This album was released earlier in the year and has just been named in the Sunday Times list of the Top 100 CDs of the year. The eminent critic Clive Davis placed it at no. 9 in the jazz section. Congratulations to the artists involved and in the light of their success it’s high time The Jazz Mann took a look at this album.

“Django A La Creole” appears on rhythm guitarist Dave Kelbie’s Lejazzetal label and is a worthy addition to a canon of Django Reinhardt inspired recordings (check out the Angelo DeBarre Quartet’s “Live At Le Quecumbar” elsewhere on this site).

The clarinettist Evan Christopher originates from Los Angeles but has called New Orleans home for many years. Displaced in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina he moved to Paris where the seeds for this project were sown. Following concert appearances in the UK and Norway in 2007 Christopher recorded this album in Wales before moving back to New Orleans.

Joining Christopher and Kelbie on this album are the expat Aussie duo of Dave Blenkhorn (guitar) and Sebastien Girardot (double bass). The mix of “Hot Club” style guitars and clarinet is unusual but not entirely new. Django Reinhardt himself worked with American clarinettists such as Frank “Big Boy” Goudie and Barney Bigard, and following violinist Stephane Grappelli’s departure from the Hot Club clarinettist Hubert Rostaing was brought in as his replacement.

Christopher’s approach builds on these antecedents by adding an even stronger creole flavour to the mix, redolent of Jelly Roll Morton’s “Spanish tinge” and making use of the “Habanera” rhythm. His group also add rhythmic elements from Cuba, the Caribbean and even Brazil. The result is a vibrant music that appeals to contemporary audiences. Label boss Kelbie’s view is that Reinhardt’s music is still vital and is robust enough to lend itself to fresh interpretations. This album is emphatically not a museum piece.

Recorded “live in the studio” the album kicks off with Reinhardt’s “Douce Ambience” with Christopher’s sultry, unmistakably New Orleans clarinet sound floating above the subtly syncopated rhythmic backdrop created by his colleagues. The pace is leisurely and also features a solo from Blenkhorn which adds a blues tinge to the Reinhardt inspired. guitar sound.

“Farewell Blues” dates all the way back to 1923 and was written by members of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. Reinhardt recorded it with Benny Carter and Christopher and his colleagues make it still sound fresh and enjoyable in 2008.

“Dinette” is a Reinhardt piece( based on the song “Dinah”) that is given an unusual cha cha arrangement featuring the leader’s slippery clarinet above Kelbie’s forceful rhythm chording. Girardot’s bass enjoys a brief moment’s prominence and there is an excellent Cuban inflected solo from Blenkhorn.

“I Know That You Know” is another piece that dates back to the twenties with Christopher taking his cue from the 1928 version by Jimmie Noone. The rhythm is vintage Hot Club with Christopher darting magically above. Girardot gets a few bars again,too

Reinhardt’s ballad “Manoir De Mes Reves” exhibits a surprising tenderness and Christopher and his colleagues stay true to the spirit of the piece with Kelbie’s gentle chording supporting Blenkhorn’s delicate lines . Christopher himself is a model of elegance and restraint.

Cornettist Rex Stewart’s “Low Cotton” dates from Reinhardt’s collaborations with the composer and clarinettist Barney Bigard. The “Low” in the title refers to the leisurely tempo of this splendid slow blues. Christopher places strong emphasis on the “blue notes” in his distinctive low register playing.

The quartet breathe new life into “Nuages”, arguably Reinhardt’s most famous composition by giving it a Cuban lilt. They follow this by blending Brazilian rhythms with Christopher’s New Orleans clarinet on another well known Reinhardt tune “Melodie Au Crepescule”.

Paul Misraki’s “Insensiblement” slows the pace for a stately ballad/slow blues with Christopher’s warm tones combining well with the laid back guitars of Blenkhorn and Kelbie.

The closing item is an enjoyable romp through a segue of two Reinhardt tunes, “Tears” and Djangology”.These are given a distinctive rag time feel in honour of Jelly Roll Morton.

“Django A La Creole” is a fascinating mix of the New Orleans and Hot Club traditions and also manages to throw a few more exotic flavours into an already tasty stew (or should that be gumbo?).
Such is the skill of Christopher and his colleagues that they manage to make it all sound thoroughly organic, unforced and natural.

The playing is not quite as dazzling as on the DeBarre release but this is nevertheless an unpretentious and enjoyable album in it’s own right.

Christopher returns to the UK and Europe for a series of dates in the summer of 2009. These should be well worth seeing. Check out http://www.lejazzetal.com for details of these events plus other performances by artists on the label’s roster.

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