Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Hot Club Norv: Parisian Honeymoon Suite

151

Hot Club Norv: Parisian Honeymoon Suite

Hot Club Norv: Parisian Honeymoon Suite
Django Reinhardt is considered on of Europe's greatest jazzmen. His nonpareil improvisations and unorthodox instrumental technique inspired a devoted school of jazz that has come to be known as "gypsy jazz." (Reinhardt was a Roma by birth.) There are 'hot club' ensembles all over the western world, but gypsy jazz has flourished, appropriately enough, on the continent.

Hot Club Norvège, a Scandinavian ensemble led by guitarist extrordinaire John Larsen, is widely regarded as one of the prime exponents of the genre. Parisian Honeymoon Suite is a collection of original compositions ("Guitaresque," "Fatamorgana," "Fido"), standards ("I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "Exactly Like You") and Django Reinhardt compositions ("Daphne," "Moppin' The Bride," the timeless "Nuages"). Drawn from the group's albums for the Norwegian label Hot Club, it's also is Hot Club Norvège's first album for Refined Records, a small San Francisco-based label "dedicated to furthering the art of acoustic instrumentation." A noble goal.

Jazz ain't dead, and it ain't playin' possum, and don't believe anyone who tries to tell you it is. John Larsen, Hot Club Norvège's leader, is an accomplished guitarist who excels at playing romantic, medium-tempo ballads. He is joined on Parisian Honeymoon Suite by a host of guitarists and violinists, including Jimmy Rosenberg, Angelo Debarre, Romane, Babík Reinhardt (Django's son and a respected guitarist and composer in his own right), and Sonnekai, an up-and-coming swing trio steeped in the music of Django Reinhardt. (The three boys that make up Sonnekai are, in fact, Gypsies.)

The music here is first-rate, a welcome antidote to work-related stress (or the perfect accompaniment, along with flowers, a bottle of good merlot and a wedge of sharp cheddar, to a romantic evening). It's also a perfect introduction to a jazz style that doesn't get into the mainstream. Buy this album and start a trend.

Track Listing

1. Guitaresque, 2. Time On My Hands, 3. I Can't Give You Anything But Love, 4. Moppin' The Bride, 5. Nuages, 6. Fatamorgana, 7. Daphne, 8. Exactly Like You, 9. Fantasy, 10. Je Suis Seul Ce Soir, 11. Fido Larsen, 12. Pascal

Personnel

Svein Aarbostad : Bass, Ivar Brodahl : Violin, Angelo Debarre, Serge Camps & Frank Anastasio : Guitar, Finn Hauge : Harmonica, Jon Larsen : Guitar, Florin Nicolescu : Violin, Babik Reinhardt : Guitar, Romane : Guitar, Jimmy Rosenberg : Guitar, Oyvor Volle : Violin, Ulf Wakenius : Guitar, Sam Weiss : Guitar

Album information

Title: Parisian Honeymoon Suite | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Refined Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.