Guitarist
Biréli Lagrène debuted on records in 1980 when he was 13, sounding exactly like
Django Reinhardt. Since then he has explored fusion and post-bop jazz, eventually finding his way back to gypsy swing. On
Gipsy Project & Friends,
Lagrène teams up with up to four other guitarists, violinist
Florin Niculescu (who recalls
Stephane Grappelli), and bassist Diego Imbert. Unfortunately, the CD jacket does not tell which guitarist solos when, although chances are that nearly all of the guitar solos are
Lagrène's. A few of the songs were written after
Reinhardt's passing, but all of the hard-swinging and passionate music is very much in the tradition of
Django's brand of swinging jazz and constantly displays effortless virtuosity. ~ Scott Yanow