"There’s no finer clarinetist in jazz today than Evan Christopher. While his style is clearly in the Swing camp, he’s no mere revivalist. He’s a talented composer and improviser, as well as a remarkably proficient instrumentalist, exploring new paths within a traditional framework. Finesse, by Christopher’s Django à la Creole trio (with guitarists David Blenkhorn and Dave Kelbie and bassist Sébastien Giradot) is a somewhat harderswinging affair that also covers plenty of Bechet, mixing his New Orleans flavor with the gypsy swing of Django Reinhardt. The album opens and closes with Bechet tunes, packed in between with Swing Era (and earlier) gems by the likes of Reinhardt, Rex Stewart and Hoagy Carmichael. The group handles all these tunes with poise and dexterity, whether it’s Reinhardt’s frenetic “Féerie Eyes” or Duke Ellington’s timeless ballad “Mood Indigo”, given an especially beautiful treatment here. The lone original, and the tune that gives the group its name and sums up its purpose, “Django à la Creole”, is based on Reinhardt solos that Christopher says he arranged in the manner of New Orleans master Jelly Roll Morton’s Latin tunes."
by Robert IANNAPOLLO - THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
by Robert IANNAPOLLO - THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
