As a listener and reviewer, there are few things less interesting to me than picking up a new disc only to discover that it contains little more than a band doing its best imitation of The Quintette of the Hot Club of France. Django and Stephane’s seminal band hasn’t been around for over half a century, yet so many players are so seduced-or intimidated-by their music that they seem to forget that jazz is an art of evolution and innovation; instead, they become what is essentially a cover band. It’s a particularly troubling phenomenon with Django’s music, which is already so often overlooked by jazzmen.
Because of my admittedly strong opinion on the subject, it’s always a pleasure when a release like djangoloil’s Moka-Jack arrives on my desk. Tackling the later and/or lesser known repertoire of Reinhardt (Micro, Lentement Mademoiselle, and Vendredi 13), and some standards (Just One of Those Things; Relaxin’ at Camarillo, How Insensitive), djangoloil shows a readiness to bring a bit of it’s own bop-influenced playing to the material while belonging to the great tradtion of Jazz Manouche. That influence is perhaps most obvious on Micro and the one original included, Moka Jack, though by visiting their website you can hear it on samples of tracks from other albums as well. (Interestingly, Charlie Parker’s Relaxin’ at Camarillo is one of the more traditional sounding tracks.) How Insensitive, with Jacques Boireau’s lovely bowed bass, brushes up against smooth jazz, but never crosses the line, and ends up being one of the most relentlessly grooving tunes on the album. The inclusion of electric hollowbody guitar also goes a long way toward bringing the music to more modern ears-something Django realized in his later years, even if so many of his followers do not.
I wish I knew more about djangoloil and it’s leader Jean Michel Bourdier (aka BIB). The packaging of the review CD was remarkably homespun (and contained no liner notes) for all the great playing it contained, and the band website is only available in French. It seems the band has been around in one form or another since 2000, and has played or toured with French guitarists Romane and Christophe Lartilleux (of Latcho Drom) over the years. More to come on djangoloil-stay tuned!
You may obtain a copy of djangoloil’s “Moka-Jack” in the USA from Alain Cola’s GypsyJazz.net by clicking: Order Moka-Jack !