Barcelone

£6.99£12.00

Barcelone

(1 customer review)

£6.99£12.00

2019 – LJCD20
Second recording of Les Violons from Brussels and their original take on the string orchestra. Les Violons de Bruxelles take the traditional set-up of the legendary Hot Club de France Quintet, of violin, solo guitar, two rhythm guitars, double bass, and turn it on its head.

TCHA LIMBERGER – VIOLIN VOCALS
RENAUD CROLS – VIOLIN
ALEXANDRE TRIPODI – VIOLA
RENAUD DARDENNE – GUITAR
SAM GERSTMANS – DOUBLE BASS

Barcelone

BARCELONE TRACKLIST & AUDIO

 

Check out the album HERE
http://tchalimberger.com

 

BARCELONE REVIEWS

ALBUM REVIEW – BABELMED 19.03.2020
Barcelone – Les Violons de Bruxelles
Lejazzetal Records LJCD20
Amoureux de swing manouche, vous allez être comblés ! Voici un disque qui nous transporte, comme par magie, aux côtés de Django Reinhardt et Stéphane Grappelli, dont nos 5 musiciens ici réunis sont les dignes héritiers.
Autour du violoniste Tcha Limberger, « Les violons de Bruxelles » comptent ainsi : Renaud Crols au violon, Alexandre Tripodi à la viola, Renaud Dardenne à la guitare et Sam Gertsmans à la basse. Belges tous les 5, comme l’était le regretté Django.
Car la Belgique est une terre musicale très féconde, même si les Belges ne le clament pas sur tous les toits : surtout, peut-ête parce que le pays a gardé une taille « humaine », une terre où les artistes sont fiers et heureux de perpétuer la tradition des musiques « populaires », dans le sens le plus noble de cet adjectif : musiques qui sont issues du peuple, et surtout : qui plaisent au plus grand nombre… ce qui est le rêve et l’objectif de tout artiste !
Et, alors que le Quintette du Hot Club de France réunissait, avec Django Reinhardt et Stéphane Grappelli, 3 guitares, un violon et une contrebasse, le rapport guitares/violons est ici inversé. En outre, nos 5 artistes, en dignes héritiers, font fructifier le patrimoine légué par leurs Anciens, et poussent plus loin l’aventure musicale, empruntant ici non seulement au répertoire traditionnel du « jazz manouche », mais à toutes les traditions du monde : choro brésilien, fado portugais, tango argentin, ou encore samba du Brésil – avec toujours cette touche d’humour et de légèreté, propre au jazz manouche : on joue excellemment, mais… on « ne la ramène pas », et on reste humble !!!! Tradition de musique « populaire » oblige…!
Un album qui nous a conquis par sa formidable bonne humeur, et que vous serez heureux d’offrir à vos meilleurs amis !
NADIA KHOURI-DAGHER

ALBUM REVIEW – JAZZ HALO 09.10.2019
Barcelone – Les Violons de Bruxelles
Lejazzetal Records LJCD20
Tcha Limberger brengt met Les Violons de Bruxelles een tweede album, Barcelone (naar een compositie van Boris Vian), met het volle elan van zijn originele groep. Dat betekent drie violen (naast Limberger, Renaud Crols en Alexandre Tripodi), gitaar (Renaud Dardenne) en contrabas (Sam Gerstmans). Een eigengereide en brede visie op wat traditioneel refereert aan de Hot Club de France want daar maakten dan wel drie gitaren, viool en contrabas de bezetting uit.
Les Violons de Bruxelles laat zich niet kisten in die vorm en gaat vrijelijk om met innovatieve arrangementen, straffe interactie, virtuositeit en dynamiek. Django blijft inspireren en ze herwerken Back And White, Impromptu en het samen met Grappelli geschreven Sweet Chorus tot frisse lyrische interpretaties.
Tcha Limberger ontpopt zich overigens als authentiek zanger (zelfs scattend) in Ellington’s I’ve Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good. De hechte, mooi gebalanceerde groepssound excelleert verder in jazzstandards: Avalon (Al Jolson), How About You (Burton Lane/Ralph Freed) en het meesterlijk door Sam Gerstmans en Tcha gedreven titelstuk Barcelone (Boris Vian).
De muzikale sfeer slaat vonken met de passende Braziliaanse klassiekers Sempre Teu en Receita de Samba van Jacob do Bandolim en de Mexicaanse standaard La Bikina van Ruben Fuente. En het is helemaal raak met de originele nummers van Tcha Limberger (het weemoedige Patchagonia) en Renaud Dardenne (het melancholische Pixinguinha em Lisboa).
Prachtig hoe deze creatieve geesten van Les Violons de Bruxelles de emoties raken in een kleurrijk spectrum van snaren! Ze hebben het terechte patent op het heruitvinden van de manouche swing met een hedendaags en tijdloos karakter.
Beleef ze live want hun aanstekelijke muziek krijgt volop meerwaarde als alle zintuigen bespeeld worden.
BERNARD LEFEVRE

ALBUM REVIEW – JAZZ DA GAMA 02.07.2019
almost impossibly breathtaking to bear witness perfection on such a scale
A new way of thinking about strings in the context of anything from the traditional music of New Orleans to swing and – with Barcelone – well beyond as well, is probably a reasonable approximation of what Les Violons de Bruxelles is hoping to convey to serious aficionados of music. The first thing to acknowledge about the music played by this ensemble is, of course, that what they play and the manner in which they express themselves – with broad syncopation and a generous helping of improvisation – offers a strong but not slavish period awareness. As a result the group’s interpretations of repertoire that is often well worn almost never even rings with familiarity.
The very high degree of instrumental proficiency is, of course, topped by the genius of Tcha Limberger who is a musical polymath equally at home in his native Manouche music as he is in the traditional (or folk) music of the Carpathian basin, not to mention Jazz. Add to that Mr Limberger plays violin and guitar with breathtaking virtuosity and is also a vocalist of the first order although he rarely sings often enough on his recordings. As if that were not enough violinist Renaud Crols, violist Andre Tripodi, guitarist Renaud Dardenne and contrabassist Sam Gerstmans also play with a mastery of instrumentation and imagery to deliver music with idiomatic beauty and eloquence as well.
Together in ensemble and while soloing therefore, the musicians of Les Violons de Bruxelles unfailingly deliver repertoire that is sensitive, punctuated with singular improvisatory responses to the charts, always taking the music to emotional and stylistic directions which, in turn., carry us off to surprising and profound new musical waters. Sometimes this means performances that are loosely rooted in traditional forms, such as on “Avalon” and a stellar performance of “I’ve Got it Bad and That Ain’t Good” (in which Mr Limberger delivers the lyric with his superb vocal), and at other times with looser and freer form and atonality as on Django Reinhardt’s darkish piece, “Impromptu”.
To my mind (at least) the absolute crowning glory of the recording are the two Brasilian formed works on the album, which are “Pixinguinha em Lisboa” and “Receita be Samba”. The former – an original composition (no less) by Renaud Dardenne, is a meditative, and translucent choro which imagines a dreamy visit of the great Brasilian musician Pixinguinha to Lisbon. It is a piece so vivid in its detail that one feels the heat of sun on cobble-stones and the lonely chill whipped up by a sudden wind in the night; and if you’re thinking “a watercolor painting”, this one is all in “black and white”. Meanwhile the latter piece – a classic from the pen of Jacob de Bandolim – is a magnificently conceived samba that evokes the dusty streets of Rio in the throes of a carnival.
It’s almost impossibly breathtaking to bear witness perfection on such a scale – both in performance and the documentation of it in this recording by the incomparable musician and engineer Dylan Fowler; but then this is music by Les Violons de Bruxelles that we’re talking about, a musical ensemble recorded at his Stiwdio Felin Fach, in Abergavenny, the Gateway to Wales; and that means music and the recording of it performed and captured in an altogether rarefied realm.
RAUL DA GAMA

ALBUM REVIEW – THE JAZZ RAG 01.07.2019
Barcelone – Les Violons de Bruxelles
Lejazzetal Records LJCD20
American, British and European exponents of the gypsy/string jazz genre have assisted Lejazzetal in amassing an enviable catalogue of recordings. Dave Kelbie’s label continues its pursuit of excellence with the release of Barcelone. This European (specifically Belgian) contribution takes the Quintette du Hot Club de France’s instrumentation of three guitars spearheaded by Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli’s violin and a string bass and inverts it with a lineup comprising three violins, a guitar and a double bass. Les Violons de Bruxelles’ new CD was recorded in February 2016 yet it is only now it sees the light of day. Tcha Limberger leads a virtuosic quintet in more than sixty minutes of Hot Club-inspired material which, at times, evokes the sound of the classical chamber music ensemble. Of twelve tracks one is a standout – Ellington’s I’ve Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good – and it’s Limberger’s singing that makes it so good on what is essentially an instrumental project. Jazz standards Avalon, Black and White and Sweet Chorus take their place in the programme alongside numbers from South America including La Bikina and guitarist Renaud Dardenne’s Pixinguinha em Lisboa. The closing track is an impromptu titled Impromptu which distils Les Violons’ wider interests fusing contemporary classical elements with startling improvisations. Barcelone is likely to appeal to an audience beyond confirmed Djangologists.
RUSSELL CORBETT

ALBUM REVIEW – SUNDAY TIMES 30.06.2019
Barcelone – Les Violons de Bruxelles
You may have seen the violinist Tcha Limberger fronting his rambunctious Budapest Gypsy Orchestra. This quintet are sleeker, yet every bit as unpredictable. Two violins and a viola float above Django-esque guitar and bass, the repertoire wandering far from standard Hot Club fare. The excursions into mellow Brazilian choro are a delight, and Limberger isn’t afraid to add unfussy vocals to I’ve Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good.
CLIVE DAVIS

Additional information

Technical

LES VIOLONS DE BRUXELLES
BARCELONE
LJCD20

Recorded at Stiwdio Felin Fach, Abergavenny Engineered by Dylan Fowler
http://www.taithrecords.co.uk
16/17/18 February 2016

Mixed by Alexandre Tripoli of Studio Tripo
Mastered by Minerva Pappi at Waudio, Helsinki

© & 2019 Lejazzetal Records, London
Produced by Lejazzetal Records
Package design & artwork by Dave Kelbie
assisted by Kathryn at Prestset
http://www.prestset.co.uk
Manufactured in the EU by The Digital Audio Co Ltd
http://www.the-digital-audio.co.uk

Photos
All photos by Mael G. Lagadec

Sleeve notes by Francis Couvreux

Management: Lejazzetal London UK
Dave Kelbie, Lejazzetal
dave.kelbie@gmail.com
http://www.lesviolonsdebruxelles.be
https://www.lejazzetal.com

Barcelone arranged by Renaud Dardenne
all other arrangements by the band

Renaud Dardenne plays a guitar made by Sébastien Carmantrand
Alexandre Tripoli plays a Viola made by Fabien Gram

1 review for Barcelone

  1. Paul Davis

    I had been familiar with Tcha Limberger and his family through the “DiPiotto’s” band. Hearing this album not only developed a new found love for viola in this musical context, but expanded the full range of what “jazz” could be. This by no means is a classic jazz affair, but all the elements of what makes jazz a vital force is present here – swinging rhythm, harmonic and melodic interplay, and homage to the original energy of the classic recordings.

    Horizons have been expanded. Like much of the other artists on this label have done for me.

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