Thanks to Audiogon's redefinition of the threadbank, I stumbled upon this treasure trove! While vacationing last summer in Bordeaux I wandered into a book/music store and heard Didier Lockwood's"Tribute to Stephane Grappelli" playing. WOW! This guy swings!...AND is superbly backed by N. H. Orsted Pedersen (bass) and B. Lagrene (gtr). Well-recorded by SONY-FRANCE, just released in the US on Dreyfus. It won 5 jazz awards in Europe last year......... (As much as I like Grappelli's work, I've always been disappointed by the recorded quality of his efforts: I attended a concert of his (with the Pizzarellis) at the fine-sounding Sanders Theatre at Harvard a few years ago, and asked the sound guy (who had EQ's the room very carefully) why Grappelli's violin sounded so bright and hard. He said it was due to Grappelli's insistence upon using his old favorite mike, with a decidedly bright lower treble, allowing Grappelli to monitor himself despite his hearing loss! So this tribute by Lockwood et al is doubly rewarding in that the upper partials and harmonics of the violin are so well-recorded. It'll REALLY test your upper crossover and tweeter, as well as keep your toe tapping.) Hope you enjoy it. Ernie. (PS Yeah, Charles Lloyd's Water is Wide is great, and getting a lot of airplay in Boston.) Cheers.
