Evan Christopher’s Django A La Creole
Wyeside Arts Centre, Builth Wells 29/05/2009

This was an enjoyable evening of jazz played with panache and considerable technical expertise. The recording by clarinettist Evan Christopher’s Django A La Creole project has already been reviewed on this site but an opportunity to see this music performed live was too good to miss.

For this date, part of an extensive European tour the line-up was exactly the same as on the album. Joining Christopher on clarinet were guitarists Dave Blenkhorn (lead) and Dave Kelbie (rhythm) plus double bassist Sebastien Girardot.

The band play a convincing amalgam of New Orleans and gypsy/Hot Club styles making the whole thing sound perfectly natural and organic. It is a sound that is still capable of appealing to contemporary audiences and the group are not averse to throwing a few other tasty flavours into the pot.

There are precedents for this kind of fusion. Django Reinhardt himself played with US clarinettist Barney Bigard in Paris back in the day and also employed home grown clarinet players in his line ups. Nevertheless I very much doubt if many groups past or present have achieved such a perfect synthesis as Christopher and his colleagues.

One of the main things that came across at this concert was the amount of fun these guys have playing this music. Christopher, born in California but now based in New Orleans is an engaging character and an amusing and informative announcer of tunes. Some, but by no means all, of these were from the album, Christopher clearly delights in throwing his band mates a curve ball by choosing to play something unexpected like the two back to back Jelly Roll Morton tunes in the first set.

The group began with the opening track from the album, Django Reinhardt’s “Douce Ambience”. Taken at a leisurely tempo this was laid down as a contrast for the fireworks to follow, a trick regularly deployed by Reinhardt inspired bands. The opener was the first demonstration of Blenkhorn’s considerable abilities as a soloist and also the first example of Girardot’s distinctive slapped bass style.

“Farewell Blues”,scheduled second on the record, was taken at a breakneck pace with Christopher laying down licks and phrases and inviting his colleagues to respond, there were even imitations of train whistles.. This good natured “call and response” sparring is typical of New Orleans music and was a feature throughout the evening. Blenkhorn responded with a sparkling solo that threw in a quote from Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” and Girardot weighed in with bass solo involving more slapping and striking of the bass. With a rhythm team as strong as Girardot and Kelbie the absence of drums doesn’t matter at all.

At this point Christopher diverted from the script and threw in the first of the Morton numbers, “Mama Nita” with solos from Blenkhorn and Girardot. This was well received so the next tune was another from the Morton repertoire “Sweet Substitute”. Christopher doesn’t sing on record but here his semi spoken vocal added an extra dash of humour as he tackled Morton’s typically risqué lyrics.  Taken at a lazy tempo the tune featured some terrific clarinet playing too.

“Low Cotton”  from the pen of cornet player Rex Stewart appears on the album but was initially tackled by Reinhardt and Bigard back in the 1930’s. Girardot demonstrated his fluency on the bass by putting his slapping technique to bed, at least temporarily.

To round off an excellent first half the band played another tune from the album. “I Know That You Know” takes it’s cue from the 1928 version by Jimmie Noone and was played here at an awesomely fast tempo with Blenkhorn soloing above Kelbie’s urgent rhythms. Christopher threw in another “I’ve Got Rhythm” quote and sparred playfully with bassist Girardot who enjoyed a number of breaks.

The second half proved to be just as enjoyable as the first.  Reinhardt’s"Daydreams Of Autumn” (English translation) was given a Brazilian flavour by the group as they utilised samba/bossa rhythms.

Hoagy Carmichael’s “Riverboat Shuffle” was tackled at a blistering pace with Blenkhorn delivering probably his best solo of the night. Christopher conducted the playful contrasts of volume and dynamics, again trading phrases with his colleagues. Great fun.

Another album tune followed in the shape of Reinhardt’s “Dinette” with Christopher deploying slap tongue effects on his clarinet. The leader’s best playing of the night probably came on the following “Sheik Of Araby” where his bravado clarinet playing took this sometimes rather irritating tune to another level. Superb stuff.

Django’s best known composition “Nuages” just had to be included, the famous melody being delivered relatively straight after a quirky intro. The lights then dimmed for an appropriately bluesy version of Ellington and Bigard’s “Mood Indigo” with Christopher himself outstanding from his solo clarinet introduction onwards. This guy has technique to burn and likes to have fun with it, spurring his colleagues on in the process. Although a musical sense of humour was never far away over the course of the evening these two tunes proved that the group were also capable of delivering a considerable emotional impact.

Sidney Bechet’s “The Broken Windmill” concluded things in lively fashion with the small but appreciative audience calling the musicians back for an encore. Christopher decided that this should be “something pretty” in the form of Reinhardt’s “Manoir De Mes Reves” or “Castles Of My Dreams” also to be found on the album.

It had been a most enjoyable concert with Christopher and his colleagues playing with warmth and dazzling skill despite a disappointingly small crowd. I suspect that the Hay Festival running concurrently had lured away many of the potential audience. Angelo Debarre had drawn a sell out crowd here only a few months before but it’s a sad fact that when Hay is on other arts events in the borders do tend to suffer. Those that were elsewhere or chose to stay away missed a real treat here.

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