (…) The freshness comes from the fascinating variety of styles. Generations of Roma musicians have absorbed all kinds of music on their travels, and only in this genre could you find four players performing, as they do here, brilliantly and in quick succession a Hungarian waltz, a ballad by Sacha Distel, a swing number from the 1930s, a Brazilian melody played on the Portuguese 12-string guitar, and so on for nine more tracks. And whatever the mood of the moment, there’s an underlying cheerfulness about this idiom that’s simply irresistible.”
DAVE GELLY
JAZZ RAG UK
Lafertin is a virtuoso
The brilliant Belgian guitarist Fapy Lafertin was one of the earliest followers of Django Reinhardt and is still possibly the best – but in this case “follower” certainly doesn’t mean “imitator”. Atlantico proves the point. There are no numbers associated with the Hot Club, with four originals from Fapy and one each from the other members of his New Quartet – violonist Alexandre Tripodi, bassist Cédric Raymond and guitarist Renaud Dardenne – but more importantly, the whole feel of the album is summed up by the internationalism of the title. (…) Lafertin is a virtuoso musician who never uses his virtuosity just for its own sake.
RON SIMPSON
JAZZWISE UK
Atlantico. Lilting music beautifully wrought, often delicate, never rugged
GThis new recordings suggests that he continues to find inspiration in the timeless Reinhardt stylie and in this way re-affirms his own gypsy roots. He retains his mentor’s rhythmically intricate, finely burnished approach and is clearly still a pleasingly accomplished performer. (…) Lilting music beautifully wrought, often delicate, never rugged, a mixture of familiar standards and more esoteric pieces.”
PETER VACHER
COULEURS JAZZ FR
Atlantico. Un voyage musical riche en belles surprises
L’album “Atlântico” mêle le jazz manouche au fado et au choro brésilien. Pour l’occasion, Fapy Lafertin est entouré de trois jeunes musiciens belges : Alexandre Tripodi, violon, Cédric Raymond, contrebasse et Renaud Dardenne, guitare, inspirés par les musiques luso-brésiliennes. Marqué par le sceau de l’éclectisme, le répertoire propose quatre morceaux de Fapy Lafertin parés de nouveaux arrangements, un nombre égal de standards du jazz et une composition originale de chacun de ses collègues. Une écoute attentive de l’autre, des valeurs artistiques communes, le désir de jouer ensemble et une unité de ton dans l’interprétation rendent harmonieuse la coexistence de ces univers musicaux parfois différents. Tous les membres du quartette privilégient le beau son. Tous savent exploiter la richesse d’une mélodie avec une élégance portée par le ressort du swing. Un voyage musical riche en belles surprises.
ALAIN TOMAS
DNA (DERNIERES NOUVELLES D’ALSACE) FR
Atlantico. Un grand monsieur du jazz à cordes
Le jeune septuagénaire originaire d’une famille manouche de Courtrai n’a rien perdu de la vitalité de son jeu de guitare. Avec son New Quartet (Alexandre Tripodi au violon, Cédric Raymond à la contrebasse et Renaud Dardenne à la guitare), Fapy Lafertin signe Atlantico : 13 titres, dont un tiers nourri de sa propre inspiration tandis que chacun de ses acolytes livrait un titre. Au final cela donne un swing dans la grande tradition du jazz à la Django, au son vintage et aux notes soyeuses. Un album voyage comme le dit si joliment Francis Couvreux dans la note de l’album puisque s’y croisent çà et là des sonorités portugaises et brésiliennes. Formation à l’élégance mélancolique, menée par un grand monsieur du jazz à cordes, Fapy Lafertin et son New Quartet.
SERGE HARTMANN
JAZZ HOT FR
Atlantico. Fapy Lafertin, l’artiste musicien, est un trésor caché
Dans la veine poétique des héritiers de Django, Fapy Lafertin est certainement l’un des plus beaux descendants. Son lyrisme fait de chacun de ses disques un événement pour les amateurs de cette tradition que Django Reinhardt ancra au jazz dans une époque qui s’y prêtait, et qui en est devenue aujourd’hui une dimension à part entière. Fapy atteint aujourd’hui le club des septuagénaires, et sa musique conserve une éternelle jeunesse, possède la patine des ans qui donne tant de profondeur à une expression qui se renouvelle sans jamais rompre avec ses racines. Il a fait très tôt le choix, dans les années 1970 en compagnie de l’excellent Koen de Cauter (le quartet Waso), de marier cette tradition avec une poésie personnelle qui le rapproche du Maître Django par l’esprit, bien qu’elle renouvelle et enrichisse la tradition d’un monde imaginaire qui n’appartient qu’à Fapy. Dans cet enregistrement, il exploite parfois la technique de la mandoline sur la guitare portugaise («Vibracoes» de Jacob de Bandolim, «Fantaisie en sol», le beau «Pixinguinha em Lisboa») dans un registre qui s’éloigne du répertoire du jazz autant que de sa respiration rythmique, tout en gardant dans sa liberté d’exécution, son improvisation, dans le phrasé, un lien avec la tradition de Django mâtinée d’influences des musiques populaires (Portugal et Brésil) ou de la musique classique.
Dans ce disque, enregistré au cœur du Luxembourg belge, où ses partenaires, plus jeunes, apportent une partie du répertoire («Baltic», «Fantaisie en sol», «Pixinguinha em Lisboa»), on voyage, comme le titre le suggère, entre Portugal et Brésil, mais plus largement en Europe et Amérique du Nord et du Sud, des couleurs dont joue Fapy Lafertin avec son habituelle poésie, son sens du récit musical, sa maestria. Fapy apporte quatre compositions très émouvantes marquées par la tradition tzigane («Turn», «Cinzano», «Platcherida», «Carnation») et ne renonce pas pour autant à quelques standards du jazz («La Belle Vie» de Sacha Distel, «My Romance», «It’s Allright With Me» avec une belle introduction, «Japanese Sandman») repris dans la filiation de Django. Alexandre Tripodi, Cédric Raymond et Renaud Dardenne, en plus de compositions originales, apportent leur fraîcheur avec la tension nécessaire pour répondre à l’intensité qui se dégage de la musique de Fapy Lafertin. Ce dernier, qui est tombé très jeune dans la marmite de l’héritage de Django, est bien entendu un guitariste virtuose, mais de cette virtuosité qui ne s’impose pas à la musique parce qu’elle est au service de l’imagination, de la poésie, de l’expression. Fapy Lafertin, l’artiste musicien, est un trésor caché, c’est un privilège de pouvoir le découvrir sur disque de temps en temps.
YVES SPORTIS
J. Larsen (verified owner) –
A ‘woke’ listener of this CD might be led to think that the music presented here is just another example of ‘cultural appropriation’ with the implicit negative criticism that the musicians are guilty of ‘an inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society ‘. To this listener, however, this judgment is rather unfair, inaccurate, and ahistorical, but perhaps quite typical of contemporary trends that only acknowledge facts that are consistent with people’s own expectations – or prejudices. -The title of the CD, Atlântico, is ambiguous, but refers i.a. to one of the possibilities of cultural exchange before the electronic media and tourist air travel dominated our view of other continents and their populations. For centuries, the Atlantic Ocean has secured the connection between the Old World (Europe) and the New World (America). In many cases, and in addition to other duties, seafarers have been cultural ambassadors and made contact with local artists, including musicians, when leisure time had to pass while the ships were in port. In this way, there has from time to time been an opportunity of an exchange between the musical heritage of different cultures, as sailors often brought instruments for entertainment aboard the ship and in habour. Meeting local musicians were a part of the entertainment in habour pubs like the one at the front photo of this CD. Musicians are always aware that music arises in an interplay between the performers, thereby mixing different inputs and a new musical language is a possible consequence when different cultural traditions meet and exchange ideas in practice. – Fapy Lafertin and the three other musicians in his New Quartet are not sailors, but belong to a traditional traveling people – often called Gypsies, who in reality cover many different cultures. Among Gypsies (more precisely Romani / Sinti / Manousche a.o.), guitarist Django Reinhardt is often considered the stand-alone musician and composer who defined and practiced what has been called Gypsy Jazz, emphasizing Django’s collaboration with violinist Stéphane Grappelly in QHCDF in the 1930s and 1940s. Django Rinhardt and Stéphane Grappelly were the exponents of Le Jazz Hot in a special European edition, and QHCDF has since had countless followers among other musicians practicing the special edition of Gypsy String Swing Jazz. As a guitarist and composer, Fapy Lafertin is a contemporary and utterly worthy heir to Django’s musical heritage. And like Django, Lafertin has not stood by the swing tradition of QHCDF, but has also before this CD had his gaze and inspiration directed at other forms of music. On the CD here, this view is expressed in Lafertin’s use of the special Portuguese Guitar (- which in parentheses is not a guitar but rather a twelve-stringed instrument with the resemblance of an oversized mandolin) as well as his and the quartet’s interpretation of music, which in some cases is rooted in both the Portuguese fado and the Brazilian choro. The repertoire on the CD is wide-ranging in terms of sources of inspiration, but at least Jacob do Bandolim’s ‘Vibracões’ and ‘Pixinguinha em Lisboa’ by the quartet’s second guitarist, Renaud Dardenne, cover the two mentioned musical genres. There is also inspiration and interpretation of music with a Slavic touch, including the CD’s first number, ‘Torontoi Emlek’ (meaning Toronto Memories) by the Hungarian violinist Sandor Jaroka, and the Slavic inspiration can also be traced in the quartet’s own violinist Alexandre Tripodis’Fantaisie En Sol’. Another reference to the sea and voyage across seas is ‘The Baltic’ composed by the quartet’s double bass player Cédric Raymond. In addition, there is Lafertin’s ‘Plachterida’ which in Romany means butterfly and in Czech means sailboat and again refers to the sea and the possibility of movement to other regions and cultures. – All in all, the music on the CD is a great and enriching experience to listen to, and the four musicians’ contribution to the performance is characterized by solid and inspired interplay, which for all of the CD’s 13 tracks has been done with care for every detail. An obvious gift for those who have ears to listen with and an open mind to new areas in the world wide musical landscape.